We have a customer that utilizes nw fax pretty heavily. They have 6-8 pc's running nw fax to a 3050. 1 of the machines developed a problem some time ago, not sure exactly when, that when the port monitor dialog box opens, the nw fax driver fails to execute and they get a windows error message. They can sometimes attempt the nw fax a 2nd time and cancel the first job in the port queue, but many times they cannot and they need to reboot their system.

Their IT co. has called the KM helpdesk and has been told to upgrade the driver, which did not help. He then upraded pc's, and an additional pc started to have the same problem.

I got called by the customer saying that our machine has a problem with its' nw fax software.

I was onsite this morning, used printer deleter to remove all printers on the 2 pc's, including nw faxes, reloaded original divers and kprint port, confirmed operation with 8-10 nw faxes sent and opening up multiple docs and allowing the port dialog box to open the nw fax driver, no problems.

Their IT guy calls me and says he checked back with them this afternoon and they are still having problems. He sounded desperate and is really a nice guy. I really want to help this customer out here, but I just don't believe this is a problem with our machine/software at all.

The simple fact is they have 6 other pc's that have absolutely no problem with the same application.

Has anyone ever had a similar issue?

The helpdesk said there may be another port monitor that may be conflicting with ours, thus causing the nw fax driver to not start up correctly.

They also said that this problem is a windows issue and not a machine/software/kyocera issue.

Any input is appreciated.

Mike

I'm not sure if this still applies, but a few years ago I had a similar problem.

The NW-Fax driver sort of uses the LPT1 port. I say 'sort of' because the data never makes it to the LPT port. However it can trigger software that monitors the LPT port.

Here's how I solved my problem:
Open the printer properties of the NW-Fax
Click on 'Ports'
Click on 'Add Port'
Select 'Local Port'
Type in 'C:\nwfax.prn' (assuming 'c' is available)

This will prevent any inadvertent activity on the LPT port.

Also of note: if this is a Vista or Windows 7 machine you may need to use something like "c:\users\public\nwfax.prn" due to more stringent rights that are used by default. Using the 'public' folder insures that it will work for any user - not just the current one.

Scotty,

This is an XP workstation.

I did have an issue in the past where the port monitor dialog box would not open. In that case I created a new "local" port instead of using the LPT port. I just can't remember if it was on a falcon 3 machine. I don't think it was since the falcon 3's use the kprint port and I have created multiple ports on the workstations in question, all have the same problem.

I really think that there is something else on these pc's that is causing this. Something is not allowing the nw fax GUI to launch, and that is operating system related. If they can't figure it out, I have recommended that they reload XP on these machines.

Anyway, I appreciate any input. I will keep updating.

Mike

I have the same issue with the fax gui not launching

Does the taskalfa color use a tcpip port for the
fax.
I know the port things changed when their went to a single network drop

quote:

Originally posted by Kyocerawho2:
Scotty,

This is an XP workstation.

I did have an issue in the past where the port monitor dialog box would not open. In that case I created a new "local" port instead of using the LPT port. I just can't remember if it was on a falcon 3 machine. I don't think it was since the falcon 3's use the kprint port and I have created multiple ports on the workstations in question, all have the same problem.

I really think that there is something else on these pc's that is causing this. Something is not allowing the nw fax GUI to launch, and that is operating system related. If they can't figure it out, I have recommended that they reload XP on these machines.

Anyway, I appreciate any input. I will keep updating.

Mike

Todd,

In your case, do you get the dialog box showing the job to be NW faxed? If so, does the error occur right when the NW fax interface, where you would enter the fax number, goes to open? Also, do you get the "application failed to launch" message and then you can sometimes cancel the job in the dialog box, but sometimes not, then you have to reboot.

That is exactly what I get, intermittently.

Is the pc running XP also?

Mike

I dont get the box to enter the phone number , mine errors before that.
(Fax connection could not be made)
yes running Xp

quote:

Originally posted by Kyocerawho2:
Todd,

In your case, do you get the dialog box showing the job to be NW faxed? If so, does the error occur right when the NW fax interface, where you would enter the fax number, goes to open? Also, do you get the "application failed to launch" message and then you can sometimes cancel the job in the dialog box, but sometimes not, then you have to reboot.

That is exactly what I get, intermittently.

Is the pc running XP also?

Mike

It sounds like the same problem.

I will keep trying to see what resolves this issue, and will post any results.

Mike

What programs are running when they are sending NW fax's . Are they sending the fax through another program? If so ,ccould their be a conflict with that program?

George,

Yes they are accessing the NW fax driver from an application, but as I said in my original post, there are 6 other pc's doing the exact same thing with no problem.

Mike

Does anybody know what port number NW-Fax is using?

I presume it's not using 9100 (the port TCP/IP printing uses by default).

I'm wondering if there's a firewall issue - since 9100 on LAN traffic and SMB ports on LAN would probably allow traffic.

Scotty,

The IT folks at this account have disabled all firewall, Norton and other security to try and isolate exactly what you are wondering. All to no avail.

I was told by the Kyocera helpdesk, and I quote,"The port number our NW Fax Kprint port utilizes is hard coded by Microsoft and cannot be changed.".

When I heard this, whether it is true or not...I mean not that the helpdesk would give out information that is not correct...I knew they would be of no help.

For now, I am hoping someone here reads this and replies.

Mike

quote:

I was told by the Kyocera helpdesk, and I quote,"The port number our NW Fax Kprint port utilizes is hard coded by Microsoft and cannot be changed.".

Mike

Wow! They really said that? Kprint is not a Microsoft product as far as I have ever known! It was originally used to add LPR/TCP printing to Windows 95/98 and was later modified for other things (like NW Fax and Email printing).

If it were from Microsoft it probably would have been used by somebody other than Kyocera.

Sounds more like a 'good luck with that' response.

Have you tried running MSCONFIG, documenting what's starting up and turning stuff off to see if anything changes? Look for things with 'HP' and 'lx' or 'lex' in the names - HP and Lexmark port monitoring stuff. It's too bad they didn't give you a port number - some thing you can use telnet to at least see if anything's getting through.

Also - you might have them swap the ports on the network switch between a working workstation and the one with the problem. Managed switches can have VLAN's that have their own rules or can have problems that only affect specific ports.