I remember handling telephone support for our PC-controlled printing and material-handling equipment for one company.
The error messages were dire and clearly something major had been destroyed, for example by a lightning strike. I could tell that there was something the official upper-ups were trying to conceal, probably so they would not have to pay for repairs.
I finally got them to hand the phone around to the low-level workers who actually USED the machine, and got my answer from a janitor.
"Ummm - I pushed my broom UNDER the machine and I guess it tangled in some cables. When I tugged it back out, there was a big flash and I saw sparks coming out from underneath. Does that mean anything?"
Some symptoms are relevant and others may not be, but more information is usually more helpful than less.
