Resolved Windows Fax & Scan problem: won't transmit

Hi. I've installed a USB fax modem from Conexant and set it up to use Windows Fax & Scan, running on Windows 8.1.

When I try to send a fax, I can hear it dialing, then the reply from the other end, then the handshake (only one, although I was used to hearing 2 when faxing from work many years ago), and then the systems seem to connect, because it goes silent. Only nothing else happens - the fax doesn't get sent. After 30 seconds or so of waiting, it times out and goes back on hook.

The "manual" is no help at all, as it appears to have been translated from the Chinese by a Finn with fair knowledge of Serbo-Croat. Apart from being called "fax user manul" [sic], it does not address any post-setup problems. It also does not address installation on any system later than XP, but I don't think this can be the problem since it gets as far as successfully dialing the addressee.

Any suggestion how I can persuade it to start tx once the two faxes have connected? There is an option (via Control Panel) for adding "extra initialisation commands ", so I could presumably add an appropriate Hayes AT command there if I knew which one. I can also "query modem ", which seems to produce all positive replies to AT commands.

Any suggestions most welcome - thanks in advance.

 

Is your telephone on a VOIP network? Many fax systems will only work on an analog land-line. My elderly Lexmark all-in-one printer faxed things nicely, but my new Epson isn't happy.

My landline is packaged in witn my Comcast router and is VOIP.

 

There is reason to believe the problem is with Windows 8.1 rather than with your faxmodem.

Here are some sources which match your symptoms and offer a solution. However, I have not tried this personally and you may want to wait to see if a Windows 8 user here can confirm. The link to the FXST30.dll file is good, but I did not download the file or check it for malware.

Windows 8.1 Upgrade Breaks Fax & Scan

Link to file:

http://hevanet.com/hb/FXST30.dll

PDF file with step-by-step instructions

 

@ Frank: Hi and thanks for that. But no, it's a perfectly normal analog landline.

@ antic: Thanks for those - I'll check them out later this evening or tomorrow early and report back.

UPDATE after trying:
Your link looked very promising: just substitute a better dll and the problem is resolved. Unfortunately no - I took the smaller dll, checked it for malware, substituted it in \Windows\system32 and tried again: no change.

Hope some other Win8.1 user will have found a solution.

 

Here is a long Microsoft Community thread that may help.

Windows 8.1 Fax issues

 

Yes - thanks antic. Sorry: I should have specified: I found that page while searching after your first reply (#3 above) and read all 5 pages, but it didn't provide any solution which works for me.

 

Resolved (I hope - fingers crossed!)

In Control Panel I went to Devices and printers and located the fax. Looking at the Properties tab, I saw 115K which seemed to me very fast, maybe more than some faxes can support , and changed this to 56K. (I know the handshake is intended for the 2 faxes to agree on the best mutually agreeable speed, but still...)

I was then able to successfully send a fax. I had previously downloaded and installed the old Win7 file fxst30.dll and rebooted a couple of times since then, so I'm unable to confirm exactly which step solved the problem, but I'll leave this info here for any other user having the same problem.

Many thanks again, antic.

 

I should add a side note: Whenever I forget to fix this before sending, I get a failure message saying fax can't be sent because addressee fax doesn't support success report (or some similar message). I then have to go into WF&S > Tools > Options and uncheck Delivery receipts, then the fax will go. As of now, however, I need to remember to do this manually every time, and haven't yet found a way to make that setting the default.

Just in case it helps some other perplexed user.

 

Thanks for the follow-up. At least you know the faxmodem is good. Congratulations.