A NO POWER UP SCREEN message on an operator panel is a project configuration fault: no screen is designated as the startup screen. Check the 24 V DC supply once, set the startup screen under Setup > Project Attributes in the approved project, download it, and restart. A green OK LED says the power self-check passed.
NO POWER UP SCREEN on an operator panel is not a power failure. The panel has booted, passed its self-check, drawn a message on a working display, and found nothing telling it which screen to open: no screen is designated as the startup screen in the project it is running. The fix lives in the project file on the engineering workstation, under Setup > Project Attributes, and reaches the panel as part of a normal download. This article separates the message from the LED and the dark-screen case, checks the 24 V DC supply in one measurement, walks the designation and download, and ends with the boot test that closes the job.
Why does the panel show NO POWER UP SCREEN at power on?
The message means the panel booted, found no screen designated as the startup screen in the project it is running, or no usable project at all: the hardware is alive, and the missing piece is one project entry, the screen marked to open first.
Two situations produce it: the loaded project was edited, replaced or created without a startup designation, or no usable project is loaded. A panel that ran for years and boots to this message one morning has lost the designation or the project that carried it. The display, the processor and the backlight are all working, because the message itself is drawn on the screen. The missing piece is one entry: which of the project's screens opens first.
What do the message, the green LED and a dark screen each point to?
Three observations separate this fault into clean buckets: the NO POWER UP SCREEN message points to the project, a green OK LED points to a passed power self-check, and a fully dark screen points to supply, ground or backlight, which is a different repair.
- Message after a normal boot: no startup designation in the loaded project, or no usable project loaded. Everything upstream of the application works.
- Green OK LED on the rear: the power input and core electronics passed the self-check. It is power status. It carries no information about the project, the download or the designation.
- Setup mode never opens with a known touch combination: usually the entry method, not the panel; the next section covers it.
- Screen fully dark, no message at all: a different fault. Published repair notes on black-screen HMIs put the 24 V supply, a ground fault and the backlight at the top of the cause list, and that panel follows a repair path of its own.
The green LED and the message are two independent facts, and this fault lives in the second one.
Why won't the two left-column cells open setup mode?
Stop repeating the combination: the two left-column cells, pressed together, open setup on some panel models only, and a failed attempt tells you the documented entry method for your exact model is different, so take it from the panel's manual.
For this fault you may never need panel setup. The startup screen is a project setting edited on the engineering workstation, and it reaches the panel inside the project download, so the panel's setup menus can stay closed for the whole job. Save the combination hunt for the day you actually need panel-side settings, and take the method from the model's own documentation: cell combinations are model-specific, and a sequence that opens setup on one family does nothing on the next. When a setup screen exists but taps never reach it, work through why taps never open a hidden setup screen.
How do you check the 24 V DC supply before blaming the project?
Measure once and move on: most operator panels run from a 24 V DC control supply, nominal ±10% gives an acceptance band of 21.6 to 26.4 V DC, and your green LED already says the panel's own self-check agrees.
The arithmetic: 24 × 0.90 = 21.6 V DC and 24 × 1.10 = 26.4 V DC, so anything between 21.6 and 26.4 V DC at the panel's power terminal passes. The reading is worth its minute even with a green LED, because power faults stay common: one repair shop publishing its intake figures reports over 25% of the HMIs sent in for repair have simple power faults, and 25% is at least 1 panel in 4. If the reading lands outside the band, fix the supply first; the project work starts after the panel passes its own self-check again.
Where is the startup screen set in the project?
Under Setup > Project Attributes: that is where the project designates which screen opens first, the designation is part of the project file, and the download carries it to the panel with no panel-side menus involved.
Open the approved project for the machine in its configuration software and set the designation there. A project with any number of screens needs exactly one of them named as the startup screen, and it should be the main screen operators land on first, with the live values and the normal entry points. Two rules keep the fix honest. Never park a diagnostic or filler screen in the slot just to silence the message, because that screen becomes the first thing every operator sees. And never build a substitute project at the panel when the approved project is missing; recover the real one from the machine's controlled backup or the controls owner, and keep the panel out of service until it turns up.
