Resolving Siemens MP277 Error 70011 Date/Time Could Not Be Set

Resolving Siemens MP277 Error 70011 "Date/Time Could Not Be Set"

The Siemens SIMATIC MP277 (and related TP/Comfort/MP377 platforms) generates the persistent system message

Date/Time could not be set, error code: 13,2  MsgClass: 3  MsgNumber: 70011

at a default cadence of one entry per minute whenever the panel fails to apply the date/time it reads from the connected S7 PLC through the configured area pointer. The flood of identical entries fills the alarm buffer, masks genuine alarms, and signals a structural misconfiguration rather than a transient network event. This reference covers root causes, byte-level analysis of the DATE_AND_TIME and DTL structures, configuration paths in both WinCC flexible 2008 and TIA Portal, and field-proven verification steps.

1. Affected Hardware, Firmware, and Software

The MP277 device manual is published under Siemens Industry Online Support entry 23337820. The companion KB article that walks through date/time synchronization between an HMI and an S7-300/400 PLC is published under 109813307.

2. Decoding the Error Structure

WinCC flexible / WinCC Runtime Advanced system messages follow a three-part structure:

System class 13 covers date and time conversion routines within the WinCC runtime. Sub-cause 2 specifically indicates that the eight or twelve bytes received from the area pointer could not be decoded into a valid calendar value. Common triggers include:

• Weekday field outside the 1–7 range.
• Month field equal to 0 or greater than 12.
• Day field equal to 0 or exceeding the maximum valid day for the given month and year (including leap-year handling).
• Hour outside 0–23, minute or second outside 0–59.
• Source tag data type is not DATE_AND_TIME (DT) or DTL.
• Source tag address is invalid or not currently accessible (DB not loaded, optimized block access restrictions, wrong slot).

3. How the Time Synchronization Area Pointer Works

The WinCC runtime pulls date and time from a configured memory area in the PLC once per acquisition cycle. The connection object exposes this as a special area pointer called "Date/Time PLC" (WinCC flexible) or "Date/time" (TIA Portal). When the pointer is enabled, the runtime reads the configured length from the configured start address each cycle, decodes the bytes into a calendar value, and attempts to apply the new system time to the HMI.

4. DATE_AND_TIME Byte Layout (S7-300 / S7-400)

DATE_AND_TIME is an 8-byte BCD-encoded structure stored in big-endian order. The HMI decodes the bytes in this exact order:

Example valid encoding for Monday, 15 January 2024, 10:30:45.123:

Byte 0:  20        (century)
Byte 1:  24        (year)
Byte 2:  01        (January)
Byte 3:  15        (15th)
Byte 4:  10        (hour)
Byte 5:  30        (minute)
Byte 6:  45        (second)
Byte 7:  0x12 0x32  (ms=123, weekday=2 = Monday)
Full byte 7 hex: 0x12 3 2 = 0x12 if ms=123 packed as 12 3 plus weekday 2 in low nibble
= 0x12 | (3 << 4) | 2 = 0x32 (low byte), 0x12 (high byte) packed as BCD nibbles

If any of those bytes contain an invalid BCD digit (e.g., 0x1A for the month) or the weekday nibble is 0 or 8+, the runtime records system error 13,2 and rejects the value.

5. DTL Layout (S7-1500)

The DTL type is a 12-byte structure with explicit fields rather than packed BCD. It is required for TIA Portal projects targeting S7-1500 CPUs.

When the MP277 area pointer is configured to read a DTL tag, the runtime reads 12 bytes; any out-of-range value in any field generates error 70011.

6. Root Cause Catalog

Field experience with MP277 deployments identifies five distinct root causes. Use the table to triage the issue before opening the project file.

6.1 Wrong Data Type

The area pointer expects exactly 8 contiguous bytes (DT) or 12 contiguous bytes (DTL) at the configured offset. If the address points to an INT (2 bytes), the runtime reads 8 bytes but interprets them as BCD-encoded calendar data. The decoded month, day, or weekday is virtually guaranteed to be invalid, triggering error 13,2.

