Envy 7640 Automatic Fax to PC output.pdf blank files 1KB in size

[inquisitiveIQ]

Hello there,

This is the second time this problem arises and I would like to know if there's a quick fix. Last time I had to set up fax retrieval on another station since reinstalling the driver on the station that started misbehaving did not fix it. I would like to avoid having to reinstall windows, that's just a pain in the butt.

The fax to PC utility polls the printer for new faxes every 5 minutes, and it still does that, but the retrieved files are incomplete. 1KB in size, blank PDFs. I don't know what causes it, and as I mentioned already, reinstalling the drivers or setting up Fax to PC again doesn't do anything. The behavior is the same.

Any help is appreciated. Also, please don't be afraid to get technical, I'm a tech guy, but this problem just goes beyond my experience with HP printers. 

[rb011]

Hi @inquisitiveIQ,

Thanks for reaching out to the HP Support Forums with your fax issue.

I understand that you have an HP ENVY 7640 e-All-in-One Printer that is having an issue where the 'fax to PC utility', which checks for faxes every five minutes, is retrieving blank 1KB PDFs. I would like to help.

We need to start by testing basic fax functionality. 

HP has a fax test service you can use. The telephone number for this service is 1-888-HPFaxme (1-888-473-2963). The fax service receives faxes and returns faxes within 5 to 7 minutes to the number contained in the fax header.

Please let me know how the test goes.

Please click the "Accept as Solution", and the "thumbs up" buttons up on my initial reply above so others with similar issues can find the solution easier.
 
Thanks!

[inquisitiveIQ]

Hi,

Thank you for replying.

As I said, the incoming fax call gets answered and handled by the 7640, however, when the utility tries to retrieve it from the printer's memory, it fails. It only outputs that 1kb PDF file that's empty.

So the basic fax functionality is fine.

If I turn off fax to PC and have the 7640 just print any incoming ones, it will do so without a problem.

[rb011]

Hi @inquisitiveIQ,

Thanks for getting back to me. Good to know it is fuctioning.

There is a way to set the printer to save incoming faxes to memory.

It does say that incoming faxes will not be saved if the printer is in an error state. 

Please let me know if this resolves the issue, or if you require further assistance.

In fact, if this helps you to reach a solution please click the "Accept as Solution", and the "thumbs up" buttons down below in this message. 🙂

Thanks!

[inquisitiveIQ]

That's not an option with the current driver - "Backup Fax Reception". In fact, there's no "Preferences" option at all.

Since "On" would be the default (and that seems to be the case for this 7640 as well), assume it is unchanged. If it was off, the software would have never been able to get any faxes from the printer - which it did until it just stopped. Makes sense?

[rb011]

Hi @inquisitiveIQ,

The Backup Fax Reception is a setting that is adjusted by using the steps listed from the printer's control panel.

If is already set to 'On' and the printer is not saving the incoming faxes, maybe the printer is in an error state. 

In most cases a Power Reset can clear an error state.

If this helps you to reach a solution please click the "Accept as Solution", and the "thumbs up" buttons down below in this message. 🙂

Thanks!

[inquisitiveIQ]

Selective reading does not apply to customer interactions my friend. 

I said there's no "printer control panel", and none of the options available to me is called "Preferences". Whatever instructions you're looking at, they're definitely not for the 7640. 

I checked everything 7640 related, and there is no option to manually set the fax backup preference.

Since you're only reading parts that you can deal with, here is the summary, again, just for you:

1. reinstalled the driver for the 7640
2. stopped fax to pc, rebooted both PC and printer
3. started fax to pc, rebooted both PC and printer
4. rebooted the printer several times
5. restarted the network (router, all switches)
6. changed the networking cable (sometimes tx/rx errors can occur)
7. swapped the station that began generating the 1kb PDFs for another station, and that fixed the issue for a few months. Now the second station is generating the same 1kb PDF and have already tried 1-6 on this second computer without success.

Trust me, I'm not happy to wait around for 10 hours for a reply from HP to just get a "have you tried rebooting?". That's insulting.

EDIT: How do I get a more verbose log? Why was FaxUpload "Suspended"? What's holding it back? The software on the computer has saved another empty PDF file for that. There are also persistent jobs in the JobList that will not go away. 

Should I reset the printer to factory defaults? Is it the printer getting stuck or is it your driver?

	<j:Job>
		<j:JobUrl>/Jobs/JobList/4</j:JobUrl>
		<j:JobCategory>FaxRecieve</j:JobCategory>
		<j:JobState>Completed</j:JobState>
		<j:JobStateUpdate>83-12</j:JobStateUpdate>
		<j:JobSource>userIO</j:JobSource>
	</j:Job>
	<j:Job>
		<j:JobUrl>/Jobs/JobList/6</j:JobUrl>
		<j:JobCategory>FaxUpload</j:JobCategory>
		<j:JobState>Suspended</j:JobState>
		<j:JobStateUpdate>83-13</j:JobStateUpdate>
		<j:JobSource>userIO</j:JobSource>
		<fudyn:FaxUploadJob xmlns:fudyn="http://www.hp.com/schemas/imaging/con/ledm/faxuploaddyn/2008/07/01"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.hp.com/schemas/imaging/con/ledm/faxuploaddyn/2008/07/01 ../schemas/FaxUploadDyn.xsd">
<dd:OperationStatus>OperationCompleted</dd:OperationStatus>
</fudyn:FaxUploadJob>
	</j:Job>

[rb011]

Hi @inquisitiveIQ,

If you are trying to have these faxes saved to a network folder, you may still need to set up the network folder using the Digital Fax Setup Wizard.

Here is the support document that has the steps needed to successfully set up the Digital Fax Reception - Setting Up HP Digital Fax to Save Received Faxes to Your Computer.

If this helps you to reach a solution please click the "Accept as Solution", and the "thumbs up" buttons down below in this message. 🙂

Thanks!

[inquisitiveIQ]

You don't really know what's going on, do you? 

[rb011]

Hi @inquisitiveIQ,

Let's go ahead and back peddle for a moment. You are right, I may have misunderstood the issue, I should have asked you to clarify when you said 'That's not an option with the current drive' in response to my suggesting you check the control panel. In any case, after reading through your responses again I see now that the 'fax to PC utility', which checks for faxes every five minutes, is retrieving blank 1KB PDFs. 

Well we know the fax works, and you have reinstalled the printer drivers, but when the software is retreived from the printer memory it is failing. This could be being caused by the PDF software.

I suggest uninstalling Adobe, then re-install it and check for updates.

It might also help to make sure the printer's firmware is up to date.

1. On the printer's control panel touch Setup.

2. In the Setup menu touch Printer Maintenance.

3. Scroll down and touch Update the Printer.

4. Touch Check for Printer Updates.

Please let me know how it goes.

If this helps please click the "Accept as Solution", and the "thumbs up" buttons down below in this message. 🙂

Thanks!