Factory reset deletes HMI panel web files: recover them

Why does a factory reset delete the panel's web server files?

On the panel family in this fault, a factory default reset wipes the default HTML files from Built-in_Flash alongside the settings it is meant to clear, leaving only the busy and not-found status pages behind. The default pages live in the panel's own storage, separate from the runtime firmware and from the application project, and the reset removes them with everything else it resets.

The maker's own remote access documentation treats the HTML set as something a reset rewrites: it tells you to back up a custom index file before a reset if you want to keep it. Treat that as the rule for the whole set. If a file in Built-in_Flash matters to you, it lives outside your project backups, so copy it off the panel before you reset.

A reset is also one of several events that strip content from these panels: a power cycle can drop the project itself, and that fault has its own checks.

What does the fault look like on the floor?

The web server still opens, so the panel looks healthy on the floor. The fault shows up when every browser link lands on the not-found page, sometimes days after the reset that started it. The operator interface on the panel itself keeps working, which is exactly why the missing files go unnoticed until someone needs remote access.

Which settings do you enable before you inspect the panel's storage?

Turn on two services before you judge the file set: the Web Server service and the FTP Server service, both found under Touch Panel Network in the panel's Setup menus. Then download the project so the panel is in its normal running state. A browser that opens the panel's home page tells you the web service runs; only the FTP listing tells you which files survived.

With both services on, connect an FTP client to the panel and open Built-in_Flash. If the client cannot log in, fix access first: an access failure looks identical to an empty folder, and you would repair the wrong thing.

Write down the model and the firmware revision the panel reports now. Support will ask for both, and it is the same revision check you make before a project transfer.

Which eight files should the web folder contain?

A complete set is 8 HTML files: fancyscreen, filelist, index, instructions, screendisplay, screenlist, ws_busy and ws_notfound, sitting in the Built-in_Flash folder structure with the images folder beside them. Once FTP access works, the listing and count take about 15 minutes. Check the listing against these names:

• fancyscreen
• filelist
• instructions
• screendisplay
• screenlist
• index
• ws_busy
• ws_notfound

The panel's listing may print the .html extension on some names and not others; the case report abbreviated most names without it. Compare names the way the listing prints them and never rename a file to match an abbreviation. Keep names, extensions and the folder layout exactly as you find them when you compare or transfer files.

If the listing shows all 8 names but the browser still fails, the files are fine: check the address and path you type into the browser and the state of the web service instead.

Worked example: what is missing when Built-in_Flash shows three items?

After a factory reset on the panel in this case, running firmware 1.21 Build 06.16, an FTP listing of Built-in_Flash returned 3 items: the images folder, ws_busy.html and ws_notfound.html, so 6 of the 8 default HTML files were gone. The listing looked like this:

Built-in_Flash
  root
    images
    ws_busy.html
    ws_notfound.html

The arithmetic: a healthy folder holds 8 default HTML files, the listing holds 2 files, so 8 - 2 = 6 files missing: fancyscreen, filelist, index, instructions, screendisplay and screenlist. The panel had already been through the full standard loop before this count was taken: firmware reloaded from file EA121616.eas, then a new blank project with the web and FTP services enabled pushed to the panel. The listing came back identical after each step.

The result is a web server that answers requests but has no default pages to serve, short by 6 files. Two reloads and one project download have already failed to change the count, so the decision the numbers point to is a file restore. The firmware version and file name belong to that specific panel; match your own model and firmware before you request or transfer anything.

Why does a firmware reload not bring the files back?

Because neither operation carries the default HTML set on this panel family: in the reported case a full firmware reload with file EA121616.eas and a fresh blank project with both services enabled left the folder exactly as the reset had emptied it. Firmware service updates the runtime. A project download sends the application screens. The web pages are a third payload stored beside them, and once the reset has removed them, neither routine puts them back.

One theory holds that firmware installs the HTML files only when they are absent, which would predict the files reappear on the next reload; in the reported case they did not, so the theory earns no place in a repair plan. Check the directory and repair by restoring files.

A panel that goes quiet after a firmware update has a different fault with its own checks, starting with communication rather than this folder.

How do you restore the default HTML files?

Two recoveries worked in practice: copy the 8 files over FTP from a known-good panel of the same model and firmware, or ask the panel maker's technical support for a set matched to your exact model and firmware revision when no second panel exists. Run it as a sequence:

1. Pick the donor panel: same model, same firmware revision, a complete set, and its own web pages serving correctly.
2. Connect an FTP client to both panels and open Built-in_Flash on each.
3. Copy the 8 HTML files, plus the images folder, from the donor to your panel, keeping names, extensions and folder layout exactly.
4. Refresh the destination listing and count the files against the 8 names; confirm the files arrived on the panel, not just in the transfer queue.
5. If you have only one panel, request the default set from the panel maker's technical support with your model, firmware revision and FTP listing attached, then transfer it the same way.
6. Keep a copy of the restored set off the panel, filed with the project records.

Do not repeat the factory reset to test the repair: the reset is the action that deletes these files, and on a running machine it also takes the operator interface and its settings down with it. Schedule any reset you cannot avoid.

Recommendation: treat every factory default reset on an HMI panel as an event that can strip the web server files. Before the panel returns to the machine, list Built-in_Flash over FTP and check for all 8 default HTML files; when the count comes up short, restore a matched set from a same-model panel or the panel maker, and hold off on further firmware reloads until the files are in place.

If you are fitting a separate notice or status screen beside the machine, see our factory and shop-floor displays.

How do you check the repair before the panel goes back on the machine?

Confirm the count first, then the pages: refresh the FTP listing and check all 8 default HTML names are present in Built-in_Flash, then open the web server from a browser and confirm the default pages load instead of the busy or not-found pages. Three checks, in order:

1. The FTP listing shows all 8 names in Built-in_Flash.
2. A browser opens the default pages and moves between them.
3. The panel runs its production project, not the blank one used for diagnosis.

A reset returns settings to their defaults too, so anything customized comes back empty. Re-download the production project and set the startup screen again before the panel mounts back on the machine.

If the listing is complete and the pages still fail, capture the directory listing, the panel model, the firmware revision and the exact browser result, and send that package to support. That combination points to a page-serving problem with the files present, and it needs the panel's own documentation to take further.

Questions