6.2 Weekday Mismatch

Engineers sometimes build a DATE_AND_TIME manually from individual tags for testing:

L     20
T     DB100.DBB 0       // century
L     24
T     DB100.DBB 1       // year
L     1
T     DB100.DBB 2       // month
L     15
T     DB100.DBB 3       // day
L     10
T     DB100.DBB 4       // hour
L     30
T     DB100.DBB 5       // minute
L     45
T     DB100.DBB 6       // second
L     0
T     DB100.DBB 7       // ms and weekday NOT set → weekday = 0 → error 70011

Always populate the weekday nibble (1–7) or, preferably, let the PLC fill the structure via SFC 1 (S7-300/400) or RD_SYS_T (S7-1500).

6.3 Address Outside Loaded DB

On S7-1200/S7-1500 with optimized block access enabled, absolute DB addressing from the HMI is not allowed. The runtime reads via PUT/GET or via the configured connection — if the DB is not loaded, the connection is broken, or the slot is wrong, the HMI sees zero bytes and decodes them as weekday 0, triggering the error.

6.4 Connection Instability

Check cable integrity, terminating resistors on MPI/PROFIBUS segments, PROFINET device names, and IP address collisions. The MP277 logs other connection errors (e.g., MsgNumber 70012, 70013) when the link is the real issue.

6.5 Wrong Length

The area pointer length is usually derived from the configured data type, but if a manual length was entered, mismatch with the actual data type produces partial or shifted reads. The runtime treats the shifted bytes as garbage.

7. Step-by-Step Resolution

7.1 Configure the Area Pointer Correctly (WinCC flexible 2008)

1. Open the WinCC flexible project.
2. From the project tree, expand "Connections".
3. Double-click the connection used for the S7 PLC (e.g., "S7-300/400" or "S7-1200/1500").
4. Select the "Area Pointer" tab.
5. Enable "Date/Time PLC".
6. Enter the address and length:

7. Click OK to close the connection dialog.
8. Compile: Project → Compiler → Check All / Build All.
9. Transfer the project to the MP277 via Transfer → Ethernet / MPI / PROFIBUS / USB.
10. Restart the runtime on the panel.

7.2 Provide a Valid DATE_AND_TIME Tag on the PLC

Create a DB with a DATE_AND_TIME field:

DATA_BLOCK DB100
TITLE "HMI Time Sync"
VERSION : 3.0
  STRUCT
     HMI_Time : DATE_AND_TIME;      // 8 bytes BCD
  END_STRUCT;
END_DATA_BLOCK

In OB1 (or a cyclic OB such as OB35), read the PLC clock via SFC 1:

CALL  "READ_CLK"            // SFC 1
      RET_VAL := MW100
      OUT      := "DB100".HMI_Time;  // DATE_AND_TIME

SFC 1 returns the complete eight-byte encoding, including a correct weekday. The MP277 area pointer then decodes the value successfully.

7.3 Provide a Valid DTL Tag (S7-1500)

In TIA Portal:

DATA_BLOCK "DB_HMI_Time"
{ S7_Optimized_Access := 'TRUE' }
VERSION : 0.1
NON_RETAIN
   VAR
      HMI_Time : DTL;   // 12-byte structure
   END_VAR

BEGIN
END_DATA_BLOCK

In OB1:

"DB_HMI_Time".HMI_Time := DTL#2024-01-15-10:30:00.000;     // manual test value
// or in production:
RD_SYS_T(OUT => "DB_HMI_Time".HMI_Time);

7.4 Fix Connection Problems

1. From STEP 7 / TIA Portal, run "Accessible nodes" against the MP277 IP address.
2. Verify PROFINET device names and IP addresses match the project.
3. For MPI/PROFIBUS, verify bus terminators are powered and the baud rate matches (default 187.5 kbit/s or 1.5 Mbit/s for MP277).
4. Replace suspect cables and connectors; cycle power to switches.
5. If the error clears after fixing the connection, the area pointer was reading nothing during the outage and decoding zero bytes.

