WinCC Flexible Project Upload from OP177B and TP177B to PC

Overview: Retrieving a WinCC Flexible Project from OP177B and TP177B Panels

Field engineers regularly need to recover the configuration of a SIMATIC HMI panel when the original engineering file is missing, when an integrator has left the site, or when a panel is being replaced on a running machine. For the legacy OP 177B (operator panel, 5.7" STN, mono DP or color DP variant) and TP 177B (touch panel, 5.7" STN, mono DP or color PN/DP variant), no memory card is required: the project lives inside the panel's flash and can be moved to a PC by two distinct mechanisms, both built into the standard Siemens toolset.

The two mechanisms are:

1. ProSave backup – a binary, non-editable snapshot produced by the ProSave utility (Siemens Knowledge Base article 10347815). It can be restored on a panel of the same type, but it cannot be opened in WinCC flexible for editing.
2. WinCC flexible backtransfer (Rücktransfer) – an editable project file uploaded through the WinCC flexible engineering software after the option Enable backtransfer is set in the project transfer settings.

Both routes are available without a memory card. The choice depends on whether you need an editable engineering file or simply a 1:1 image of the panel's current state. The same procedure applies to the OP 177B and to the TP 177B; the only difference is the transfer channel (RS-232 PPI/MPI for the DP-only variants, Ethernet available on the PN/DP variants).

Prerequisites

Confirm the following before you start the upload. Missing items are the most common reason a transfer aborts with a timeout or a "panel not found" error.

• Engineering PC running Windows 7 SP1 / Windows 10 with WinCC flexible 2008 SP3 (or later 2008 SP5) installed. WinCC flexible is the engineering tool that targets the 170/270/370 series; TIA Portal only takes over from the Comfort and Basic Panel generations onward.
• ProSave – installed from the WinCC flexible DVD or downloaded separately. The utility is also shipped inside the WinCC flexible installation folder under \Support\ProSave and can be launched standalone.
• Transfer cable matched to the panel's interface. The reference wiring is documented in the Siemens manual Projecttransfer_V1_2_e.pdf; the most common cable for a DP-only panel is the PC adapter USB A2 (Siemens part number 6GK1571-1AA00) for USB-to-MPI/DP, or the legacy RS-232 MPI cable (6ES7 901-0BF00-0AA0) for a serial PC COM port.
• Panel in Transfer mode – entered from the Control Panel of the OP/TP 177B (Start > Transfer, or via the Transfer button on the loader screen). For the OP 177B, the loader screen appears on the operator panel itself; for the TP 177B, tap the touch area to summon the loader before pressing the Transfer soft key.
• Consistent MPI/PROFIBUS addresses – the panel's address and the PC adapter's address must be on the same bus, and the baud rate must match (default 1.5 Mbit/s for PROFIBUS DP, 187.5 kbit/s for MPI).

Backtransfer vs. ProSave Backup – Two Distinct Methods

The following table summarizes the difference between the two supported flows so that you pick the correct tool the first time.

If you do not know whether the original engineer enabled the backtransfer option, the ProSave route is the safe fallback. It will always succeed as long as the loader on the panel is reachable.

Method 1 – ProSave Backup (Non-Editable Image)

Use this when you need a 1:1 snapshot of the panel's current runtime image, including the operating system and any user administration data. The output is a single .psb file.

1. Open ProSave from the Start menu (Siemens Automation > ProSave) or directly from C:\Program Files\Siemens\Automation\WinCC flexible\Support\ProSave\ProSave.exe.
2. In the General tab, set Device type to OP 177B or TP 177B (select the exact article number, e.g. 6AV6642-0BA01-1AX1 for the OP 177B mono DP).
3. Set the Connection mode to Serial / MPI / PROFIBUS / Ethernet, matching the physical cable.
4. For MPI/DP, configure the panel address (default 1) and the PC adapter address (default 0). Baud rate defaults to 1.5 Mbit/s for PROFIBUS DP; if the bus is already loaded, drop to 187.5 kbit/s.
5. For Ethernet (PN/DP variants), enter the panel's IP address. The default out-of-the-box address on a 177B PN/DP is 192.168.1.1 – verify in the Control Panel of the panel under Network & Dial-up Connections > Ethernet.
6. Switch the Operation tab to Backup. Specify a destination folder on the PC (path with no spaces is safest; long paths and OneDrive can corrupt the .psb file).
7. On the panel, navigate to Start > Transfer > OK (or, on the loader screen, press the Transfer button).
8. Click Start backup in ProSave. A progress bar appears in the ProSave window; a second indicator is shown on the panel's screen.
9. Wait for the "Backup completed" message. Do not interrupt the connection; on a serial link at 187.5 kbit/s, a full backup typically takes 3 to 6 minutes for a 5.7" panel.

To restore, repeat steps 1–5, switch the Operation tab to Restore, and load the .psb file. The destination panel must be the same device type (article number); ProSave will refuse a mismatch.

Method 2 – WinCC flexible Backtransfer (Rücktransfer)

Use this when you need a fully editable WinCC flexible project. The result is an *.hmi file that you can open, modify, recompile, and download back to the panel.

