DLP@psuvm.psu.edu (David L. Passmore) (09/01/90)
Ok, I give up! I don't think that this AppleFax modem will ever work. I have tried it on a Mac IIcx and a Mac+. I keep getting system error 11-- "Misc hardware error." I am beginning to believe that this is true. Is there ANY assistance out there? Should we just throw these AppleFax modems away in the IBM PC trash? Does anyone else out there experience this?
paulr@syma.sussex.ac.uk (Paul T Russell) (09/01/90)
From article <90243.155827DLP@psuvm.psu.edu>, by DLP@psuvm.psu.edu (David L. Passmore): > Ok, I give up! > > I don't think that this AppleFax modem will ever work. I have tried it on > a Mac IIcx and a Mac+. I keep getting system error 11-- "Misc hardware error." > I am beginning to believe that this is true. > > Is there ANY assistance out there? Should we just throw these AppleFax > modems away in the IBM PC trash? Does anyone else out there experience this? We bought a number of AppleFax modems about a year ago and they all seem to be failing about now. (A couple of them are still working). I gather that Apple is no longer making the AppleFax modem (I wonder why ?). The nicest alternative FAX modem I saw at Boston MacWorld was the FlexFAX but it's expensive at $899. I doubt that there's any way of getting these modems fixed, so, yes, I think it's time to write them off as a bad loss and start looking for a decent alternative - any recommendations from satisfied FAX modem users would be appreciated (we would need them to work with BackFAX/ FaxGate). //Paul -- Paul Russell, Department of Experimental Psychology University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QG, England Janet: paulr@uk.ac.sussex.syma Nsfnet: paulr@syma.sussex.ac.uk Bitnet: paulr%sussex.syma@ukacrl.bitnet Usenet: ...ukc!syma!paulr
alexr@apple.com (Alexander M. Rosenberg) (09/05/90)
In article <3376@syma.sussex.ac.uk> paulr@syma.sussex.ac.uk (Paul T Russell) writes: > From article <90243.155827DLP@psuvm.psu.edu>, by DLP@psuvm.psu.edu (David L. Passmore): > > Ok, I give up! > > > > I don't think that this AppleFax modem will ever work. I have tried it on > > a Mac IIcx and a Mac+. I keep getting system error 11-- "Misc hardware error." > > I am beginning to believe that this is true. > > > > Is there ANY assistance out there? Should we just throw these AppleFax > > modems away in the IBM PC trash? Does anyone else out there experience this? > > We bought a number of AppleFax modems about a year ago and they all seem > to be failing about now. (A couple of them are still working). I gather > that Apple is no longer making the AppleFax modem (I wonder why ?). > The nicest alternative FAX modem I saw at Boston MacWorld was the > FlexFAX but it's expensive at $899. > > I doubt that there's any way of getting these modems fixed, so, yes, I > think it's time to write them off as a bad loss and start looking for a > decent alternative - any recommendations from satisfied FAX modem > users would be appreciated (we would need them to work with BackFAX/ > FaxGate). > > //Paul I was under the impression that you could get hardware repairs. The software is no longer suported. (As I understand it.) You should also be able to obtain the latest ROMs. (1.1) These ROMs fixed an incompatibility with some fax machines that did not meet the Group III spec correctly. (Mainly Pitney-Bowes machines.) I guess that its safe to mention an Easter Egg. Hold in the Pass-thru swicth when you turn your AppleFax on. It should beep three times. If you follow the third beep with three presses of the button, timed as the beeps were, then you will hear, "Peter, Allen, Neil" These are the names of the software engineers. NOTE: I am not speaking for Apple in any official way. These are my own opinions, and all information contained here may not be accurate in any way. (Even though I was on the AppleFax test team. :( ) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Alexander M. Rosenberg - INTERNET: alexr@apple.com - Yoyodyne - - 330 1/2 Waverley St. - UUCP:ucbvax!apple!alexr - Propulsion - - Palo Alto, CA 94301 - - Systems - - (415) 329-8463 - Nobody is my employer so - :-) - - (408) 974-3110 - nobody cares what I say. - -
paulr@syma.sussex.ac.uk (Paul T Russell) (09/06/90)
From article <10036@goofy.Apple.COM>, by alexr@apple.com (Alexander M. Rosenberg): > > I was under the impression that you could get hardware repairs. The > software is no longer suported. (As I understand it.) > Unfortunately Apple decided not to sell the AppleFAX modem in the UK, so we had to buy our AppleFAX modems via an unscrupulous (?) Apple dealer in the US. Even if we could get them repaired, the cost of shipping back to the US and back to the UK again plus repair costs would probably be prohibitive (not to mention all the export/import hassles). As I said, I think we'll have to write them off and find another FAX modem. Just out of curiosity, why DID Apple kill off the AppleFAX ? Before our modems started keeling over they worked well. Seems a waste of R&D to me... //Paul -- Paul Russell, Department of Experimental Psychology University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QG, England Janet: paulr@uk.ac.sussex.syma Nsfnet: paulr@syma.sussex.ac.uk Bitnet: paulr%sussex.syma@ukacrl.bitnet Usenet: ...ukc!syma!paulr
