You may notice after installing and adding the Fax Server role on Windows Server 2012 r2 you are unable to receive faxes, but sending them is no problem.
If you keep an eye on the server while it is receiving a fax you can see that the call is answered and it attempts to receive the Fax, but then the service crashes and starts itself up again.
You may notice the following events in the application event log:
Event ID: 1001
Event Name: APPCRASH
Problem signature:
P1: fxssvc.exe
P2: 6.3.9600.16384
P3: 5215e627
P4: fxst30.dll
P5: 6.3.9600.16384
P6: 5215eb1a
P7: c0000005
P8: 0000000000005371
And also:
Event ID: 1000
Description:
Faulting application name: fxssvc.exe, version: 6.3.9600.16384, time stamp: 0x5215e627
Faulting module name: fxst30.dll, version: 6.3.9600.16384, time stamp: 0x5215eb1a
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x0000000000005371
Faulting process id: 0x1dbc
Faulting application start time: 0x01cf75b8c2163700
Faulting application path: C:\Windows\system32\fxssvc.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\system32\fxst30.dll
And finally:
The Fax Service Provider ‘Microsoft Modem Device Provider’ encountered a problem and needed to close.
Error Code: 0xC0000005
This error code indicates the cause of the error.
A Windows Error Report was generated with full details about the problem.
The Fax service will restart now.
I knew that our hardware was fine as the modem was an external US Robotics Serial modem that had just come off another server.
Fixing the crashing Windows Server 2012 r2 Fax Server
I am sure Microsoft will come out with a proper fix for this problem, but in the meantime this work around will have to do!
The problem is caused by the fxst30.dll file which is located in c:\windows\system32. We can replace that DLL with a DLL from a Windows 7 installation and then it works fine.
First of all, shut down the fax service so that the DLL is not in use. The service is simply called “Fax”.
Navigate to c:\windows\system32 on the server with the problem and find the fxst30.dll file. Right click on the file and choose properties. Go to the security tab and then click on advanced. Click on the “Change” button next to the owner and change the owner from “TrustedInstaller” to the administrator account you are using to make these changes.
Back in Windows explorer rename the file to “FXST30-original.dll”.
Copy FXST30.dll from a Windows 7 machine into the system32 folder of your server. This is what the two versions of the file I had looked like (Windows Server 2012 r2 on right):
The file that ships with Windows Server does seem to be more recent than the one that comes with Windows 7 – but apparently does not work very well!
Start the Fax Service up again and hopefully you should be able to receive faxes on Windows Server 2012 r2!
Hope this helps.
Luca says
You are great!!!
Erich says
Works like a charm!! Thank’s a lot!!
Vince says
So great and helpful hint! Thank you very much
Michael says
It seems to be very lousy from Microsoft. I spent hours on this problem. What´s working in 2008R2 doesn´t work in 2012R2. A lot of user in other blogs and forums around the world are talking about this problem and there is no reaction from Microsoft. That´s purely bad! However, they sell banana software and get “final” money for that shit.
Tony says
Thank you! I didn’t think anyone else would still be using Fax service on 2012 R2. Great work.
me says
This work perfectly…
many thanks
Enrico says
Win 8/8.1 fax service has the same problem. Thanks for sharing!
Zach says
So glad I found this. I have also been working on this all afternoon. Setup a spare computer to auto-answer faxes and dump them into a shared drive on a VM. Worked great when I first setup the computer with Win8, but after updating to 8.1, it started failing. Didn’t get back to testing it for about 2 weeks after updating to 8.1, so that didn’t even cross my mind. Thanks!
Paulie says
Glad it helped, really ruined my day on the day I had this problem so wanted to spread the knowledge for as many others as possible!
Assis Meny - Assistech says
Paulie: 1 – Microsoft : 0
YOU ARE THE MAN!
Alp says
Great!!
It works, why they updated a working dll, who knows?!
Michael says
This is a fantastic article! Thanks a lot!
Out of curiosity, what model fax modem are you successfully using in your Windows 2012 R2 server example above?
I have to pick one up that is PCI based and native support under Windows Server 2012 R2 is unclear based on reviews of many products.
Anonymous says
You are a god!!!
Moses says
It is 1 year later and it is still happening. Your fix still works great. By the by my symptoms were reverse. I could receive faxes but it crashed when the users sent faxes.
Gustavo says
Brother, you are the best. I spent hours on this issue until I found this link.
Thanks men. God bless you
Annon says
September 2016 and even after running all Windows Updates (Server 2012 R2) this is required. Thank you!