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Troubleshooting

Frequently, the reason for a problem you are experiencing is due to a faulty setting or unintended omission during setup. The symptoms of a problem that you have often provide clues to the reason for the problem. In general, troubleshooting begins with making sure that you performed certain tasks.

About this task

To begin troubleshooting, follow these basic steps.

Procedure

  1. Read the documentation.

    The majority of issues related to the use of this product are covered in the documentation. Check the documentation before calling support.

    Some sections of the Configuration Manager documentation that you should be familiar with include those related to related Microsoft TechNet:
  2. Check your action settings.

    The primary cause of task sequence failures is related to the settings you entered in the task sequence steps.

    Check the task sequence steps for:
    • Valid environment or task sequence variable references
    • Valid file references. Use DOS 8.3 naming whenever possible. Never use file names with embedded spaces.
    • Valid directory references. When capturing files from a target computer, ensure that the destination directory already exists. The process does not automatically create directory structures.
  3. Check the log files and use debug logging.

    The custom actions in this deployment kit provide for capturing the SMSTS.LOG file from WinPE and sending it back to the Configuration Manager server.

    To help with troubleshooting issues, you can also perform extended logging with the custom action. Enable this logging on the Logs/Return Files tab in the sequence action.

  4. When all else fails, contact Lenovo support, as described in Getting help and technical assistance. Before contacting support, however, gather appropriate information related to your problem. When you call Lenovo support, you must have a set of information to provide them so that they can efficiently work your issue. Before calling, gather the appropriate information. Here are suggestions for what to collect.
    1. Export the task sequence you were using by right-clicking the task sequence and selecting Export.
    2. If the issue is visible in the interface, collect screen captures of the relevant portions.
    3. If the issue is related to installation of the product or follows closely after installation:
      1. Gather a copy of the MSI installation log located in the temporary files directory (identified in the %TEMP% environment variable). This file is usually located in a 1 directory and has a random name formatted as MSIrandom_characters.LOG.
      2. Gather a copy of the _Installer.Log file and the _InstalledComponents.Xml file, which are located in the following directory: AdminUI Install Directory\XmlStorage\Extensions\bin\Deployment\Lenovo\Lenovo Deployment Pack\setup
        Note
        The location of the log file varies by machine.
    4. If the issue occurred while running a task sequence:
      1. Gather a copy of the SMSTS.LOG file from WinPE.

        The log might be in the X:\Windows\Temp\Smstslog directory for a PXE boot. The log might also be in the \Smstslog directory on the local drive. The format of the log name might be SMSTSLOGtime_based_name>.LOG.

      2. Gather a copy of the custom action logs saved using the Retrieve the task sequence log file from the client when this action runs check box on the custom action Logs / Return Files tab. You should also select the check box for Enable extended/debug logging by this action.
      3. Gather a copy of the files used as input to the configuration task, such as configuration INI or XML files.
    5. A complete, detailed explanation of the issue, including:
      1. The exact point of failure, such as the action running when the process failed, a description or screen captures of error messages, error codes, and other relevant facts.
      2. A detailed description of the computers being configured, such as model, hardware configuration, RAID controllers, and other characteristics.
      3. A description of circumstances related to the following questions:
        • Has this task sequence or action ever worked? When did it stop working?
        • If it worked before, what is different now? Is the task sequence is being applied to different computer types? Is it using different configuration files, different task sequence variables, or has something else been modified?