How do you get the fixed project back onto the panel?
Download the complete edited project using the transfer method the panel model's documentation specifies, and let the transfer run to its own completion message before any restart or power cut.
The designation travels inside the project file, so the panel has to receive the edited copy; a setting fixed on the workstation changes nothing until it downloads. One safety rule: never cut power during a transfer the documentation marks as not interruptible, because a half-written project can leave the panel with nothing to boot. If a restore fails after reboot, follow the failed-restore fix before editing anything else. If this panel lost its project on a power event instead of an edit, the boot-to-nothing pattern matches a project that vanishes after a power cycle, and the memory side deserves a look. Last, save the edited project back to the controlled master so the next scheduled download does not reintroduce the message.
What should the panel show after the download?
Cycle the power once, and a correct fix looks like this: one boot, a short manufacturer splash at most, then the exact screen you designated, with no NO POWER UP SCREEN message and no setup screens on the way.
- Cycle panel power once and let the boot run. A brief manufacturer splash along the way is normal, and if the boot logo's dwell time matters on your line, the splash screen timing setup sets it deliberately.
- Compare the screen on the panel with the one named in Setup > Project Attributes, by name or number. The right screen, not just any screen.
- Watch the operator interface pick up live machine values before you call production back on.
If NO POWER UP SCREEN returns, the panel is running a copy different from the one you edited: confirm which project actually downloaded, re-check the designation in that copy, and transfer again.
Recommendation: When a panel boots to NO POWER UP SCREEN with a green OK LED, run this order: one 24 V DC measurement, stop retrying the touch combination, open the approved project on the engineering station, designate the startup screen under Setup > Project Attributes, download the complete project, and restart. Return the panel to service when it boots straight to that screen; if the message comes back, the panel is running a different copy, so fix the copy that is actually loaded and download again.
Can you walk through a worked example?
A palletizer panel boots to NO POWER UP SCREEN with a green LED: 24.3 V DC at the terminal sits inside the 21.6 to 26.4 V DC band, the project holds 11 screens with none designated, and designating screen 1 under Setup > Project Attributes and downloading clears it.
- Record the two facts at power on: the message NO POWER UP SCREEN and the green rear LED. Display, processor and power self-check all pass, so the project side is the suspect.
- Measure the supply at the panel's power terminal: 24.3 V DC. The ±10% band around the 24 V DC nominal runs 21.6 to 26.4 V DC, so the supply passes and power leaves the investigation.
- On the engineering workstation, open the approved project: 11 screens, none designated. That matches the message exactly.
- Under Setup > Project Attributes, designate screen 1 as the startup screen. One of the 11 screens now carries the designation.
- Download the complete project, wait for the completion message, and restart. The panel boots to screen 1 with no message.
The repair was one designation and one download: the green LED and the 24.3 V DC reading had already cleared the power side, and the message cleared the moment the project named its first screen.
If the line also needs a standalone notice board for shift targets, safety messages and quality charts, that is a different screen with a different job, and it is the work our shop-floor signage displays are built for.
Questions
Does a brand new panel need a project before it shows anything?
Usually no. A new panel out of the box normally shows the vendor's built-in screen, often a demo or advertising page, until someone loads an application. Any application that is loaded must designate one of its screens as the startup screen, so a new panel showing NO POWER UP SCREEN carries somebody's partial project, and the fix is the same designation and download described in this article.
Can I pick any screen as the startup screen to clear the message?
Any screen you designate will clear the message, which is the risk. The startup screen is the first thing operators see, so it should be the main screen the machine documentation calls for, with live values and the normal entry points. If the choice is unclear, have the controls owner name it before the download, and keep the choice in the master project so it survives the next transfer.
Why does the message come back after a fix that worked?
It can. A panel can drop a project or its settings when power is lost uncleanly or when the memory holding the project stops retaining it, which is why a panel that ran for years can boot one morning to NO POWER UP SCREEN. Restoring the designation returns service, but if the project disappears again after the next power event, treat it as a retention fault and chase the memory side as its own problem.
Planning information, not legal or engineering advice. Rules differ by place: check codes and permits with your local authority and your licensed trades.