Every guide, screen and free tool — one page
What the interface actually looks like, what to do when a panel dies, and the free tools that help meanwhile. Short video walkthroughs will land here as we record them — for now, every screenshot below is the real interface, unretouched.
All guides — jump straight to oneAll 32 guides 32 guides
Real screens, explained
The same interface runs on the device touchscreen and in any browser on the plant network. Click any screenshot to zoom.
On the touchscreen, tab by tab
Captured on the device itself — portrait kiosk mode, the way it stands next to a machine.
The deeper tools
And the free app on your phone
The same idea in your pocket — three protocols (Allen-Bradley, Siemens S7, Modbus TCP), one network scan, dashboards and an operator panel. Full app tour →
Emergency guides
HMI panel died — the 10-minute triage
Start here. What to check before buying anything — a surprising share of "dead" panels is a $40 power supply or a burnt backlight — and how to keep producing meanwhile.
START HERE · ANY BRANDPanelView Plus 7 not working
Symptom by symptom: black screen, boot loop, communication errors — what each one tells you and the realistic fix paths.
ALLEN-BRADLEYPanelView touchscreen not responding
Display fine but touch dead, drifting or ghost-touching? How to tell calibration from a failed digitizer, and what each repair actually costs.
ALLEN-BRADLEYPanelView Fatal Error 3A
The boot-stopping stuck-touch error: five physical checks that clear it without parts, and the honest options when they don't.
ALLEN-BRADLEYPanelView not communicating with PLC
Boots fine, shows no data. Six causes cover nearly every case — cable, IP, the RSLinx shortcut trap, firmware protocol mismatch — in the order worth checking.
ALLEN-BRADLEYHMI not communicating with PLC
The brand-agnostic checklist: prove the PLC is alive in 60 seconds, then work six causes — with the Siemens and Allen-Bradley traps called out where they differ.
ANY BRANDHMI black screen: dead unit or $40 fix?
A flashlight and a multimeter separate backlight, power, display and boot failures in five minutes — before you order anything.
ANY BRANDPanelView Plus 1000 replacement
The model is discontinued, so you're choosing a strategy, not a spare part. The four realistic paths with honest money and time.
ALLEN-BRADLEY · DECISION GUIDEPanelView alternatives compared
Red Lion, C-more, Weintek, Siemens or Ignition — what each really costs, the screen-rebuild catch nobody quotes, and how to bridge the gap meanwhile.
ALLEN-BRADLEY · COMPARISONSiemens HMI not working
KTP and Comfort Panel symptoms decoded — and how to get eyes on the machine from a phone while you fix the panel.
SIEMENSSiemens HMI replacement options
New panel with a TIA project migration, used unit, repair — or bridge first and decide calmly. Costs and timelines without the sales gloss.
SIEMENS · DECISION GUIDEReplace or migrate
PanelView obsolete models: the timeline
Every retired family by catalog number — Standard, Component, Plus 6, Plus 7 Series A — its successor, and the decision when one dies mid-shift.
ALLEN-BRADLEY · REFERENCEPanelView 800 replacement
Is the 2711R obsolete (no), what a swap really takes, and the firmware versions that turn a panel swap into a second outage.
ALLEN-BRADLEY · DECISION GUIDEPanelView 550 replacement
PanelBuilder32 is gone and .pba doesn't convert. The four real paths — and the comms trap that catches DH+ units.
ALLEN-BRADLEY · DECISION GUIDEPanelView 600 replacement
Three different panels share the name — Standard, Plus and Component. Identify yours by catalog number; each family has a different story.
ALLEN-BRADLEY · DECISION GUIDESiemens HMI alternatives compared
Weintek, Red Lion, Pro-face and the web route — which drivers genuinely speak modern S7, and the rebuild cost nobody quotes.
SIEMENS · COMPARISONBrand-specific symptom guides
Siemens HMI not booting
The recovery ladder for KTP, Comfort and Unified panels — from a shorted USB stick to a ProSave OS restore. Wipes are last, not first.
SIEMENSPro-face HMI not working
Touch, display and boot checks, the forced-transfer corner trick — and what the connection-key reset really erases.
PRO-FACEWeintek "PLC no response"
It's a timeout, not a dead HMI. The window names the device and station — start there and work six checks in order.
WEINTEKRed Lion touch not working
System-menu calibration, the bezel-gasket trap, and the free-Crimson spare-panel strategy for CR3000 and G3.
RED LIONDelta HMI not responding
Frozen UI, dead touch and comm errors get reported identically. Separate them in two minutes; fix the classic RS-485 mismatches.
DELTAMagelis HMI not booting
Runtime Installer recovery, the GTU removable-card trick, and the one-way Vijeo XD door — before you condemn the unit.
SCHNEIDERMitsubishi GOT blank screen
Touch it first — the screensaver fools everyone. Then the flashlight test and the corner-touch utility menu.
MITSUBISHIHow-to guides
Build an HMI screen without HMI software
From a free phone app to a mounted physical screen — step by step, no integrator, no licensed HMI development software.
STEP BY STEPRead CompactLogix tags without Studio 5000
Logix controllers hand over their own tag list — no L5X export, no project file, no license. See every tag live from a phone in about 15 minutes.
ALLEN-BRADLEYModbus TCP client in your pocket
Scan the subnet, name registers once with a live preview, trend values and write setpoints — from an iPhone or iPad.
MODBUS TCPConnect to a PLC over Wi-Fi
A $30 client-mode bridge on a spare switch port, the security lines you never cross — and what a phone can do once it's on.
HOW-TOTablet as HMI: the two paths
Mirror the panel over VNC, or talk to the PLC directly. They fail differently — picking wrong is how tablets end up in the drawer.
HOW-TORaspberry Pi as a PLC HMI
FUXA, Node-RED or CODESYS WebVisu, the real parts list, and the integration weekend nobody budgets. Build vs buy, honestly.
BUILD GUIDEUse these today
HMI project converter — free, in the browser
Upload a FactoryTalk View, View Designer, Optix, TIA Portal/WinCC or Weintek export and get its buttons, indicators and values back as a LineKeeper screen. Runs entirely in your browser — the file never leaves your computer.
FREE TOOLL5X ladder viewer — free, in the browser
Drop a Studio 5000 export (.L5X) and read the ladder logic — rungs, branches, timers, real tag names and rung comments — without a Studio 5000 license. Runs entirely in your browser — the program file never leaves your computer.
FREE TOOLUser manual
The complete illustrated manual: first setup, PLC connection, operator panel, dashboards with recipes, AI analytics, backups and troubleshooting.
DOCUMENTATIONThe free mobile app
Allen-Bradley, Siemens S7 and Modbus TCP on iPhone and iPad — with the patent-pending "Find by action" tag discovery. Free download, Android beta open.
iOS · ANDROID BETAGuías en español
¿El panel HMI no funciona?
Diagnóstico en 10 minutos y cómo no parar la línea.
ESEl PanelView no enciende
Síntomas, causas y qué hacer mientras tanto.
ES¿El panel Siemens no funciona?
KTP y Comfort Panel: qué dice cada síntoma.
ESCliente Modbus TCP
Escanear, nombrar registros y graficar desde el celular.
ESTags de CompactLogix sin Studio 5000
La lista de tags llega sola, directo del controlador.
ESA dead panel is survivable — start with the free app
The free LineKeeper app puts live values and operator buttons on a phone in about 15 minutes — build the screen today and it's saved for whenever you need it. The plug-in device version — 7″ or 10″ — is in development.