Resting the internal fax/modem

Just a guess since I haven't experienced this & can't reproduce it, but have you looked at AppleMenu>Force Quit? You may have to shift focus to another window first.

Regards |:>)

I don't know if this will help any, but I think you can reset the modem using AT commands.

For information on how to do this look here
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106592

A link to specific commands for your modem (assuming it's an apple modem) is provided at the bottom of that page.

-Noah

Same story here.
Under not yet fully established conditions, the Fax functionality ceases to work with only a full reboot making the system work again as expected.

I have tried killing efax, modemD and Apple Model processes in various sequences, but not (as of yet) found any solution.

Have you tried resetting the modem via AT commands? I know I'm not offering a way to prevent the fax functionality from stopping but it might be faster than a full reboot.

-Noah

No, I have not tried resetting the modem, as the method is rather complicated. I have set up internet access via DSL and do not want to confuse the machine by doing PPP dialup configuration just in order to be able to issue AT commands.

First: I cannot do this remote.

Second: This is complete non-apple-ish.

Third: This cannot be done automatically.

I'd rather take my chances kill()ing off processes which is a 10 second effort, and I can even include these in some automatic launchd configuration that is ran regularly and upon awake from sleep.

No, I have not tried resetting the modem, as the
method is rather complicated. I have set up internet
access via DSL and do not want to confuse the machine
by doing PPP dialup configuration just in order to be
able to issue AT commands.

You could try a much simpler method. Try using Z-Term. This will easily present you with a serial terminal window. When you launch Z-Term, it will hopefully find your modem. You can test this after a fresh start up. The default command for resetting the modem is "atz" (without the quotation marks). You could also try "ath0" (that's a zero at the end) to tell the modem to go back on hook. If it is the modem that is truly hung in the open state, you may not be able to communicate with it at all. This would indeed indicate that a restart of the computer would be necessary. That was one of the advantages of external modems. You could always recycle the power to reset the modem if it hung.

First: I cannot do this remote.
Second: This is complete non-apple-ish.
Third: This cannot be done automatically.

You can work on these after you find out if it is possible at all to reset the modem without a restart.

I'd rather take my chances kill()ing off processes
which is a 10 second effort, and I can even include
these in some automatic launchd configuration that is
ran regularly and upon awake from sleep.

You may be able to find out which processes are involved in receiving a fax by comparing the running processes at different intervals. This may best be done after a reboot of the computer. Open the Terminal and enter the command "ps awxx" (without quotation marks) and hit return. This will list the running processes. Now have someone send you a fax and look at what processes are running as you go through the process of receiving the fax. Sample the running processes using the same command as the phone rings, during the incoming fax, and after the fax is received. A text editor should help you compare the various output data. This may point to what processes need to be terminated when the modem hangs.

Mac Mini; B&W G3/300

Thomas, did you have any succes in resetting the modem?

I was bitten by the faxmodem lockup yesterday when a customer called us saying he could not send a fax and the call wasn't even answered by our machine

I verified this by calling our fax line: the phone just kept on ringing, no pickup. I scanned through all the logs and found a line 'modem does not respond'. Unfortunately I cannot reproduce it anymore, I checked again this morning and the logfile from yesterday is gone. Unfortunately I have to wait until the next lockup.

I restarted the server and the mdem responded again. This is very nasty behaviour, the modem should reset after 10-20 minutes of problems. I can't reset an office server in the middle of office hours because of a choking modem 😟

Matt: thank you for the AT command tips. I'll try them as soon as I experience the next lock up.

Fredvd,

yes and no.

I was, at least twice, able to resolve the situation by killing modemd, AppleModem and eFax (in that order). Afterwards the modem was responding normal again.

However, another time I completely crashed my system (screen getting black stripes).

I'll wait for the next time the modem stalls and then try a new script I wrote that has appropriate delay between the kill commands. Let's see what happens.

If you (or anyone else out there) is successful using AT commands, please post here to let me know.

- Thomas

Dual G5 Mac OS X (10.4.5)

I've had the second modem freeze now in two weeks. Unfortunately I couldn't test anything, had to reset the server straight away because we're rather dependent on incoming faxes for order entry

Peculiar is that this freeze was around the same time as our last crash, I really suspect that we have one relation with an 'evil fax from h...' that locks up the fax modem by doing something very illegal while connected.

Our normal stand alone fax also had strange lockups, but I have switched our incoming telephone line back to this machine. Rather have my colleagues kicking and unplugging this fax than our OS X Server 😉