If the machine has been sitting idle for months or had a low battery alarm previously:
If you work on a CNC manufacturing floor, few sights are as anxiety-inducing as a control panel that refuses to boot. You flip the main breaker, press the green power-on button, and instead of the familiar FANUC logo followed by the NC/PLC ladder display, you are greeted by a stark, frozen message:
"FANUC STARTING SYSTEM SOFTWARE PLEASE WAIT" fanuc starting system software please wait
Or, in some older models: "FANUC BOOT SYSTEM SOFTWARE PLEASE WAIT."
Moments feel like hours. Is the control dead? Is the memory corrupted? Have you lost your parameters and programs? Before you call for emergency service or begin pricing a new motherboard, it is critical to understand what this message actually means, why it appears, and—most importantly—how to systematically resolve it. If the machine has been sitting idle for
This article provides a deep dive into the FANUC startup sequence, the root causes of this hanging boot screen, and a step-by-step troubleshooting guide for maintenance engineers, setup technicians, and machine shop owners.
| Stage | Display Message | Action | |-------|----------------|--------| | 1 | None (backlight only) | Hardware init, RAM check | | 2 | "FANUC Series [Model]" | Boot ROM loads | | 3 | "Please Wait" | Loading System Software (IPL) & SRAM | | 4 | "AXIS CONTROL READY" | Servo initialization | | 5 | CNC/Manual Guide i screen | Normal operation | If you work on a CNC manufacturing floor,
The "Please Wait" step covers: