I can't say that I know the secret, but IMHO this is what is NOT secret:
Apple makes the extraordinary feature of built-in faxing available in Panther and lauds it as a major feature--as it should.
Then they fail to provide clear documentation in the Panther package, in Mac Help or on-line as to how to use it. One should be able to go either place, do a search on Panther faxing and find a complete and well written tutorial on Panther faxing from A to Z.
Is this not what a Panther buyer should rightfully expect to see? I think so.
I have gone round and round with an add-in (not supplied at time of computer manufacture) Apple modem card and Panther faxing. The modem appears to be recognized but System Profiler says the modem driver is not found. I even installed a fresh system 10.3 on a different partition with the modem installed to see if that made a difference. It did. System Profiler then reported Modem: (V.90), Driver: Unknown (v1.2.6), and Country: <blank>. I guess an unknown driver is better than one that cannot be found.
But I still could not get Panther faxing to work.
Then I made the mistake of updating the 10.3 to 10.3.4. Guess what? The driver went back to not being found. Nice work, Apple!
So, I was checking out the new Circuit City in the area and they had the Best Data Smart One 56USBP modem for $50. The price seemed right so I picked one up.
Here is where I am, now, and what I THINK I have learned: Connect the modem directly to a computer USB port (initially). Choose a document to fax and open it. Go to the File menu and choose Print... In the Print dialog, choose Fax... The Fax dialog comes up. The modem pop-up menu should be showing some modem name. Enter a known fax number to call. The FAX BUTTON should be enabled. Click it to send the fax.
Somewhere in the process of choosing Fax... and the Fax dialog coming up, you should be prompted to add a fax (very much akin to adding a printer for the first time). The system (hopefully) will have detected the modem and will bring it up as the fax to be added. Complete the "add fax" procedure.
After the external modem has been added, my experience is that it can then be moved to a powered hub and still work fine.
One aside to this discussion that I will mention is a software that you might want to stay abreast of its development. That sw is CIDTrackerX by Dean Davis. It is available on VersionTracker. Its current release is 1.1fc4 and does not work with USB modems, but there is a 2.0 under development that does work with USB modems, and is worth following for this reason.
Presently, the 1.1 application is intended for tracking incoming calls through a modem. 2.0 adds answering machine functions, and Dean Davis has suggested to me that he will look into having CIDTracker watch for incoming fax calls (so that it will relinquish control of the modem) to enable the modem to answer the incoming fax.
I mention this because of its tie in with the USB modems and fax facilitation. And the more people that are following this application with fax facilitation in mind, the better the potential direction of this app becomes. There are forums for CIDTracker at the website for afterten.com.
I am a registered user of CIDTrackerX, and have no other interest in afterten software beyond the fullest development of the software for my end use.
I hope you find the foregoing helpful, and I look forward to more discussion here about faxing and other phone functions on the Mac OS.
On Aug 12, 2004, at 4:40 AM, Danielle wrote:
I have not been able to get the fax part of OS X 10.3 to work. What is the secret?
iBook G4/256/OS X 10.3.4w.applelinks.com
Regards,
Wayne
Wayne Clodfelter [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"Well, if you wanta talk fishin', I guess that'll be OK" ...Lynyrd Skynyrd in "Ask Me No Questions"
Visit our web page, TROUT, NC on the web, at www.troutnc.com
-- G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and...
Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- We have Apple Refurbished Monitors in stock! | & CDRWs on Sale! |
Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html>
G-List list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/>
Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
