CM1415fnw Fax Auto Answer not picking up fax

[Mr_Mike_Jay]

I have a Laserjet Pro CM1415fnw that does not correctly auto answer. It is set to answer on one ring and if I manually start the fax, it works fine. The problem is, it takes several tries for it to auto answer the fax. Usually it does not pick up the fax, just sits there on the "Incoming Fax" screen. You can hear the line ringing, but it does not sound like a normal ring (which it does on the other printers). 

- I have three analog fax lines going to three HP multi-function printers, this model is the only one that I cannot get to work correctly. 

- I updated the firmware and tried each line (tested working on the other machines), it happens on any fax line connected to the cm1415fnw. 

[Gordon_H]

Hello Mike (Jay?),

Let's see if I can help you fix this issue. Here are some steps to try:

If you are able to send but not receive a fax, change the Answering Mode to an appropriate setting depending on your fax setup. Temporarily change the Answer Mode to the Manual setting while troubleshooting. This will enable you to monitor each stage of the fax (call connection, pickup, delivery, and printing).

1. If the product Home screen is not active, touch anywhere on the screen to activate it.
2. On the Home screen, touch the Setup icon ( ).
3. Touch Service .
4. Touch Fax Setup .
5. Touch Basic Setup .
6. Touch Answer Mode .
7. For troubleshooting purposes, try the Manual mode first. If Manual mode works, then try the mode that is appropriate for your setup.
   Answer Modes
   Answer mode HP product behavior

   Automatic (default)	The product answers incoming calls after a specified number of rings or upon recognition of special fax tones.
   TAM	The product does not automatically answer the call. Instead, the product waits until it detects the fax tone.
   Fax/Tel	The product answers incoming calls immediately. If the product detects the fax tone, it processes the call as a fax. If the product does not detect the fax tone, it creates an audible ring to alert you to answer the incoming voice call.
   Manual	The product never answers calls. You must start the fax-receiving process yourself, either by touching the Start Fax button on the control panel or by picking up a telephone that is connected to that line and dialing 1-2-3.

8. Receive a fax from a working fax machine.
   If you successfully receive a fax, refer to the table to set the answer mode back to the appropriate setting. Automatic mode is the factory default.

[reckenrode]

I am having this same issue on a printer i picked up yesterday. Running Firmware 20110329

I can send faxes just fine, and I can receive them only when I have the Answer Mode set to Manual.

I did have the Answer Mode on Fax/Tel prior to finding that I could infact receive a fax when using manual mode, I have set the unit back to this setting and still no luck.

What should be attempted next?

[Gordon_H]

Resetting the printer to factory defaults is a very good way to eliminate an errant setting.

Here is the official way to do a factory reset on the CM1415nw:

1. If you previously made changes to the fax send and receive settings, follow these steps to Restore the factory-set defaults :

       CAUTION:Restoring the factory-set defaults returns all of the product and network settings to the factory defaults, and it also clears the fax header name, phone number, and any stored faxes in the product memory. This procedure also clears the fax phone book, and deletes any pages that are stored in the memory. The procedure then automatically restarts the product.

     a. If the product Home screen is not active, touch anywhere on the screen to activate it.
     b. On the Home screen, touch the Setup icon ( ).
     c. Touch Service .
     d. Touch the Down Arrow  to scroll to and touch Restore Defaults , and then touch OK . The product automatically restarts.

2. Follow these steps to run the Fax Set-Up Utility : 

     a. On the Home screen, touch the Setup icon ( ).
     b. Touch Fax Setup .
     c. Touch Fax Set-Up Utility .
     d. Follow the on-screen prompts and select the appropriate response for each question.
     e.Try to receive a fax

[PFreiling]

I just bought my new HP CM1415fnw printer and I have having all the same problems mention at the beginning of this thread.  I have wasted about 5 hours trying to get this printer to do what my old 8 year old Brother has no problem doing.

I have a two line analog phone line (primus VoIP) coming in with a double ring distinctive ring for my fax phone number.  I have my phone handset / answering machine coming off the HP Printer and I have the answering machine set to answer after 4 rings (was 3 at first).

-  I have tried everything on this thread.

-  I have updated to the most recent firmware 20120216. 

-  I have read what ever threads I could find on it - including a thread that mentioned I had to use the HP phone cable with two pins not the 4 pin cable that was originally coming from my VoIP modem.

I have tried many different settings but according to the manual I have it now set as:

- Answer Mode: Automatic

- Rings to Answer: 1

- Distinctive Ring: Double (although I have even tried Double & Triple)

- Extension Phone: OFF

The problem is that the Printer's audio of the ring-tone sounds like an unhealthy unstable ring.  When I send a test Fax in this configuration the printer will most often pick up the call and accept the fax (but often not until its almost reached the 4th ring with the answering machine will pick it up - its real close).  Its almost as if the printer does a poor job of picking up the ring pattern and doesnt know if it should pick up because of distinctive ring or not.

