An internal communication failure has occurred in the Fax Module.

[tys6]

Hi, I have an issue with my OfficeJet 8020 that's been occurring for over a month now, message shown is-

"An internal communication failure has occurred in the Fax Module. Contact support.

Note: You can continue to print, copy, and scan."

This pings up straight away when anything is printed to the printer, and Windows recognises that the printer is in error state or says "user intervention". Upon trying to fix it with the feature built into the HP Smart app, it returns saying everything is fine. However you go back to the status and there's still a red bar. The status message as above only shows on the printers web services.

At the beginning I thought it was acting up because it was low on ink, it was refusing to do anything at all. Since buying cartridges it seems keen to scan and print fine but still display the message. I don't use the fax feature and I have disabled it through the web services but the message still shows.

Can't find anything else online and looks as if HP will charge for information over the phone as it's out of warranty. The annoying thing is the printer lives in a cupboard, very light use and has only printed 110 pages over the year and a half I've owned it. It's practically still brand new!

Since this I have tried factory resetting the printer, using WiFi over the ethernet cable, but it's not giving up on this one.

Starting to loosing my trust in HP products, I have normally recommended HP products to family and friends such as printers like these and have used them in the workplace, but lately my confidence in them has significantly decreased. I've trusted HP products for their ease of use, nice designs and competitive pricing over the years but I get the feeling of them being cheap unreliable products that don't last. Not to mention the ink.. which I installed Monday, I haven't printed anything and all 4 cartridges have dropped in levels! 40 quids worth down the drain?

[sandytechy20]

@tys6

Welcome to the HP support community.

I understand that you are getting fax communication issues and a "user intervention" error on the printer, I am glad to assist you.

How are you trying to scan?

Meanwhile:- 

Try the steps mentioned in this HP document to fix the user intervention error:- Click here

Keep me posted.

To thank me for my efforts to help you, please mark my post as an accepted solution so that it benefits several others.

Cheers.

[tys6]

Hi Sandytechy20,

Thanks for your reply, I had tried all those already including the full factory reset but the error "An internal communication failure has occurred in the Fax Module. Contact support. Note: You can continue to print, copy, and scan." still occurs.

It actually has been functioning fine recently since the new ink cartridges which is odd, but still displays the message on the printers web services as well as a push notification on Windows when a job is sent to the printer.

I think at this point it's a lost cause, and there's no clearing it. Seems a bit more like a software or hardware issue inside the machine. Not great considering it's very low usage, but as long as it's working. I don't use the fax feature so luckily I'm unaffected by it, apart from when it seemed to seize operation a few weeks ago which I thought was maybe the low ink.

Many thanks for your help

[sandytechy20]

@tys6

Update the printer firmware to install the latest updates

Here are the steps:- Click here

Keep me posted.

Cheers.

[tys6]

Hi Sandytechy20,

Yes printer firmware is up to date, says last firmware installed in late October

Shame there's not a way to downgrade the firmware, could have tried that

[sandytechy20]

@tys6

This might require one on one interaction to fix the issue.

I am sending you a private message with the steps to talk to HP support.

Please check the mailbox icon at the top-right corner of this screen.

I hope this helps resolve this issue completely.

Cheers.