Can't fax from multifunction printer in Apple's applications

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Level 2

356 points

Can't fax from multifunction printer in Apple's applications

Back in September I move from High Sierra to Mojave, and promptly lost the ability to fax with my Epson Artisan 837. With a little more testing, I realized that the function wasn't completely gone: the option had only disappeared in Apple's applications (TextEdit, Preview, etc.) but not third party applications. Just today, I realized that not all third party applications retained this feature:

No fax option: Chrome 78.0.3904.108, PathFinder 8.6, Deliveries (from Junecloud), Paperless;

Fax option: Firefox 69.0.3, GraphicConverter 9, Scrivener, Affinity Photo, Yojimbo, Scrapple, Word 2011 (haven't updated since), FileMaker Pro (the closest to an Apple app I found that worked), Mellel, Swift Publisher 4

that's all I tested. I don't know what the difference is, presumably something in how they access the printer driver.

The Epson software was installed long before moving to Mojave. I updated the software to no avail, then deleted all of it and reinstalled, still no luck.

I just bought a Brother MFCL2750DW; after installing the software I had the exact same problem, so it's not an Epson issue. The Brother is supposed to be Mojave compatible for faxing and Apple says that faxing is supposed to work with MFPs in Mojave so it's not like what happened in High Sierra when they cut support for USB fax modems--and it DOES work in Mojave, just not with Apple's own applications.

Here are the options in applications that can't fax:

And in those that can:

Interestingly, the new Printer Features option (replacing Print Settings) does yield a "Send Fax" option:

but as far as I can tell it doesn't DO anything: the other option in the "Send Fax" popup is simply "Off" but setting it to Send Fax doesn't actually change anything: no new options appear, and hitting "Print" simply prints.

Lastly, I've tried creating a different printer in Printers & Scanners. It was set to Brother MFC-L2750DW series with CUPS as the Use. I created a second printer, and chose Select Software in the Use and specified Brother FAX-L2710DN CUPS (the only option that came close to what I have). This did not help.

I tried an Apple support chat, but they had no idea and suggested I go back to High Sierra. At least one other person posted here about the same problem and I've seen other Mac forums with the same issue reported, but no solutions.

Any ideas would be welcome.

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Dec 18, 2019 4:51 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

John Galt

Level 10

140,948 points

Dec 19, 2019 1:59 PM in response to Scott_R

Lastly, I've tried creating a different printer in Printers & Scanners. It was set to Brother MFC-L2750DW series with CUPS as the Use. I created a second printer, and chose Select Software in the Use and specified Brother FAX-L2710DN CUPS (the only option that came close to what I have). This did not help.

Add that printer again, this time specifying AirPrint. At your option delete the existing entry in Printers & Scanners.

Brother certainly does things right by using CUPS, but you don't need it, and as far as I know CUPS isn't appropriate for faxing. There is no need to download or install any Brother-supplied drivers.

That printer faxes just fine with Mojave if you specifically select AirPrint when you install it. The fax option will appear as a separate selection when selecting the app's File > Print dialog:

Notice the entry appends - Fax to the printer name. It does that on its own when adding the printer as an AirPrint device.

To print instead of fax, select that printer queue. It's the same printer, but a different queue, which doesn't append - Fax to its name.

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Answer 2

Scott_R Author

Level 2

356 points

Dec 20, 2019 10:43 AM in response to John Galt

That did it! Wow. Both Brother and Apple were utterly unable to help... actually, the Brother setup instructions specifically said NOT to choose AirPrint! Talk about setting someone up to fail!

Thanks so much.

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Answer 3

Scott_R Author

Level 2

356 points

Dec 21, 2019 7:05 AM in response to John Galt

I went back to the Brother support chat to report the outcome--figuring maybe they can pass on the info in case others have the same problem (and I've seen others post about it). I told the support rep that I'd previously chatted with Brother Support about faxing problems with OS X Mojave and they couldn't resolve it but that I had a solution to report. The rep asked me what version of Windows I was running.

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Answer 4

Feb 3, 2020 1:25 PM in response to Scott_R

I can send faxes from my laptop, but my co-workers cannot. We are all running 10.14.6 and have the same Brother printer drivers. I contacted Brother and got this message, "I was able to verify that The send fax feature of the CUPS driver, is no longer supported."

So I said, "So, how does one send a fax from this MFC?"

To which I received this message, "If you have a telephone cord connected to the line jack on the machine and if you already have a dedicated fax line you can fax directly from the machine." They are telling me to print the document in order to fax it. This is precisely what I wanted to avoid doing. The next message I got was, "We have a PC fax option available for Windows 10."

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Answer 5

John Galt

Level 10

140,948 points

Dec 20, 2019 12:23 PM in response to Scott_R

👍

Now you know where to find people who know what they're doing 😄

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