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Before you call

Before you call, there are several steps that you can take to try and solve the problem yourself. If you decide that you do need to call for assistance, gather the information that will be needed by the service technician to more quickly resolve your problem.

Attempt to resolve the problem yourself​

You can solve many problems without outside assistance by following the troubleshooting procedures that Lenovo provides in the online help or in the Lenovo product documentation. The Lenovo product documentation also describes the diagnostic tests that you can perform. The documentation for most systems, operating systems, and programs contains troubleshooting procedures and explanations of error messages and error codes. If you suspect a software problem, see the documentation for the operating system or program.

You can take these steps to try to solve the problem yourself:

  • Check all cables to make sure that they are connected.
  • Check the power switches to make sure that the system and any optional devices are turned on.
  • Check for updated software, firmware, and operating-system device drivers for your Lenovo product. The Lenovo Warranty terms and conditions state that you, the owner of the Lenovo product, are responsible for maintaining and updating all software and firmware for the product (unless it is covered by an additional maintenance contract). Your service technician will request that you upgrade your software and firmware if the problem has a documented solution within a software upgrade.
  • If you have installed new hardware or software in your environment, check Lenovo ServerProven website to make sure that the hardware and software is supported by your product.
  • Go to Lenovo support portal and check for information to help you solve the problem.

You can solve many problems without outside assistance by following the troubleshooting procedures that Lenovo provides in the online help or in the Lenovo product documentation. The Lenovo product documentation also describes the diagnostic tests that you can perform. The documentation for most systems, operating systems, and programs contains troubleshooting procedures and explanations of error messages and error codes. If you suspect a software problem, see the documentation for the operating system or program.

Gathering information needed to call Support​

If you believe that you require warranty service for your Lenovo product, the service technicians will be able to assist you more efficiently if you prepare before you call. You can also see Lenovo product warranty plans for more information about your product warranty.

Gather the following information to provide to the service technician. This data will help the service technician quickly provide a solution to your problem and ensure that you receive the level of service for which you might have contracted.

  • Hardware and Software Maintenance agreement contract numbers, if applicable

  • Machine type number (Lenovo 4-digit machine identifier)

  • Model number

  • Serial number

  • Current system UEFI and firmware levels

  • Other pertinent information such as error messages and logs

As an alternative to calling Lenovo Support, you can go to Service request to submit an Electronic Service Request. Submitting an Electronic Service Request will start the process of determining a solution to your problem by making the pertinent information available to the service technicians. The Lenovo service technicians can start working on your solution as soon as you have completed and submitted an Electronic Service Request.

Collecting service data​

To clearly identify the root cause of a server issue or at the request of Lenovo Support, you might need to collect service data that can be used for further analysis. Service data includes information such as event logs and hardware inventory. Service data can be collected through the following tools:

  • Lenovo XClarity Administrator

    Lenovo XClarity Administrator can be set up to collect and send diagnostic files automatically to Lenovo Support when certain serviceable events occur in Lenovo XClarity Administrator and the managed endpoints. You can choose to send diagnostic files to Lenovo Support using Call Home or to another service provider using SFTP. You can also manually collect diagnostic files, open a problem record, and send diagnostic files to the Lenovo Support Center.

    You can find more information about setting up automatic problem notification within the Lenovo XClarity Administrator at Setting up automatic problem notification to Lenovo Support (Call Home).

  • Lenovo XClarity Controller

    You can use the Lenovo XClarity Controller web interface or the CLI to collect service data for the server. The file can be saved and sent to Lenovo Support.