I am trying to setup fax capability using the application 'kdeprintfax' on FC3.

The app isn't sending any faxes; I keep trying different file types but no joy.

Here are some outputs from the log when fax fails to send:
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When sending a *.sxw file (open office word doc)
Converting input files to PostScript

Mime type: application/octet-stream
application/octet-stream: file type not handled

---

When sending a *.pdf file
Converting input files to PostScript

Usage: anytops [-m <filters>] [--mime=<mime-type>] [-p <page>] [--help] <infile> <outfile>

---

When sending a *.jpg file
Converting input files to PostScript

Mime type: image/jpeg
Command: imagetops -gray -noturn %in > %out
jpegtopnm:
WRITING PPM FIL

pnmtops:
warning, image too large for page, rescaling to 0.94061


Sending fax to 0 ()

Sending to fax using: /usr/bin/fax NAME="'david'" DEV='modem' PAGE='a4' send '0' '/tmp/kde-david/kdeprintfax_sq1EYlBH'
/bin/sh: /usr/bin/fax: No such file or directory

---

How do I get fax capability on my linux box; are there any other apps that are recommended?

Hi dh2k, welcome to LQ.

You need to have fax capabilities on your system? E.g. HylaFax.
Let other members correct me or put this more simply, but...
kdeprintfax, as far as I understand, is not itself a thing that communicates with your fax modem. It's just a route to whatever DOES communicate with your fax modem. E.g. HylaFax.
As far as I can tell there are only four people in the world who want to send faxes out of their linux box, you, me, and two other guys I have noticed on these forums.

Also, as far as I can tell, the best idea is to install HylaFax.

www.hylafax.org


It is a fax server, so it's quite heavy-duty: I mean, once it's installed you can set it up so that numerous users on your network can send and receive faxes.
HylaFax might not be very easy to understand at first, but it was one of the first projects I completed as a total linux newbie last year so it's no too bad. For example the setup program was able to detect the modem and commnicate with it with no problems.

There is also Capisuite, which includes capisuitefax, but I don't really know anything about it.
kdeprintfax, as I understand it, just sends your document or fax job to whatever is set up in e.g. var/spool/fax. Or maybe in Fedora it's /usr/bin/fax. Either way, there has to be something in that location that communicates with your modem.

So in summary, you have to install something to talk to your modem. I only know of Hylafax and Capisuite for this.
Then you do have the convenience of KDE's pseudo printers, like "Fax" that will list "Fax" among your printers and send your document to your fax system with a command like "kdeprintfax %in" -- so it's just like printing to any other printer.

When I used Windows I faxed all the time, just installed Cheyenne Bitware in minutes and was ready to go. I am not aware of there being anything as simple as that in Linux. On the other hand, in Linux the whole business is much more stable and reliable. (I always had the impression that Windows (various versions) didn't really like talking to modems and would very likely crash in the process.)

By the way, as far as I can tell, the normal way to recieve a fax in a linux system is to have the fax system get it, turn it into a pdf and email it to you. Both HylaFax and Capisuite do this.

I kind of gave up on hylafax, but what I DO have that works is 'fax' by Ed Casas, or more precisely, efax, by Ed Casas.

I would first get it working via the command line, you must edit the /usr/bin/fax file to point to the correct port for your modem, amongst other things, it's not for the faint of heart, and it took me a long time to get it right. If you can first get your modem to dial with minicom, that's the first good step. Once you can send (and recieve) faxes on the command line, the hardest part is over. Start with a simple text and work your way up to graphics and pdf files. You'll accumulate a lot of error .log files, it's a learning curve, to be sure. With some modems, you may have to force it fax mode 1 or 2.

Back up your /usr/bin/fax file and copy it to a 'script' that you will modify and run, when you run it, it will overwrite /usr/bin/fax -- that way if you reach a dead end you can start over from scratch with your original /usr/bin/fax, and of course, read the man page!

You can then use other GUI KDE apps such as Kword or Kpdf to send documents or pics as faxes. You simply proceed as though your were to print out the document / pic but instead of sending to your (CUPS) printer you change your dropdown box to 'send to fax'.

This will bring up kdesendfax and you then can in a straightforward manner enter the phone number to be dialed, recipients name, etc etc, and click on the 'send fax' button and away she goes. There's even an address book for your convenience.

I had forgotten about all the hard work I had done a few years back to make this all happen, but recently came to appreciate it when I needed to fax a document for a friend. My printer is acting wacky and is printing streaks and stripes so printing out a hard copy and faxing that manually was not a good option, but I did it with kpdf and kdesendfax and I had no problems.

I am still using Slackware 12.2 on my main system because I have always liked KDE 3.5.10 and it is very heavily customized after several years of rock solid stable use, so of course there are lots of upgrades and newer browsers and stuff I compile to fit my needs, but it's just a gem of an operating system and it remains my main system. Of course I do have the latest and greatest Slackware on other machines, but SW 12.2 is not going anywhere anytime soon.

Ed Casa's 'efax', 'fax', and 'efix' may have been included with Slackware 12.2, I just don't remember.

Yes, I remember Cheyenne's Bitware from my very very long ago Windows days, in fact, it worked quite well on my Windows 3.11 machine on a 486 cpu and did double duty as an excellent answering machine, and for handling faxes. I parted company with the Windows world when I used Windows 98 and have never looked back, despite the learning curve, Linux is absolutely worth it.

cheers!!!!