HP LaserJet MFP Analog Fax Accessory - Troubleshooting General Issues

Use the information in this document to troubleshoot general fax issues.

Is the fax set up correctly?
Use the following checklist to help identify the cause of any faxing problems you might be encountering.

Is the phone cord supplied with the fax accessory being used?
This fax accessory has been tested with the supplied phone cord to meet RJ11 specifications.

Is the Fax/Phone line connector seated into the socket on the fax accessory?
Make sure that the phone jack is well seated into the socket and that the PCMCIA modem card is firmly seated in the fax accessory.

Is the phone wall jack working properly?
Verify that a dial tone exists by attaching an analog phone to the wall jack. Is there an audible dial tone, and can a phone call be made?

What is the type of phone line being used?
1. Dedicated line: A standard fax/phone number assigned to receive or send faxes.
2. PBX system: A business-environment phone system. Standard home phones and the fax accessory use an analog phone signal. PBX systems are digital and are incompatible with standard phones and with devices such as the fax accessory. It is necessary to have access to a standard analog phone line in order to send and receive faxes.
3. Rollover lines: A phone system feature where a new call “rolls over” to the next available line when the first incoming line is busy. Try attaching the fax accessory to the first incoming phone line. The fax accessory will answer the phone after it rings the number of times set in the rings-to-answer setting. 

NOTE: Rollover lines can cause problems with the fax accessory’s ability to receive faxes. Using rollover lines with this product is not recommended.

Is a phone-line splitter being used?
1. Parallel or “T” phone-line splitters should not be used with the fax accessory, because they can degrade the quality of the phone signal.

Is a surge-protection device being used?
1. A surge-protection device can be used between the wall jack and the fax accessory to protect the fax accessory against electrical power passed through the phone lines.
2. These devices can cause some fax communication problems by degrading the quality of the phone signal.
3. If having problems sending or receiving faxes and are using one of these devices, connect the fax accessory directly to the phone jack on the wall to determine whether the problem is with the surge-protection device.

Is a phone company voice-messaging service or an answering machine being used?
1. This is a voice-messaging service used to replace telephone-answering devices.
2. If the rings-to-answer setting for the messaging service is lower than the rings-to-answer setting for the fax accessory, the messaging service answers the call, and the fax accessory is not able to receive faxes.
3. If the rings-to-answer setting for the fax accessory is lower than that of the messaging service, the fax accessory answers all calls, and no calls are routed to the messaging service.

General fax problems

 The MFP did not display the prompts for the fax settings and is not displaying the fax menus.
1. Upgrade the firmware version of the MFP.

Document stops feeding in the middle of faxing.
1. There may be a jam in the ADF.
2. If there is a jam, see the MFP user guide for instructions on clearing jams.

Fax activity logs or fax call reports are printing at unwanted times.
1. The fax call reports settings are not correct.

The volume for sounds coming from the fax accessory is too high or too low.
1. The volume setting needs to be adjusted.

The fax accessory is not sending or receiving faxes.
The PCMCIA communication card or phone jack may not be seated.
1. Push on the PCMCIA card to make sure it is seated firmly in the fax accessory.
If the amber attention LED (exclamation mark inside of a triangle) on the top of the fax accessory is blinking slowly, the PCMCIA card is not fully inserted:
2. Verify that the phone jack is pushed all the way into the socket.

The attention light is blinking slowly
The country/region setting may not have been set on the HP LaserJet 4100 product display.
To set or change the fax country/region setting, follow these steps:
1. On the control panel, press the MENU button.
2. Select CONFIGURE DEVICE.
3. Select the FAX menu.
4. Select GENERAL.
5. Select COUNTRY/REGION.
6. Select the appropriate country or region.

Receiving fax problems

Incoming fax calls are not being answered by the fax accessory
1. The rings-to-answer setting might not be set correctly. Check the rings-to-answer setting.
2. The phone cord might not be connected properly, or the phone cord is not working
3. The phone line might not be working.
4. A voice-messaging service may be interfering with the fax accessory’s ability to answer calls.
5. Disconnect the fax accessory from the phone jack, and connect a phone. Try to make a phone call to ensure the phone line is working. .

Try one of the following:
1. Discontinue the messaging service.
2. Get a phone line dedicated to fax calls.
3. Decrease the rings-to-answer for the fax accessory to a number less than the rings-to-answer for the voice mail.

Faxes are transmitting or being received very slowly.
1. A very complex fax, such as one with many graphics, may be being sent or received.
2. The sending or receiving fax machine might have a slow modem speed.
3. Complex faxes take longer to be sent or received.

Faxes are not printing on the MFP.
1.There is no media in the media input tray.
2. The MFP has run out of toner.

Sending fax problems

Faxes quit during sending.
1. The fax machine to which you are sending might be malfunctioning.
2. The phone line might not be working.
3. Try sending to another fax machine.
4. Disconnect the fax accessory from the phone jack, and connect a phone. Try to make a phone call to ensure the phone line is working.

The fax accessory is receiving faxes but is not sending them.
1. If the fax accessory is on a PBX system, the PBX system might be generating a dial tone the fax accessory cannot detect.
2. There might be a poor phone connection.
3. The receiving fax machine might be malfunctioning.
4. The phone line might not be working.
5. Try again later.
6. Try sending to another fax machine.
7. Disconnect the fax accessory from the phone jack, and connect a phone. Try to make a phone call to ensure the phone line is working.

Outgoing fax calls keep dialing.
1. The fax accessory automatically redials a fax number if the redial on busyoption is set to on.
2. The only way to stop the fax accessory from redialing is to clear all stored faxes. This will delete all faxes waiting to be sent or printed.

Faxes being sent are not arriving at the receiving fax machine.
1. The receiving fax machine might be turned off, or might have an error condition, such as being out of paper.
2. A fax might be in memory because it is waiting to redial a busy number, or there are other jobs ahead of it waiting to be sent.
3. Call the recipient to make sure that the fax machine is on and ready to receive faxes.
4. If a fax job is in memory for either of these reasons, an entry for the job appears in the fax log.

© 2005 Hewlett-Packard