HP 6958 Fax test says hardware error on both printers

[Louie5208]

I have 2 Officejet 6958 printers.  I have sent faxes from both of them in the past.  I just tries sending a fax and I get a hardware error.  This happens on BOTH printers.  I tried to run a fax test, but it says that it can't run the test.  I could understand having an issue on one printer, but both at the same time seems a bit unusual. I have installed the latest drivers but get the same result.

Thanks

[Garp_senchau]

@Louie5208, Welcome to HP Support Community,

Thank you for posting your query; I’m here to help by guiding you through steps to resolve this issue

When both of your HP OfficeJet 6958 printers suddenly show a fax hardware error and cannot run the fax test, even though they used to work, it usually indicates either a phone line signal issue or a firmware-level fault introduced after a power or network change — not two printer failures at once. Let’s carefully go through the complete HP troubleshooting path to isolate and fix it:

Power and Line Reset

Turn off both printers.

Unplug each printer’s power cable and phone line.

Unplug your telephone line from the wall jack as well.

Wait 60 seconds.

Plug the phone line back into the wall first, then the printer, and finally plug the power cord back into the wall outlet (not a surge protector).

Turn on the printers and check if the fax screen initializes normally.

This step refreshes the line voltage detection circuit that can lock out after surges or updates.

Check the Telephone Line

Plug a regular wired telephone directly into the same wall jack you use for the printer.

Listen for a clear dial tone.

If there is no tone or it sounds distorted, the issue is with the line itself — not the printers.

Try dialing a fax number manually from that phone to confirm the line can send outgoing calls.

If there is tone and you can make a call, the line is fine — proceed below.

Verify Fax Setup on the Printer

On the printer control panel, open Fax Setup → Basic Setup.

Check that the Dial Type matches your phone service:

“Tone” for digital/modern lines.

“Pulse” for older analog lines (rare).

Go to Fax Setup → Advanced Setup → Fax Service and make sure Error Correction Mode (ECM) is turned On.

If you are using DSL, make sure a DSL filter is connected between the wall jack and printer’s LINE port.

Run the Fax Test (again after setup)

On the control panel, go to Fax → Setup → Tools → Run Fax Test.

The result page should print with either “Pass” or an error code.

If it still cannot run the test, skip ahead to the firmware check.

Update or Reinstall the Printer Firmware (Update the firmware on an HP printer | HP® Support)

• Go to the HP Customer Support - Software and Driver Downloads page. Enter your printer model number and search for the latest firmware update. Follow the instructions to download and install the firmware update.

Still Fails?

If both printers continue to show the hardware error after these steps:

There may be a change in your phone line signal, such as:

Digital voice service (VoIP) instead of analog.

Cable provider modem updates that broke fax signal compatibility.

Try faxing from another physical location or temporarily through a different phone jack.

Reference: HP printers and fax machines - Resolve fax problems | HP® Support

I hope this helps.

Please feel free to reply here if you have any questions or if you need further clarification on any of the steps. 

Take care and have a good day. 

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Regards,

[Garp_senchau]

@Louie5208, please let me know how it goes after you’ve followed the steps above.