Symptom → path
| What you see | What it means | Path |
|---|---|---|
| Dark screen | Power or backlight, not boot | Black-screen triage first |
| "Waiting for download" / initial-start screen | No runtime or application on the unit | Runtime Installer (below), then download the project |
| "Runtime mismatch" when downloading | Vijeo Designer version ≠ runtime version on the panel | Align versions — upgrade VD, or push the matching runtime via USB stick / SD card |
| Stuck at splash, or corrupt behavior (GTU) | On HMIGTU the OS lives on a removable card — corruption looks like a dead panel | Re-image or swap the CFast (HMIG5U) / SD (HMIG3U) card |
| Boots, but no PLC data | Comms, not boot | Comms checklist |
Runtime Installer: the recovery tool you already have
Vijeo Designer installs a companion called Runtime Installer. Launch it from the Start menu, pick USB or Ethernet, and send the runtime to the panel — it recovers units stuck at "waiting for download"/"waiting for next connection" and can revert a panel to its factory initial-start state. After the runtime lands, download the project from Vijeo Designer as usual.
The traps worth knowing before you act
- HMIGTO on Vijeo XD is a one-way door: a GTO upgraded to Vijeo XD cannot be taken back to Vijeo Designer. Check which runtime family the panel is on before pushing anything.
- GTU is card-based: the CFast (HMIG5U) or SD (HMIG3U) card is the panel's OS. A spare imaged card in the cabinet turns a "dead panel" into a five-minute swap.
- Forgotten download password: recovery means initializing the unit — the application on it is lost. If the project file is missing too, the panel was your only copy; keep .vdz exports off the machine.
If it really is hardware
Old XBT-era units are long retired and spares are scarce; GTO/GTU repairs run the usual $300–$1,000. Weigh that against migration the same way as any retired panel — and either way, the controller below is almost certainly still running the machine.
Keep producing while you wait
Have the panel project export? Drop a FactoryTalk View, TIA Portal, Weintek or CSV export into our free HMI project converter — it runs in your browser, the file never leaves your PC, and every display becomes a page of buttons, indicators and values for the app, with the real tag names already in place.
Today, from a phone: the free LineKeeper app for iPhone and iPad speaks EtherNet/IP, Siemens S7 and Modbus TCP. On Allen-Bradley Logix it reads the controller's own tag list automatically; on S7 and Modbus you add the addresses you care about. Build a dashboard and an operator panel with start/stop buttons in about 15 minutes, mount a spare iPad in full-screen panel mode, and the operator has a screen before the first repair quote arrives. Reading is free; writes are a one-time unlock with confirmation and limit checks on every value.
The 15-minute temporary panel
Zero-config tag browser for Logix, drag-and-drop dashboard, operator panel, alarms — no changes to the PLC program.
On a desktop? Scan with your iPhone or iPad to get the free app.For the machine itself: the LineKeeper device — in development — is a self-contained 7″ or 10″ touchscreen built to live on the machine permanently — the same drag-and-drop screens, plus what a phone shouldn't carry:
- Live view of every tag, refreshed twice a second — plus write access with a full audit log
- Operator panel: start/stop, indicators, setpoints — hold-to-run buttons release safely
- Stays useful after the repair: data logging, dashboards, machine diagnostics
Small hardware that helps while the panel is out
- GL.iNet Opal travel router — Wi-Fi into the machine network from a spare switch port, so the phone app can stand in as the screen today.
- Anker USB-C to gigabit Ethernet adapter — wired straight into a spare switch port, the phone sees the controller in seconds; USB-C iPhones and iPads need no drivers.
- VIVO pole-mount VESA arm — puts the temporary screen at eye level on a machine post instead of a chair.
- TICONN IP67 enclosure with clear cover — houses the gateway or Wi-Fi bridge on the machine without bare boards on the rail.
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