Additional resourrces on hylafax
Hi,
I was at my wits end, trying to get this USRobotics sportster
modem to work while sending out faxes. It failed with "Unspecified
Transmit Phase B Error". Well, Drudging through the mailing list
archive, I came across this little reference to the following:
http://www.elgro.demon.co.uk/resources.html, which is a cool set of
hylafax resources.
Well, lo and behold, that had a reference to
http://www.trump.net.au/~rjc/hylafax/usr.html, which is a page for
US Robotics users for Hylafax
That page had the solution I needed.
I include it here for the edification of people. (I spen
months procrastinating getting my fax stuff fixed, and then an
frustrating week digging this out; I was at the point of throwing my
modem out of the window and buying a new, supported modem).
Can we have it included in the Debian Hylafax package? Or at
least the pointers to the two URLs mentioned here? This information
was too hard to find.
manoj
http://www.trump.net.au/~rjc/hylafax/usr.html
______________________________________________________________________
The USR Hylafax Page
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This page is dedicated to the problems getting the USR modems particularly
the Sportster to work with Hylafax.
The Problem
For USR modems in particular look for a high rate of the dreaded
"Unspecified Transmit Phase B Error"
Quite often it is accompanied by
"But the modem faxes fine under Windows..."
Whats a Phase B Error?
Heres a quote from Sam Leffler the principal author of Hylafax
"Phase B is point in the fax protocol where the sender+receiver
first exchange digital information (e.g. each other's
capabilities). Since the error code is uninformative the real
reason for the failure is anyone's guess. If the problem is
repeatable then you've probably got a firmware problem. If not,
then it's likely a line condition problem."
Sam Leffler
Repeatable...you better believe it!!!
Firstly Diagnosing Your Modem
Firstly get information about the modem you purchased. Connect directly to
thte serial port using cu, tip, kermit etc
ie If your running Linux and you have the modem connected
to /dev/ttyS2(DOS COM3)
#cu -l ttyS2
at
OK
ati7
Configuration Profile...
Product type Australia External
Options V32bis,V.FC,V.34+
Fax Options Class 1/Class 2.0
Clock Freq 92.0Mhz
Eprom 256k
Ram 64k
EPROM date 6/6/96
DSP date 6/6/96
EPROM rev 2.0
DSP rev 2.0
OK
~.
[Disconnected]
#
Here is a script to help analyse the reliability of your modem(s):
* errorstats
To run type
./errorstats /var/spool/fax/etc/xferlog
The script analyses the xferlog file, substitute the appropriate location if
different from /var/spool/fax/etc
The output shows the failed fax transmissions by modem. Look particularly at
the number of Transmit Phase B errors.
Which modems are affected?
Transmit phase B errors seem to occur to some extent in all USR modems, this
is not always USR's fault. Quite often if your connecting to another
(cheap)fax modem or a line with multiple devices on it(ie answering machine)
or you have a bad line a Phase B error can easily occur.
If you suspect your modem is faulty make sure beforehand you try sending
faxes to a variety of machines and on different phone lines to ensure its
the modem at fault not external conditions.
OK, now thats clear...
It seems that in late 1995 through 1996 US Robotics shipped a whole bunch of
Sportsters modems with faulty firmware. If the modem is setup with hardware
flow control in fax class 2.0 it becomes extremely difficult to send
facsimiles without Transmit Phase B errors.
The modems can be divided into 3 categories
* Modems up until mid to late 1995
These modems should work without alteration with the standard hylafax
installation scripts
Here is a typical entry for one such modem
Product type US/Canada External
Options V32bis,V.FC,V.34
Fax Options Class 1/Class 2.0
Clock Freq 20.16Mhz
Eprom 256k
Ram 32k
Supervisor date 04/18/95
DSP date 03/31/95
Supervisor rev 6.0.5
DSP rev 1.0.9
* Modems with 1996 Firmware
These modems have particular problems sending facsimiles in class 2.0
Here is a typical entry for one such modem
Product type US/Canada External
Options V32bis,V.FC,V.34+
Fax Options Class 1/Class 2.0
Clock Freq 92.0Mhz
Eprom 256k
Ram 64k
EPROM date 3/4/96
DSP date 3/4/96
EPROM rev 2.31
DSP rev 2.31
* Post 1996 'x2' Firmware
These modems will work with some alteration to the standard
configuration files
Here is a typical entry for one such modem
Product type US/Canada External
Options V32bis,V.34+,x2
Fax Options Class 1/Class 2.0
Line Options Caller ID, Distinctive Ring
Clock Freq 92.0Mhz
Eprom 256k
Ram 32k
FLASH date 3/8/97
FLASH rev 4.1.55
DSP date 3/8/97
DSP rev 10.3.55
Note: I have generally tried to use firmware and DSP dates to
distinguish the modems, there is a weird inconsistency amongst the
Sportster range revision numbers especially with the international
models.
I've got a broken modem what now?
If you own a Sportster with the 1996 firmware, there are a number of ways of
getting it working. The first method is the easiest but has some
disadvantages the others are pretty much untested but might be able to be
made to work better
1. Run the modem in Class 1
Simply select class 1 in the faxaddmodem script or hand edit the modems
config file. The modem now sends and receives in class 1, unfortunately
this can cause other problems.
o Fax reception is not as reliable
o Adaptive answer no longer works
o For multi modem configurations this can increase the load on the
server, which can cause timing problems and hence an increased
failure rate.
2. Run the modem with Software Flow Control
Either software flow control alone or software and hardware flow
control together - I haven't been able to get a working configuration
file with either of these options, but apparently it works...
3. Slow the modem down Try setting the modem to 19200 or even 9600 in
addition to software flow control
If you own a 'x2' Sportster ie 1997 firmware, setup the modems config file
in the standard way(the faxaddmodem script) and hand edit it afterward to
include the line.
Class2NRCmd: AT+FNR=1,1,1,0 # setup status reporting command
With the above configuration the modem should work without too much trouble.
Why it Works under Windows
Quite often when the modem fails under hylafax, the operator then tests the
machine under Windows with some typical Windows fax software. Usually this
test is successful even when the operator specified a class 2 faxmodem. This
is because no matter what most of the Windows software will still fax in
class 1 no matter what kind of modem is specified.(....hello Winfax!!!)
But i bought a Sportster Winmodem?
There are 3 alternatives:
1. Spend the rest of your natural life reverse engineering the Winmodem
protocol, implement a kernel driver and add the functionality to
hylafax...
2. Phone up USR support and say your Winmodem won't work with Linux and
can you exchange it for another Winmodem.
3. Ask for your money back
Have Fun !!! - Robert Colquhoun
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--
Manoj Srivastava <srivasta@acm.org> <http://www.datasync.com/%7Esrivasta/>
Key C7261095 fingerprint = CB D9 F4 12 68 07 E4 05 CC 2D 27 12 1D F5 E8 6E
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