Then... when I try to phone the non-Fax phone number with the NO-DISTINCTIVE ring, the printer does its job of not picking up the line BUT... it goes into the START FAX mode which everything I read should only show up if the printer is in MANUAL mode. 

This is where the problem is... because after the phone hangs up and the answering machine recorded the message, the printer sits indefinately waiting for someone to press the START FAX button.  Even though the line is dead.  There is no way out of this.  IF you press Start Fax and then the X for cancel... the Printer sits for ever trying to cancel the call.

There seems to be a bug in this printer's code relating to these functions around FAXing and Auto-Answer.

Sadly - I have worked with HP before and getting them to fix a bug in the code is near impossible.  SO unless someone has any more answers, if I dont figure this problem out in the next few week, I will have to return this printer.  The good news is I can return this printer if I have to.  But I sure would like to get this fixed.

Perry Freiling

pfreiling@shaw.ca

[PFreiling]

As a followup on my problem.  I was on the phone with HP Support to diagnose this problem.  After amost 1.5 hours of diagnosis, the HP team could not correct the issue.  The two key problems that were unresolved were:

-  The HP Printer could not properly detect the distinctive ring.  It was clearly a double ring to my handset on that line but the Printer's ring pattern seemed audibly very broken and choppy (almost sick sounding).

-  Even with the printer in Automatic mode - when a call came in that was not a Distinctive ring, the printer refused to stop asking for manual intervention to happen (i.e. press Start Fax).  Even long after the phone call ended and the line was dead - the printer could not detect the call ended.  At this point the printer's fax service was completely not operating - even though other printer functions could happen.  The only solution to this state was for the printer to be rebooted.

(To note - this exact 2 line service with a double ring distrinctive ring has been working properly on my 8 year old Brother printer - so there is nothing wrong with my Primus VoIP 2-line service with distinctive ring).

Ironically, the problem was escalated to the Supervisor that said "there isnt anything wrong with the hardware to warrant the hardware should be replaced - but there clearly seems to be a problem that the hardware is not working as it should when another printer of similar function has no issues with this setup".  HUH? 

The good part is that they have escalated it to HP Engineering to see if they could determine root cause (i.e. is it a HW problem only with my printer or is it a bug in the latest firmware release for this model of printer or a defect with the print in general when dealing with distinctive rings and line on-hook detect).

I am hoping its just a faulty printer.  I have a service ticket open with HP and I hope to hear soon.

(If an HP support person is reading this - you should be able to find my service ticket based on my name).

Perry Freiling

[mark_melb]

I'd like to know if anyone has had this resolved to their satisfaction.

I need to know if I will have to spend 2 hours on the phone or simply tell them it is not resolvable and ask for a replacement.

[PFreiling]

Sadly its still not working for me.  I got my incident worked on my HP support for like 2 hours.  They could not resolve the problem and it was escalated to Engineering support at HP as a case.  I talked to a HP Printer engineer who said he has never had reports of this and that it must just be a defective hardware.  Since I just bought it - he suggested I replace with a new one from the retailer.  I did that as per his suggestion....

New color printer..... EXACT SAME PROBLEM. 

Even though HP refuses to call it a defect in their printer's ability to detect and properly process distinctive ring... it clearly is.  Two printers do the exact same thing.  And yet my old 8 year old Brother MFC has no problems picking up and processing distinctive ring fax answering.

So I cannot click on this thread that the answers have been acceptable.  Nothing has been.  Its a defect.

[reckenrode]

IIRC when i was still using this unit for faxes I was able to get it working properly after resetting the device and configuring it again.

Are you able to receive faxes in the manual mode?  I know its no solution but I found was a useful test.  

I remember when was running fax though a PBX / VoIP we used a FXS/FXO card to make it analog again.  Digital compression was still too much of a pain for reliable analog connections and retuned to POTS like for fax / modem communications.

[PFreiling]

Yes the printer is able to answer faxes in manual mode.  The problem is that it simply cannot accurately and consistently distinguish distinctive ring.  It is a Primus VoIP 2 line service with a double ring set for the 2nd line (my fax line).

On the connected phone handset the ring is very clearly a double ring.  My Brother MFC also clealry hears the distinctive ring and always answers the fax for the past 6 years.

But on this printer the ring tone that you can actually hear sound so sickly and inconsistent - if I could audio record it for you all to hear you would easly see why this HP is not able to distinguish the double ring.

Unfortunately HP has done a lot of detailed diagnostics remotely and I think they are resigned to chalk this problem up as an isolated event.  But it is very clear to me that its a more common defect.

What is a FXS/FXO card?  Is it something I can place between the fax line and the HP printer?  Maybe it needs some kind of amplifier to the HP printer.