Common Fax Errors
The table below lists some of the most common fax error messages along with the likely reason and some troubleshooting steps for resolution!
If these steps to resolve your issue do not help, SignalWire Support can investigate what went wrong with our carrier peers.
Please open a support request and include the Fax SID with the error. Per our carrier peers' requirements, these SIDs MUST be from the last 24 hours.
Error | Meaning | Reason | Troubleshooting Steps |
|---|---|---|---|
Connection Failed | There was not receiver on the other end of the call to connect to | The destination is not confirmed to receive facsimile transactions |
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Document generation error | There was an error while generating the document. This could be due to the file being deleted before sending | Internal Service Error |
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Failed to train with any of the compatible modems | A remote fax machine was detected, but the sending and receiving modems could not establish communication | Connectivity issues |
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Fax transmission not established | We could not detect a remote fax machine. This could be due to there being no fax machine on the receiving end or a lack of call clarity. | Connectivity issues, Carrier issues, T.38 Incompatibility issue |
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Log entry lost | The call started but the log entry for the call was lost/incomplete. In practice, this is rare and may indicate a system problem. | Internal Service Error |
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No response after sending a page | The remote fax machine did not acknowledge that it received a page of the fax. Depending on the remote machine's behavior, it may still have printed the page and any preceding pages. | Connectivity issues |
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Received no response to DCS or TCF | The bulk fax service could not successfully determine the remote machine's fax capabilities | T.38 Incompatibility issue | Determine whether the remote side was configured for T.38 only. SignalWire only supports faxes sent using the T.30 protocol. |
The call dropped prematurely | The call dropped due to non-fax transmission error. It is likely that the receiver hung up. | Inbound to SignalWire: The destination is a voice number or not set up to receive faxes. Outbound: The destination is a voice number, or the destination returns ringing for so long that the transmission times out before the handshake can be established. | Retry |
The HDLC carrier did not stop in a timely manner | The fax service initiated a fax transmission with the receiver, but there was synchronization (timing) error that could not be resolved. | Likely low-quality routes |
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Timed out waiting for initial communication | A call was established with the receiver, and the bulk fax service attempted to establish a fax session. However, there was no fax response from the receiver. This could be due to there being no fax machine on the receiving end or lack of call clarity. | No remote fax machine or poor quality routes |
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Unexpected DCN while waiting for DCS DIS | The remote fax machine unexpectedly sent a disconnect message when the fax service asked for the remote fax machine's fax capabilities | T.38 Incompatibility issue | Determine whether the remote side was configured for T.38 only. The protocol is not designed to recover from these situations; all that can be done is fail. |
Disconnected after permitted retries | The fax service attempted to send the same message multiple times unsuccessfully. This may be due to a call clarity issue. | Poor network conditions |
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Far end cannot receive at the resolution of the image | The remote fax machine does not support receiving faxes sent by our service | Quality is too high | Try lowering quality (Resolution is known as "quality" in Programmable Fax). |
Received a DCN from remote after sending a page | The remote fax machine responded with a disconnect message after a page was sent successfully. Depending on the remote machine's behavior, it may have still printed the sent page and any preceding pages. | Poor network conditions |
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Unexpected message received | The fax service received a message that it did not expect given the current context | Protocol failure | Determine whether the expected number of pages matches the number of successfully transmitted pages. Failure may have been in tearing down the call. |
Unexpected DCM after EOM or MPS sequence | The remote fax machine disconnected unexpectedly after receiving a page of a multi-page fax. Depending on the remote machine's behavior, it may have still printed the sent pages and any preceding pages. | Poor network conditions |
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Document loading error | The fax service attempted to generate the message to send but a document was missing | Internal Service Error |
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Invalid ECM response received from receiver | The fax service received an invalid error correction message from the remote fax machine | T.38 Incompatibility issue |
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Updated about 2 months ago