HP Officejet 4215 - fax setup troubleshooting

user guide

troubleshooting information

147

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oubl

eshooting

I have difficulties
when sending faxes
and when receiving
faxes

(continued)

•

Make sure you have correctly connected the HP Officejet to the
telephone wall jack, and correctly connected any additional
equipment and services that share the phone line with your
HP Officejet.

•

Using a telephone line splitter can cause faxing problems. (A
splitter is two-cord connector that plugs into a wall jack.) Try
removing the splitter and connecting the HP Officejet directly to the
telephone wall jack.

•

Check that the telephone wall jack has a working telephone line by
plugging in a phone and checking for a dial tone.

•

Telephone lines with poor sound quality (noise) can cause faxing
problems. Check the sound quality of the telephone line by
plugging a phone into the wall jack and listening for static or other
noise. If you hear noise, turn off the Error Correction Mode (ECM)
feature on your HP Officejet and try faxing again. For information,
see

use error correction mode

on page 65. Also contact your

phone company to report the noise problem on your line.

•

Other equipment using the same telephone line as the HP Officejet
might be in use. For example, you cannot use your HP Officejet for
faxing if an extension phone is off-hook, or if you are using your PC
modem to e-mail or access the Internet.

•

If you are using a digital subscriber line (DSL), make sure that you
have a DSL filter connected or you will not be able to fax
successfully. Obtain a DSL filter from your DSL provider. The DSL
filter removes the digital signal that blocks your HP Officejet from
communicating properly with the telephone line.
For information on how to connect the DSL filter, see

faxing from a

DSL line

on page 131.

•

Check for error messages on the front panel display of your
HP Officejet. Until a product error condition is resolved, you will not
be able to send or receive faxes. For information on resolving error
conditions, see the

hp officejet 4200 series

troubleshooting section

in the onscreen

hp image zone help

that came with your software.

•

If you are using either a PBX or an ISDN converter, make sure the
HP Officejet is connected to the port that is designated for fax and
phone use.
Note that some ISDN systems allow you to configure the ports for
specific phone equipment—for example, you might have assigned
one for telephone and Group 3 fax and another for multiple
purposes. If you continue to have problems when connected to the
fax/phone port, try using the port designated for multiple purposes
(might be labeled “multi-combi” or something similar).

problem

possible cause and solution

hp officejet 4200 series

chapter 13

148

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eshooting

I cannot receive faxes,
but I can send faxes

•

The Rings to Answer feature might not be set to answer after the
appropriate number of rings for your office setup.

•

If you have a voice mail service at the same phone number you use
for fax calls, you must receive faxes manually, not automatically. For
information on how to receive faxes manually, see

receive a fax

manually from a phone

on page 48.

•

If you have a PC modem on the same phone line with your
HP Officejet, check to make sure that the modem’s software is not
set to receive faxes automatically. Modems with this auto fax
receive feature turned on will take over the phone line to receive all
incoming faxes, which will prevent the HP Officejet from receiving
fax calls.

•

If you have an answering machine on the same phone line with
your HP Officejet, you might have one of the following problems:

–

Your outgoing message might be too long or too loud to allow
the HP Officejet to detect fax tones, and the calling fax machine
might disconnect.

–

Your answering machine might not have enough quiet time after
your outgoing message to allow the HP Officejet to detect fax
tones. This problem is more common with digital answering
machines.

The following actions might help solve these problems:
a. Disconnect the answering machine and then try receiving a fax.

If faxing is successful without it, the answering machine might
be causing the problem.

b. Reconnect the answering machine and re-record your outgoing

message. Make sure the message is as short as possible (no
more than 10 seconds long), and that you speak softly and
slowly when recording it. Try again to receive a fax.

•

If you have a special ring pattern for your fax phone number (using
a distinctive ring service through your telephone company), make
sure that the Answer Ring Pattern feature on your HP Officejet is set
to match. For example, if the phone company has assigned your
fax number a double ring pattern, make sure Double Rings is
selected as the Answer Ring Pattern setting. For information on
changing this setting, see

change the answer ring pattern

(distinctive ringing)

on page 63.

Note that some ring patterns cannot be recognized by the
HP Officejet, such as those with alternating short and long ringing
patterns. If you are having problems with a ring pattern of this type,
ask your phone company to assign a non-alternating ring pattern.

problem

possible cause and solution

user guide

troubleshooting information

149

tr

oubl

eshooting

I cannot receive faxes,
but I can send faxes
(continued)

•

If you are not using a distinctive ring service, check to make sure
that the Answer Ring Pattern feature on your HP Officejet is set to
All Rings. For information, see

change the answer ring pattern

(distinctive ringing)

on page 63.

•

If your HP Officejet shares the same phone line with other types of
phone equipment—such as an answering machine or a PC
modem—the fax signal level could be reduced, causing fax
reception problems.
To find out if other equipment is causing a problem, disconnect
everything except the HP Officejet from the phone line, and then try
to receive a fax. If fax reception is successful without the equipment,
then one or more pieces of the equipment is causing problems; try
adding them back one at a time and faxing, until you identify
which equipment is causing the problem.

I cannot send faxes,
but I can receive faxes

•

If you are using speed dial to dial the fax number, the HP Officejet
might be dialing too fast or too soon. To solve this problem, try one
of the following:

–

Try manually dialing the fax number from the HP Officejet front
panel, or from an attached phone. For information, see

send a

fax using monitor dialing

on page 43 or

send a fax manually

from a telephone

on page 43.

–

Re-create the speed dial setting and insert some pauses. For
information, see

create individual speed-dial entries

on

page 56.

•

If your telephone line has a PBX system, make sure you are dialing
the number for an outside line before dialing the fax number.

•

The receiving fax machine might be having problems. To check this,
try calling the fax number from a telephone and listen for fax tones.
If you cannot hear fax tones, the receiving fax might not be turned
on or connected, or a voice mail service could be interfering with
the recipient’s phone line.

I hear static on my
telephone line ever
since I connected the
HP Officejet

•

If you did not connect the HP Officejet from the port labeled “1-
LINE” to your telephone wall jack using the phone cord supplied in
the box with your HP Officejet, you could hear static on your phone
line and you probably will not be able to fax successfully.

*

This

special 2-wire cord is different from the more common 4-wire cords
you might already have in your office. For more information, see

I

have difficulties when sending faxes and when receiving faxes

on

page 146.

I hear static on my
telephone line ever
since I connected the
HP Officejet

(continued)

*

This possible cause/solution applies only in the countries/regions that

receive a 2-wire phone cord in the box with the HP Officejet, including:
Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Greece,
India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Latin America, Malaysia, Mexico,
Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain,
Taiwan, Thailand, USA, Venezuela, and Vietnam.

•

Using a telephone line splitter could affect the sound quality of your
phone line, causing static. Try removing the splitter and connecting
the HP Officejet directly to the telephone wall jack.

problem

possible cause and solution