Open an HMI panel USB backup file: change the file-type filter

Can you open a panel project backup that was saved to USB?

Yes: back the project up from the panel's system setup menu to a USB drive, then open that backup on your computer by selecting the backup file type, EAS, in the editor's Open dialog, because the default project filter, EAP, hides backup files.

Two files are involved, and mixing them up is the whole problem. The .EAP file is the editable project you maintain on the computer. The .EAS file is the backup image the panel itself writes, a copy of the project as the panel runs it today. The editor can open either one, but its dialog lists only the type chosen in the file-type drop-down, and that drop-down opens on the project type.

Opening the backup is a computer-side operation only. It puts the project on your screen, not back on the panel; the restore is a separate, documented download. It matters because a backup like this is often the only copy that exists: legacy panels of this kind keep the running project inside and offer no way to upload it back out, as covered in why a legacy HMI project cannot be uploaded from the panel.

How do you back the project up to the USB drive first?

Put the panel into its system setup mode, open the Memory menu, choose Backup, and pick the USB drive from the destination menu, which lists up to three storage choices and shows only the media that is actually installed.

On this panel family you enter system setup by holding the upper-left corner of the screen for a few seconds, then choosing Memory and Backup in the small menu that appears. The destination menu lists what the panel can write to, and only installed media shows: a memory card in its slot, a USB drive in its port. The manual documents the entry method for your model, so follow it where the steps differ. Wait for the panel to report the backup finished before pulling the drive, and leave that copy on the drive sealed as the recovery copy.

Treat the destination list as the first diagnostic in the whole job. If no USB choice appears, the panel has not accepted the drive, and no dialog setting on the computer matters yet; run the checks in testing a USB drive the panel will not recognize before touching the editor. If no drive ever produces a USB destination, read the manual before assuming USB backup exists: other panel families document backup as a command in the PC software's device maintenance menu, run over the programming interface instead.

One safety note: system setup replaces the running application screen, so make the backup when the machine can spare its operator panel, not in the middle of a cycle.

Why does the editor's Open dialog show no backup file?

The Open dialog filters by file type and defaults to the editable project type, so a backup written as .EAS never matches the .EAP filter and the dialog lists zero files even though the drive holds the backup.

The file-type drop-down matches one extension at a time, and the editor opens with the project type selected because that is the file you most often want. A panel backup carries a different extension, so it fails the filter and the list comes up empty, even on a drive that holds the file.

That empty list is a filter reading, not a verdict on the backup. Before suspecting the copy or the drive, click the drop-down and read its value. If .EAP is selected, the dialog was never looking for .EAS files in the first place.

How do you open the backup file once the filter is set?

Copy the backup from the USB drive to a working folder so you hold two copies, launch the editor, choose open, browse to that folder, set the file-type drop-down to EAS, and open the file.

1. Copy the backup file from the USB drive into a working folder on the computer; the drive keeps the untouched recovery copy.
2. Launch the editor and choose its open command.
3. Browse to the working folder in the Open dialog.
4. Set the file-type drop-down to the backup type, EAS.
5. Select the backup file and open it.

Two checks close the job. If the list stays empty after the filter change, re-read the filter value and the folder path, because a wrong folder produces the same zero as a wrong filter. If the file is listed but the editor refuses it, read the message before retrying: a model or version mismatch refuses a good file, and the manual states which panel and software pairs open which backups.

Scenario: the drive holds the backup but the Open dialog shows zero files, so what now?

Work the numbers in order: 0 files listed under the default .EAP filter, 1 backup file on the drive, 1 filter change to .EAS, 1 file listed, then 2 copies made before any editing starts.

The case lands on the bench like this. The backup was made at the panel, the computer's file browser shows the file in the folder, and the editor's Open dialog shows 0 files in that same folder. Nothing is lost: the folder holds 1 backup file, and 0 files listed means the .EAP filter matched none of them.

Change the file-type drop-down to EAS and count again: 0 files listed + 1 filter change = 1 file listed. That one line of arithmetic is the whole fix.

Close with the copy discipline before anyone edits. Copying the file to the working folder takes the site from 1 copy to 2, the working copy plus the sealed USB original. Then verify identity with a real count: suppose this machine runs 9 operator screens. Open all 9 in the editor and compare each against what the machine does today. 9 of 9 open and correct says you hold the right backup; a screen that differs says the backup is older than the machine, so open the sealed original the same way and compare again.

Why can't you just rename the .EAS file to the project extension?

Renaming changes a file's name, never its format, so a .EAS backup relabelled .EAP shows up under the default filter while remaining a backup, and the only real conversion runs through the editor's own save or convert command.

The rename trick survives because it delivers half the result: the file becomes visible in the dialog, which feels like progress. It changes nothing inside the file. An extension is a naming convention the operating system and the dialog use to pick a filter; the format lives in the bytes, and no rename writes bytes.

So the relabelled file still carries backup data into an editor expecting a project, and the best case is a refusal with a confusing message. The dangerous case is saving it anyway: the mislabeled file now sits beside real project files, waiting for a cleanup to overwrite the wrong one. If you need an editable project and hold only a backup, open the backup with the correct filter and use the editor's own save-as or convert path, which the software's manual names.

What does each symptom point to when a backup will not open?

Match the symptom before the fix: zero files in the Open dialog points to the .EAP filter, a missing USB destination at the panel points to drive recognition, and a visible file the editor rejects points to a read-only attribute or a version mismatch.

• The dialog lists 0 files while the file browser shows the backup in the same folder. The file-type filter. Switch the drop-down to EAS and the file appears; no file was ever missing.
• The panel's Backup menu shows no USB destination. Drive recognition at the panel, and nothing on the computer yet. Try a known-good drive the manual lists as compatible and confirm the model offers USB backup at all.
• The file is listed but the editor refuses it. Read the exact message. A read-only attribute riding along on an old copy is one documented cause, and clearing the read-only flag on a backup that will not open walks that fix. Otherwise compare the panel model and software version against the compatibility the manual states, and take the exact wording with you if you escalate.

What do you check before you edit or download the opened project?

Confirm three things before any edit or download: the opened project is the one this machine runs, the panel model and software version are a compatible pair, and copy 2, the untouched USB original, still exists.

Open the screens, tags and alarms and compare them against what the machine does today; a backup is a snapshot from the day it was written, and the edits made since sit outside it. Read the panel model from its label and the software version from the editor's about screen, and check that pair against the compatibility the manual states. Confirm the USB original is still sealed, because it is the only copy that came straight off the panel.

Only then run the restore, using the documented transfer for that panel model, and if the panel stalls partway, fixing an HMI project restore that fails after reboot covers that specific failure.

Recommendation: When a USB backup from the panel shows zero files in the editor, switch the Open dialog's file-type drop-down from EAP to EAS and open the working copy, renaming nothing. Keep two copies, and leave the USB original sealed until the restored panel has run the job you expect. Before any download, check the panel model and software version as a pair and follow the documented restore. If the panel's destination menu never offers the USB drive, fix drive recognition first, because no filter setting recovers a backup that was never written.

Questions