7.5 Correct the Area Pointer Length

1. Open the connection properties again.
2. Set the length explicitly:

S7-300/400 DATE_AND_TIME  -> 8 bytes
S7-1500 DTL              -> 12 bytes

3. Save, recompile, transfer.

8. TP900 Comfort Panel Variant

The TP900 Comfort runs WinCC Runtime Advanced (TIA Portal) and uses the same system message catalog. Error 70011 will appear with identical symptom if the date/time area pointer is misconfigured. The configuration path differs:

1. TIA Portal → Project tree → "Devices & Networks".
2. Click the HMI → "Connections" in the inspector.
3. Select the PLC connection → "Properties" → "Area pointers".
4. Enable "Date/time".
5. Point to a DB tag of type DTL (S7-1500) or DATE_AND_TIME (S7-300/400).
6. Compile → Download to TP900 → Restart runtime.

Also verify under "Runtime settings" → "Language & Runtime" that the time zone matches the PLC. Mismatched time zones cause DST shifts but not error 70011; nonetheless, alignment prevents operator confusion.

9. WinCC flexible vs TIA Portal Configuration Paths

10. Verification Procedure

After applying the fix, validate that the error is gone and that the time synchronization functions correctly.

1. Reboot the MP277 runtime (Start → Restart Runtime, or cycle panel power).
2. Wait at least three acquisition cycles (default cycle is 1 minute, so wait 3 minutes).
3. Open the control panel → Service → Service Desktop (if enabled).
4. Start the WinCC flexible RT dialog → Messages tab.
5. Filter by MsgNumber 70011. Confirm zero new entries.
6. Force the PLC clock to a known future value:

S7-300/400 — SFC 0 "SET_CLK"
   IN  := DT#2024-12-31-23:59:00
   OUT := ret_val_word

S7-1500 — WR_SYS_T
   IN := DTL#2024-12-31-23:59:00.000

7. Confirm the MP277 displays the new time within one polling cycle.
8. Set the PLC clock back to the real current time and verify that the HMI follows.
9. Cycle power on the MP277 to confirm the time persists (assuming battery-backed PLC).

11. Edge Cases and Field-Proven Caveats

11.1 Leap Day Validation

The runtime validates February 29 against the year. A DATE_AND_TIME set to 2023-02-29 00:00:00 is rejected with error 13,2. The same value for 2024 (leap year) is accepted.

11.2 Manual DT Construction Without SFC 1

Engineers often build DATE_AND_TIME for testing using BLKMOV or individual byte moves. They forget the weekday nibble. Use SFC 1 (READ_CLK) or SFC 0 (SET_CLK) to populate the structure correctly.

11.3 BCD Encoding Mistake

Loading a decimal value (e.g., L 24) into a BYTE does not produce BCD 0x24. The runtime expects 0x24, which is decimal 36. The correct way to fill DATE_AND_TIME is via SFC 1 or by encoding BCD explicitly:

// Build 0x24 in BCD form
l     W#16#24       // direct BCD literal
T     DB100.DBB 1

11.4 Daylight Saving Time

WinCC Runtime applies DST based on the panel's configured time zone. If the PLC stores local time (not UTC), the DST jump can cause an apparent one-hour shift on the HMI but does not generate error 70011. Configure both PLC and HMI to use UTC if DST neutrality is required.

11.5 Multiple HMI Panels, One PLC

Each panel can declare its own area pointer. To avoid contention, point each HMI at a different DB offset (e.g., DB100 for MP277 #1, DB110 for MP277 #2) populated from the same SFC 1 output.

11.6 Backup Battery Low

If the PLC battery is low, the clock may reset to a default value (often 1990-01-01 or 2000-01-01) after a power cycle. Check the PLC diagnostic buffer for battery warnings.

12. Preventive Measures and Best Practices

13. Troubleshooting Matrix

14. Related System Messages