1. Verify that the original project compiled with Enable backtransfer. Open the project in WinCC flexible and inspect Project > Transfer > Transfer settings. If the checkbox Enable backtransfer is greyed out, the original was not built with that flag – you will not be able to retrieve an editable project by this method.
2. In WinCC flexible, on the same workstation, open a new (empty) project whose target device matches the panel (OP 177B or TP 177B). This is the project that will receive the uploaded data.
3. Select Project > Transfer > Backtransfer (German: Rücktransfer). The dialog opens a connection wizard.
4. Select the connection mode (Serial, MPI, PROFIBUS, or Ethernet) and configure the bus parameters to match the panel's. The defaults shipped with the 177B family are:
   • Panel MPI/DP address: 1 (for OP 177B mono DP) or 1 (for TP 177B DP/PN) – configurable in the Control Panel of the panel under OP Properties > MPI/DP.
   • Baud rate: 1.5 Mbit/s for PROFIBUS DP, 187.5 kbit/s for MPI, 10/100 Mbit/s for Ethernet.
5. Put the panel in Transfer mode (Start > Transfer).
6. Click Start backtransfer. WinCC flexible reads the panel, and the project is reconstructed in the open empty project. Tags, screens, alarms, recipes, and the user administration are recovered.

After the upload, immediately save the project under a new name to avoid overwriting the source. Note that scripts, VB code, and the original compiler version are preserved. The recovered project should be opened in the same WinCC flexible version that originally generated it, or a newer one, to avoid version-downgrade errors.

Panel-to-PC Cable and Connection Setup

The physical layer is the most common cause of a failed first attempt. The table below matches each panel interface to the recommended cable.

The wiring of the legacy RS-232 MPI cable (6ES7 901-0BF00-0AA0) and the pinout of the PC adapter USB A2 are documented in the Siemens manual Projecttransfer_V1_2_e.pdf. If you must build a cable yourself, pay attention to the 24 V power on pin 2 of the Sub-D connector – a crossed cable without the 24 V rail will leave the PC adapter unpowered and the transfer will time out silently.

For an Ethernet transfer on the PN/DP variants, the PC and the panel must be on the same subnet. If the panel is on a different subnet, connect the PC directly to the panel with a static IP in the 192.168.1.x range (the panel's default address is 192.168.1.1 with subnet mask 255.255.255.0).

MPI/PROFIBUS Transfer Parameters

When the connection is MPI or PROFIBUS DP, the following parameters must agree across the panel, the PC adapter, and the engineering software. These are taken from the Siemens support entry 23802404 – Loading a WinCC flexible project via MPI/PROFIBUS.

If the panel sits behind a PLC on the same DP line, the upload still works – the panel listens passively to its own address and accepts the connection from the PC adapter. A repeater is required when the total bus length exceeds 100 m at 1.5 Mbit/s or 1 200 m at 187.5 kbit/s.

TP177B-Specific Procedure (Color and Mono Variants)

The procedure for the TP 177B mirrors the OP 177B in every functional respect; only the loader screen and the soft-key layout differ.

1. Power on the TP 177B. The loader screen shows the Siemens logo, the loader version, and a Transfer button.
2. Press the Transfer button on the touch screen. The panel switches to Transfer mode and waits for a connection from the PC.
3. On the PC, launch ProSave or WinCC flexible and start the backup / backtransfer as described above.
4. The TP 177B color PN/DP variant exposes a second connection path: Ethernet. Press Start > Settings > Control Panel > Network & Dial-up Connections > Ethernet on the panel to read the IP address, then connect the PC on the same subnet.
5. If the TP 177B is locked behind user administration, the backtransfer proceeds without a login – the panel does not require a password for the loader screen. A password is only requested for an OS update.

Restoring a Backup to the Panel

After a successful upload, the natural next step is to push the recovered project back to a panel – either to the same device for a rollback, or to a replacement unit.

1. Open ProSave. Select the destination device type; the article number must match the target panel exactly.
2. Set the connection mode and the bus parameters as before.
3. Switch the Operation tab to Restore and select the .psb file (ProSave backup) or the rebuilt *.hmi project (backtransfer path).
4. On the panel, enter Transfer mode.
5. Click Start Restore. The panel restarts twice during the process – once to load the new project, once to reinitialize the runtime.
6. Verify the loader version and the project CRC after the panel comes back up. The version must match the ProSave backup; a mismatched CRC usually points to an interrupted transfer rather than a corrupt file.

The Siemens knowledge base documents that if the transfer is interrupted, WinCC guarantees automatically that no data is lost and prevents the deletion of the data already present on the panel (see Loading overview for Panels, Comfort Panels, and Runtime – the same atomic-transfer logic applies to the legacy 177B generation through ProSave).

Verification and Field-Proven Checks

After the upload completes, run the following checks before signing off the job.

• File size sanity – a ProSave backup of a 177B should be > 5 MB; a backtransfer project should contain a populated *.hmi file and a \im subfolder with at least the compiled screens.
• Project CRC on the panel – under Start > Information > Project Information, the CRC shown must match the CRC of the file on the PC. A difference indicates a partial write that needs to be repeated.
• Tag list integrity – open the backtransferred project in WinCC flexible and validate the tag database (Tools > Compile & Check). Missing tags or mismatched PLC addresses are the most common symptom of a partial backtransfer.
• Communication test – with the panel online to the PLC, force a tag from the tag list and confirm the value updates on the screen.
• Recipe test – if the original project used recipes, export a recipe from the recovered project, write it back, and confirm the values round-trip.

Troubleshooting Matrix

Frequently Asked Questions