v5000 and faxing problems

[greg24]

I have a 3Com v5000 NBX that in running 6.5.22. Since updating about 10 months ago I seem to have problems with faxing. It is not anything constant, but 3 or 4 times a month various people say they can't send a fax to someone and/or someone can't send a fax to them. I have had AT&T run a line test on the ISDN Pri and it always passes. I worked with one company with whom we were having a problem, they had AT&T run line tests on their side and they passed too. It doesn't appear to be the fax machines as we have 12 fax machines and 8 are different models. The only common thread I have is the complaints come from the people who are using multifunction devices, i.e. printer, scanner, copier, and fax. I have 3 Dell 3115, 1 Konica Minolta, and 1 Brother. Each is using their latest firmware. The people who have only fax machines don't seem to have any problems. All of the fax lines run into 3 Analog Terminal Cards (3C10117C). The fax numbers are all assigned to the ISDN Pri. The Fax Machine checkbox in the ATA telephone configuration is checked for all of the fax machines. What can I do to debug the problem further? Thanks,

[merlin02131]

Need to know more ....

Does this occur all the time ?

Can you replroduce the issue ?

When you make a call what happens ?

Does the call try to go thru then fails ?

Does the call actually dial out ?

In bound faxing , does the fax machine ring

Does the line ring and the fax machine not pick up ?

Need to get more info in re to what fails .

 How does the fax start working again ?

Unfortunately these are the tough ones .  If tis a machine where you cannot get in and log anything , then I am not sure .  If you could try and answer some of the above questions , then maybe we can try some station logging , a network trace  , to start with . Maybe a trace would be the place to start as it is so intermittant , and tough to find , and the trace can tell you if the call was offhook / ringing / onhook etc .

You may want to open a case ont his one .....

[greg24]

Does this occur all the time ? Can you reproduce the issue ? I can't reproduce the issue. It happens randomly. When you make a call what happens ? The other fax answers and the fax disconnects. Does the call try to go thru then fails ? Yes. Our fax dials, the other fax picks up, and then using disconnects. Does the call actually dial out ? Yes In bound faxing , does the fax machine ring Yes Does the line ring and the fax machine not pick up ? No. The line rings, our fax answers and then usually disconnects. Need to get more info in re to what fails . How does the fax start working again ? I don't know. It is just a random thing. I don't think a network trace would help. The ISDN line is plugged into the v5000 and fax machines are plugged into a Analog Terminal Card so there is no network to trace. Unless I am missing something. I will say that the problem does happen on the multifunction devices. If there is some sort of logging I can turn on for 1 or 2 specific fax machines in the v5000 then I can let the logging run for a couple of days (weeks if I have to) and have the user inform me when a problem happens so I can check the log. I might to have to open a case on this. I just don't have a lot of time at the moment and I have the feeling this is going to take a lot of time to debug. I will see what free time I can devote as this is becoming very annoying to me and my users. Thanks,

[merlin02131]

ermittant and random disconnects are usually caused by negotiation issues . The fax goes offhook , then for some reason has an issue trying to connect and cannot , usually resulting in disconnects

When did this start occurring ?

What type of fax machine is it connected to ? G3 Super G3 etc . ?

On all fax machines ?

How many machines are connected up ?

What NBX code are you running ?

[greg24]

It started maybe 2 months after I upgraded to 6.5.22. Most of the vendors haven't listed the specific fax chipset in their products. I have opened a case and I am waiting for a tech to call. Thanks,

[merlin02131]

 Will do .

Keep me posted I'll try and see who picks up the case .....

[greg24 · Accepted solution]

I found out two things talking with the tech.

1) Fax machines going through an ATA card must be set to 9600 baud (G3 speed).

2) I needed patch 3 installed as it has a fix for faxing over an ISDN Pri which is what I have.

I installed the patch last night. I am going around and setting the transmit and receive speed on the fax machines to 9600 or less. This has been more of a problem than you would expect. Most manufacturers require you to go into service mode to make this change. Several vendors have flat out told me only authorized service personal can make this change and for $$$ they will come out and do it. So far only the Dell 3115s have been updated as Dell gives the steps necessary to do this in the manual. I am disappointed that 3com doesn't support at least 14.4k for faxing. Our newest (1 year old) fax machine supports 33.6. I will be trying a few more things this afternoon but things look promising.

[merlin02131]

More specifically

We do not support Super G3 . The NBX only supports 9600 , you are correct .  Glad to hear you made some progress ...

[Stevemo]

I'm having the same issues , even worse, where did you get the #3 patch ???

Thanks Steve

[greg24]

You will have to contact HP tech support and request it.