Where does the boot stop?
| What you see | What it means | Fix rung |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing — no LED, dark | Power, not boot | 24 VDC and fuse: black-screen triage |
| Logo, then freeze | Firmware or runtime image damaged | Rungs 2–4 below |
| Boot loop | Firmware corrupt — often after a power blip mid-update | Rungs 3–4 |
| Starts into "Transfer" screen | No runtime/project on the panel — the panel is fine | Transfer the project from TIA Portal |
| Hangs with USB devices attached | A shorted or misbehaving USB device can stall boot | Rung 1 — free |
The recovery ladder
- 1 · Unplug everything. USB sticks, keyboards, printers. Power cycle with a bare panel. Costs nothing and resolves more boot hangs than anyone admits.
- 2 · Re-transfer the project. If the panel reaches its transfer/loader screen, push the project again from TIA Portal. A damaged runtime often just needs a clean download.
- 3 · ProSave "OS update with restart". The factory-reset path for Basic/Comfort panels: ProSave pushes a fresh firmware image (from your TIA/WinCC installation) to the panel in bootloader mode. Fresh-reset panels answer on the default bootloader IP 192.168.0.1; the transfer runs over TCP 102 and takes minutes. This erases the project, recipes and retained data — back up first if the panel still allows it.
- 4 · Recovery image via USB. For Comfort Panels that no longer respond to ProSave, Siemens support provides a recovery image (support entry 31032678): copy it to a FAT32 USB stick, power-cycle, and the panel offers to restore itself.
- 5 · Unified panels: Panel Image Updater. The Unified line updates its base image with the PIU tool instead of classic ProSave. When "Panel Image Updater is not working", it's almost always one of three things: not run as administrator, a PIU version that doesn't match the panel's TIA version line, or the panel not switched into the update/service mode the tool expects.
- 6 · Hardware. Old MP/OP/TP generations die of flash wear and electrolytics. At that age, weigh repair against migration: the Siemens replacement guide runs the numbers.
Before you wipe it
Rungs 3–5 destroy what's on the panel. If it still boots occasionally or reaches the loader: back up the project, recipes and any transferable licenses first. Ten minutes of backup beats a week of reconstructing recipes from paper.
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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