Modem stopped working after earlier Windows 10 update

[Altair8800]

I'll post back here if I find a solution. I'm being sent a couple experimental drivers over the next week, and will also try a fresh reload of the Windows 10 operating system. If it turns out to be yet another case of deliberate obsolecense of hardware via software (seems to be the trend these days!), I am going to buy a new desktop and reload my existing desktop with Windows 7, as I run multiple processes that continuously report weather conditions to NOAA, control an amateur radio system, and control a greenhouse climate/irrigation system. Obviously, I can't afford the constant system freezing, lockups, update restarts, privacy issues, and unstable operation that comes with Windows 10 on these applications.

[Echo_Lake]

@Altair8800
Thank you for posting back.
Work on it as per your convenience and keep me posted on the results.

[Altair8800]

Seems that this is actually a well known issue. Apparently the last topic on this was closed for some reason without a solution yet from Microsoft>

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-hardware/win-10-ver-1511-breaks-voice-m...

[Echo_Lake]

@Altair8800
I have brought your issue to the attention of an appropriate team within HP. They will likely request information from you in order to look up your case details or product serial number. Please look for a private message from an identified HP contact. Additionally, keep in mind not to publicly post personal information (serial numbers and case details).

Thank you for visiting the HP Support Community.

[Altair8800]

Thanks for your assistance!

In the mean time, I have purchased a new USR 5639 USB modem that is (according to USR tech support) totally compatible with Windows 10 and the latest updates.

[Echo_Lake]

@Altair8800

• Are you able to use the New USR 5639 USB modem?

Keep me posted for further assistance.

[Altair8800]

Same Issue with the USR 5639 modem that I had with the newer Hiro 50228 "Windows 10 compatible" modem.

At least the older Hiro 50113 modem is showing incoming caller ID information in both programs, but is unable to accept AT commands to go off-hook or dial. Both the new USR 5639 and the Hiro 50228 won't even show incoming caller ID information at all, nor will the accept AT commands to go off-hook or dial. After some additional research, this seemed to occur initially around the time of the "Windows 10 Creators Update" based on when I tried to both send and receive a FAX from a subcontractor who ended up mailing me the document which was dated. It was some time before I realized that my phone telemarketer blocking programs were no longer blocking certain callers who were not being blocked by my robocall blocking service . Also, I had read a post sometime back from someone that was experiencing the same issue and was apparently told by a Windows tech that it would be corrected in a future update. A followup post from the same individual some months later indicated that this had not yet happened, as did some replies to his post also expressing the same frustration which indicated even more cases of this issue.

[Echo_Lake]

@Altair8800
I have brought your issue to the attention of an appropriate team within HP. They will likely request information from you in order to look up your case details or product serial number. Please look for a private message from an identified HP contact. Additionally, keep in mind not to publicly post personal information (serial numbers and case details)

Thank you for visiting the HP Support Community.

[Altair8800]

I pretty much got the answer that I expected from HP, which was "I regret to inform you that your unit has reached End of Support Life as it was introduced in 2011, which means that HP no longer has access to recovery discs, hardware or software for your system."

My next step will be to contact US Robotics, since I now have a new USR modem that was "guaranteed to work with Windows 10" and see what happens. Last resort will be to make contact with a different Windows support tech or two, as I am sure somebody out there would actually know what the exact issue is. I'm suspecting that it may be in the way that the Creator's update handles USB ports, as I do remember having to purchase a new USB to RS-232 adapter to handle my weather instrument interface sometime back, thinking it simply failed from a power surge.

I have also read that many who were using USB internet access "dongles" that apparently use a cellular connection had the same issue after the "creator's update".  Maybe it's a similar issue.

Again, thanks for your assistance!

[Altair8800 · Accepted solution]

Finally corrected the issue(s)-

The main issue was that the phone jack I was using for the modem and my desk phone had the Tip and Ring connections reversed which didn't cause any issues with the phone, but apparently modems are sensitive to this. It appears this happened when a plumber who was installing a new water line cut my phone line and re-spliced it behind the washing machine without my knowledge, which was around the time that Windows did their creators update. This was the cause of the modem(s) being unable to respond to AT commands, but had no effect of the display of CID info.

Also, with many new modems, certain modem-dependent programs will not work correctly unless you enable the Caller ID in the modems settings in Windows. In the Advanced tab of the modem's options you should be able to add some initialization commands. The one to enable Caller ID is: AT+VCID=1. After doing this, both newer modems worked like a charm on all programs.

Learn something new every day!

Bill