5.99 Performance

Another quick question: Are you working with an imported Eagle project?

It’s possible it has some artifacts causing an issue.

Yes, so far ONLY imported Eagle projects.

Can you zip and attach one of those projects here? Something with which you see the hour glasses? We could test and see if there’s some problem with imported projects.

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Might be worth opening some of the demo projects to see if they are more responsive. There are a number of quite complex designs here https://www.kicad.org/made-with-kicad/
I’ve found KiCad very responsive on macOS Catalina - apart from the time loading libraries, there are normally no unexpected delays. Reducing the number of libraries to just those that you need helps.

A big part in this I have no clue how to understand the library stuff in KiCad. For example, when I see a “component” that need an update in a board or a schematics, I go where I think is the most logical way to go and edit what is needed to be edited. But after saving the “component” (Device?/Package?/Symbol/Footprint? – what the heck is what here???) only just only the one “component/designator/component number” I was choosing when updating is saved in “a library somewhere". The others – let’s say 500 units of the same “components” on the board or in the schematics – have to be updated the same way, one by one… Of course I understand I don’t understand how this should be performed, and I can not find any video or SHORT text description how to do this. Again, in Eagle it’s very simple and fast.

If you haven’t seen this thread, maybe you would find it helpful: I come from Eagle. What should i know about KiCad?

Thanks crafty, will check it out, if it’s not all to much details and links to github, whathub, thathub, whateverhub etc it can for sure be helpful! My first impression with Kicad it’s so much details (like programming for ppl who can’t understand programming) to be solved before using it as a “normal user”.

Then It’s high time you do something about that.
concepts in KiCad are also pretty basic and simple, but different from Eagle.

In KiCad the root of a “component” or “part” is the schematic symbol. That is where the chain starts. You take a schematic symbol from a library, and from that moment it exists. Some already have footprint information in the library, for more generic parts (such as resistors) you have to add that. A “value” of a resistor, is just an attribute (identifier and text string combination) as part of that schematic symbol. It’s quite simple, and very flexible Any footprint can be added to any schematic symbol, and there are several mechanisms to change attributes of schematic symbols, such as for example Eeschema / Tools / Edit Symbol Fields

The only thing I want to add about that here is that at the moment you put a schematic symbol on the schematic (or make a copy) it is assigned a “timestamp” (in older KiCad versions) or UUID (From KiCad-nightly V5.99 and forward) and this number is the connection between a “Component” in the schematic, and it’s corresponding part on the PCB.

For more details about the differences, read the summary written by Rene Poschl and linked to by both craftyjon and me earlier in this thread.

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Thanks paul yes it’s high time I do something about it. I would highly appreciate if anybody has a video link about the simple basics how to perform this in real action.

You might find the Contextual Electronics “Getting to Blinky” series helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVhWh3AsXQs&list=PLy2022BX6EspFAKBCgRuEuzapuz_4aJCn

I found a video about switching from Eagle to KiCad on YouTube, but it was made with an old version of KiCad where the workflow was more complicated, so I would not recommend it. The “Getting to Blinky 5.0” series should be more similar to 5.99. I know several people are working on video series for KiCad 6 but none are quite ready yet.

I tried out Eagle years ago and didn’t get on with it, when they incorporated it into Fusion360 I tried using it again as I use this for 3d cad so thought it would be good to have everything in one place.
Try as I may, I couldn’t get my head around Eagles library system and creating parts just didn’t seem easy.
I have only been using Kicad for just under a year (been designing pcbs for about 25 years) and find the library system very easy and flexible to use, the key being that you can use any footprint with any value to any one schematic symbol.
I would follow the good advice given above and play with the library system, it’s like all things simple once you get into the right way of thinking.
I am now faster in Kicad than my previous CAD package.

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I will check the recommended videos and play around with the library system as you suggest, TIME is what is needed, thanks a lot for your help! Btw, the guy at Contextual Electronics is nice and seems to make good instructions!

There is no antivirus software for Windows that’s worth using in 2021.

I know, but I cannot argue with my IT department at work

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Sure you can. Your futility can use the exercise. :wink:

Ki-cads user interface has millions of icons all around the screen.
It would be nice to turn them off and use screen area for schematic/pcb.
I have a thing where icons mean nothing to me.

I have tried kicad a couple of times but got stuck with it.
I tried to route a track and it routed up until final segment then it wouldnt let me do last seg.

Do you mean you have a neurological condition? What’s it called? That must be very rare, and KiCad hasn’t been designed that kind of thing in mind, so there’s no way to turn off the toolbars.

This can be seen as a deficiency in a software (many applications have customizable toolbars), and it’s possible it will be implemented in a future version of KiCad (v7 at earliest). Luckily the developers have worked to get all actions included in menus and usable with keyboard shortcuts – that wasn’t always the case with KiCad in earlier versions.

So, unfortunately the space taken by icons can’t be used for the actual work area. If the icons themselves are disturbing you, confusing you in some way, in v5.99 (the unstable development version, nightly builds, which is the version covered in this topic originally) it’s possible to create a new icon theme. It would be possible to create a theme with just empty icons. That wouldn’t give more space but would make the UI look peaceful.

We need more information. This sounds like the track and the pad are in different nets, but we don’t know your workflow, for example if you have the wire connections correctly in the schematic and if the pcb has been correctly updated from the schematic.

I’ve also heard (read actually) some rumors that KiCad V7 may get a GUI update with dockable toolbars.

KiCad V5.1.x already has two optional toolbars.
Pcbnew / View / Show Layers Manager
Pcbnew / View / Show Microwave Toolbar

And if they really annoy you:
In Linux the size of a program window is not limited to the resolution of your monitor, so it is possible to make the windows of Eeschema and Pcbnew just a little bit wider then the monitor itself, then press and hold the [Alt] key and position the program in such a way that the left and right toolbar are just off-screen.

And the same can also be done with the status area at the bottom of the screen and the Title bar, menu and toolbar at the top.

When I was still watching television I sometimes resorted to putting a piece of paper over the annoying icons of those TV broadcast stations, especially when they had any moving attributes in them. I’ve given up upon that a long time ago though and just don’t watch them at all anymore.

I also counted just 53 icons in Eeschema, and even a single million is quite a lot. I have a dual monitor setup, and even when the icons would be fully packed, there would be just enough space for:

2 * 1920 * 1200 / 32 / 32 = 4500.0

I would need a total of 445 monitors just to show a million icons

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I’m almost certain he’s after an interface like the one below:

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“Blurry/messy GUI” etc.;
I think that the problem is, at leat partially, that you have used EAGLE earler. The learning step to EAGLE is quite huge; much higher than the learning step to e.g. KiCad when I have used PCAD earler. So I think that the learning step from EAGLE to “anything” else is as high. In my opinion EAGLE does not look as anything else.