Fix a missing firmware file in an HMI project transfer

What the not-found message means

The message prints a full path on the PC, ending in the Firmware folder inside the HMI software's installation directory under Program Files, and states that the .eas file named at the end of it was not found. The send appears to complete its work and then stops on that name. The vendor's explanation of the fault is short: the program looks for a firmware name matching the version of the software, and the firmware content did not change from build 6.16 to 6.17 or 6.18. Version v1.21.06.18A therefore asks for EA121618.eas while the newest file in the folder is EA121617.eas.

What each sign points to:

• The send runs through its work and then reports the file missing. The software has reached the point where it wants the firmware name matching its own build.
• The named file is absent and the newest file present is one build number lower. This is the documented mismatch: the name sits one step behind the software, and the content underneath is identical.
• The path in the error lands inside the software's own Firmware folder. The missing file lives on the PC, so the memory card and the panel are the wrong places to search.
• A restore from the card later comes up short. Check what was selected: the vendor instructs selecting both System and Project, and a restore run with only one selected should be redone with both.

Checks before you rename anything

1. Read the whole error and write down the exact filename and the path it names.
2. Open that Firmware folder on the PC and list the EA-numbered files it holds. In this fault the newest file present is EA121617.eas or EA121616.eas.
3. Match the requested number to the software build. Version v1.21.06.18A asks for EA121618.eas; the number in the filename follows the software version.
4. Confirm the requested number sits inside builds 6.16 through 6.18, the span the vendor documents as unchanged firmware. Inside that span, a copy of the present file is the correct content. Outside it, go straight to the last section.
5. Some other panel families ship their panel images separately from the editor, and the documented cure there is installing the vendor's image package from your install media. Either way, the error text names the missing file.

If the panel and the editor have drifted across several updates, make the version check a habit before every transfer; the walkthrough on checking the HMI firmware revision before a project transfer covers it.

Copy the firmware file and rename the copy

1. Cancel the failed send and close its dialog.
2. In the Firmware folder, copy the newest firmware file, EA121617.eas, or EA121616.eas if that is what the folder holds.
3. Rename the copy to exactly the requested name, EA121618.eas, and keep the .eas extension. Match the spelling character for character.
4. Confirm the folder now lists both files: the original EA121617.eas and the renamed copy EA121618.eas.
5. Rerun the same send to the memory card.

Copy, and rename only the copy. Keeping the original preserves the name the software asks for on the builds just below yours, and leaves you a file to compare against later. Use the file already in the folder; a close-named file from another build or another panel family is not the substitute the vendor's fix describes.

When the card is headed to another site, the walkthrough on sending an HMI program update to a customer on a flash card covers that handoff.

Recommendation: When the send names EA121618.eas and the Firmware folder's newest file is EA121617.eas or EA121616.eas, copy the present file, rename the copy to the requested name, keep the original, and rerun the send. Apply this only while the requested build sits inside the vendor-confirmed unchanged span, builds 6.16 through 6.18. On the restore, select both System and Project.

How to check it worked: the send finishes without the not-found message and writes the card. If the same message returns, recheck the folder path and the spelling, then use the last section.

Example: version v1.21.06.18A cannot find EA121618.eas

Inputs, and where each comes from:

• Software build v1.21.06.18A, read from the editor's title bar.
• Requested file EA121618.eas, read from the error text.
• Newest file present EA121617.eas, read from the Firmware folder listing.
• Confirmed unchanged span builds 6.16, 6.17 and 6.18, from the vendor's statement on this fault.

Rule in words: the editor asks for the firmware file whose number matches its own build number, and a present file may be copied under the requested name only when the requested number lies inside a span the vendor documents as firmware-unchanged.

Arithmetic:

• Requested build: the 618 in EA121618.eas decodes to 6.18, the same figure that appears as 06.18 in v1.21.06.18A.
• Present build: 6.17, from EA121617.eas.
• Span edges: 6.16 and 6.18.
• Position check: 6.16 ≤ 6.17 ≤ 6.18, so the present file sits one step inside the span below the request, with the vendor stating zero firmware changes across the whole span.
• Work: one copy and one rename, about 5 minutes at the PC; the folder goes from 1 EA-numbered firmware file to 2.

Result: EA121618.eas now sits beside EA121617.eas, the send completes, and the card is written.

Decision and threshold: proceed on this basis only while the requested number stays inside 6.16 to 6.18. A request outside that span has no vendor statement bridging the gap between your file and the name asked for, so the move is the vendor's support channel or the firmware file the vendor supplies for your build, never a guessed rename.

Restore from the card with System and Project

The vendor's guidance on this fault adds one instruction for the restore side: select both System and Project.

1. Start the restore from the memory card on the panel.
2. Tick both System and Project before confirming.
3. Let the restore finish and confirm the expected project opens on the panel.

If a restore was run with only one component selected, run it again with both. Treat the send and the restore as two separate checks: the send finishing without the error shows the editor found every file it wanted, and the project running on the panel after the restore shows the card carried everything the panel needed.

A panel OS image update is a different operation. It runs through the vendor's own update procedure with vendor-supplied image files, and the renamed project-support file has no part in it. If the panel loses its project after a power cycle, that is a separate fault; the fix for an HMI restore that fails after reboot covers it.

When to stop and ask the vendor

Stop renaming and take the full error text plus a listing of the Firmware folder to the vendor's official support channel when any of these holds:

• The folder holds neither EA121617.eas nor EA121616.eas, so there is no file inside the confirmed span to copy.
• The exact requested name is present, spelled correctly, and the send still reports it missing.
• The error names a different file, or a build number outside 6.16 through 6.18.
• The restore fails again with both System and Project selected.

Ask the vendor, or its authorized distributor, for the firmware file that belongs with your software build. Firmware comes from the vendor and its distributors only; a copy from a mirror site has no vendor statement behind it.

More shop-floor screen fixes of this kind are collected in the shop-floor screen notes.

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