gaynor@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Jim Gaynor) (09/07/90)
In article <3400@syma.sussex.ac.uk> paulr@syma.sussex.ac.uk (Paul T Russell) writes: > >Just out of curiosity, why DID Apple kill off the AppleFAX ? >Before our modems started keeling over they worked well. Seems >a waste of R&D to me... Well, from what I understand, the AppleFAX modem may have been a waste from day one. I read an interview with Michael Spindler in MacWorld late last year; in the interview he was asked what Apple's biggest mistake on the market was. "The AppleFAX modem." <shrug> -=- +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Jim Gaynor - The Ohio State Univ. - IRCC - Facilities Mgmt. - OCES <whew!> | | Email [gaynor@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu], [gaynor@agvax2.ag.ohio-state.edu] | |_ "Don't tell me truth hurts, little girl; because it hurts like hell..." _|
Mark.Bryant@p1.f54.n382.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Mark Bryant) (09/07/90)
PTR> We bought a number of AppleFax modems about a year ago and they PTR> all seem to be failing about now. (A couple of them are still PTR> working)... What exactly is happening? Is the failure such that when you turn it on, the green light blinks briefly, then goes out? If so, it's probably the power supply (that was what was wrong with mine). I was able to get my Apple dealer to replace the power supply (Apple is still supplying these as spare parts), and all is now well. -- Mark Bryant via cmhGate - Net 226 fido<=>uucp gateway Col, OH UUCP: ...!osu-cis!n8emr!cmhgate!382!54.1!Mark.Bryant INET: Mark.Bryant@p1.f54.n382.z1.FIDONET.ORG
paulr@syma.sussex.ac.uk (Paul T Russell) (09/11/90)
From article <69723.26E9C6F7@cmhgate.FIDONET.ORG>, by Mark.Bryant@p1.f54.n382.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Mark Bryant): > > PTR> We bought a number of AppleFax modems about a year ago and they > PTR> all seem to be failing about now. (A couple of them are still > PTR> working)... > > What exactly is happening? Is the failure such that when you turn it > on, the green light blinks briefly, then goes out? If so, it's probably > the power supply (that was what was wrong with mine). I was able to > get my Apple dealer to replace the power supply (Apple is still supplying > these as spare parts), and all is now well. > The pattern seems to be as follows: Modem dies after being switched on for a long time. Swicthing off for a while cures problem. Modem dies after about half an hour (usually during the transmission of a large file :-(). Modem dies completely. Green light still on. No PSU problem. Just dead modem. On at least one of the modems I notice a crackling from the speaker at switch on, which sounds like it might be a capacitor breaking down or some such. When I get a spare moment I'll pull one apart and see if I can do anything with it. I believe there is some sort of piggy back modem module in there so I guess I could try swapping those around. //Paul -- Paul Russell, Department of Experimental Psychology University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QG, England Janet: paulr@uk.ac.sussex.syma Nsfnet: paulr@syma.sussex.ac.uk Bitnet: paulr%sussex.syma@ukacrl.bitnet Usenet: ...ukc!syma!paulr
alexr@apple.com (Alexander M. Rosenberg) (09/13/90)
In article <3431@syma.sussex.ac.uk> paulr@syma.sussex.ac.uk (Paul T Russell) writes: > On at least one of the modems I notice a crackling from the speaker > at switch on, which sounds like it might be a capacitor breaking down > or some such. > > When I get a spare moment I'll pull one apart and see if I can do > anything with it. I believe there is some sort of piggy back > modem module in there so I guess I could try swapping those around. Your problem is probably a bad power supply. The speaker is driven directly by the 65C112 processor in the modem. Switching the "piggy back modem module" will probably not help. This module is the modem tranceiver chip set, and your symptoms don't suggust this to be the problem. If you insist on doing it yourself (and it seems you must) then I'd check the voltage coming out of the power supply. If the supply isn't supplying enough, then everything will seem to work, but transmissions will be slow and full of errors, and any of the "failure" modes you described can happen. We had a problem similar to this where one of our test modem's power supply had gone bad, and we spent two days trying to figure out if it's poor transmission performance could be attributed to a particular fax machine. (This involved me running around from building to building and using every fax machine Apple owns, not just the ones we had been using in our lab. After we figured it out, the hardware engineers checked the power supply and decided that it was an isolated case.) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Alexander M. Rosenberg - INTERNET: alexr@apple.com - Yoyodyne - - 330 1/2 Waverley St. - UUCP:ucbvax!apple!alexr - Propulsion - - Palo Alto, CA 94301 - - Systems - - (415) 329-8463 - Nobody is my employer so - :-) - - (408) 974-3110 - nobody cares what I say. - -