Correct way to remove old versions from Mac & PC systems

I recently moved from 4.07 to 5RC1 then 5RC2 (currently the version below) and have started having ALOT of crashes. I’m not really complaining as I understand the Nightly’s can be buggy and I shouldn’t expect otherwise. I’m to the point where I have to save after every edit… cause it crashes when I drag objects, crashes when I bring up and objects properties dialog, and 3D preview is totally out. I suspect over time I’ve had a build up of crap from old installs and would love to do an absolute clean install after removing all the old installations/configuration files. Can anyone point me to instructions on removing KiCAD completely (and properly) from both Mac and PC systems? And as one second question, when installing the Nightly - is there a location for the Extras dmg file that will work fine with the version 5 RC’s as the link shown in the README didn’t seem to work for me. Also 20 thumbs up (I’m all thumbs) on all the work the Dev’s have done, v5 is shaping up to be awesome.

Application: kicad
Version: (5.0.0-rc2-dev-707-g2ed24a4), release build
Libraries:
wxWidgets 3.0.4
libcurl/7.43.0 SecureTransport zlib/1.2.5
Platform: Mac OS X (Darwin 14.5.0 x86_64), 64 bit, Little endian, wxMac
Build Info:
wxWidgets: 3.0.4 (UTF-8,STL containers,compatible with 2.8)
Boost: 1.61.0
Curl: 7.43.0
Compiler: Clang 7.3.0 with C++ ABI 1002

Build settings:
USE_WX_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT=ON
USE_WX_OVERLAY=ON
KICAD_SCRIPTING=ON
KICAD_SCRIPTING_MODULES=ON
KICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON=ON
KICAD_SCRIPTING_ACTION_MENU=ON
BUILD_GITHUB_PLUGIN=ON
KICAD_USE_OCE=ON
KICAD_SPICE=ON

Hi,
I cannot speak for the mac but on my PC I used IOUninstaller (free) to remove 4.0.7
My experience with stability has been different than yours. However my test board is not very complex. But I’ve not read much about crashes in the nightlys.

When I started with the V5 RC’s the nightlys did not include the libraries so I set them up in a way that works better for me. I am not familiar with how the recent nightly builds install the libraries.

BTW I’m currently using: Version: (5.0.0-rc2-dev-733-g23a9fcd91)

John

I can’t help with windows but I was having some instability problems on macOS which resolved when I blitzed the preferences folder (I have run a series of nightly builds over the last couple of years so may have accumulated some cruft). I am now running a pretty stable nightly build with very few crashes.

If you move the preferences folder aside (move /Users/jusername/Library/Preferences/kicad to kicad_old) and restart kicad, the preferences should be regenerated with defaults. You will have to reset your environmental variables & other preferences, paths etc though.

The only other file paths I believe in macOS are Applications/Kicad for the applications and /Library/Application Support/kicad for the expected read only location for libraries - i.e the contents of the ‘extras.dmg’. As a separate issue, I would suggest that this latter choice of path is not that useful and you might be better using somewhere in userspace if you want to periodically use git to download new library content - also I don’t think kicad is entirely happy about the space in that path. [Usual warning about ensuring you have backed up old libraries before doing this …]

The preferences folder is a good call, and I’m sad I didn’t think of this quick possible solution. I’ll give it a try and see if it clears up most of the issues. As the nightly’s are into the release candidates I believe most of this instability relates to either my machine or installation, not the stability of the software. I’m also going to do another install of the latest as there was a week with no nightly for Mac (11th May to 17th May). Thanks

I’m not familiar with the software, will check into it. I’m Mr. Paranoid about 3rd party utilities (especially on Windows machines). I find it tough to trust most of these tools, especially free ones. But like I said, I’ll take a look and check out reviews/recommendations. Thanks

I agree with you 100%, but I also dislike programs leaving lots of breadcrumbs :frowning:

I had no issues with IOUninstaller however next time I will be trying BCUninstaller portable.

BTW IOUninstaller did periodically try to get me to upgrade. Was somewhat annoying. But being free software I understand.

Just tried removing the Preference Files located in the Library/Preferences/kicad after which pcbnew wouldn’t even start, It shows a tiny window in upper left of desktop (Like a windows with undefined X,Y starting co-ords, Width and Height) and after a couple seconds crashes. Did an install of the latest Nightly for Mac, same thing. Eeschema worked fine. Restored the old pcbnew config file and it now starts fine. I’ll only be able to gauge general stability while I use it for the next day or so. 3D Viewer is still a no go… it crashes the system every-time after a few seconds of loading.

After several, deleting directories, re-installations on the Mac with no luck… I decided to just try the project on a WIndows 10 machine I have running the latest nightly. Everything loaded fine, no instability. 3D viewer works fine as well… but that’s like comparing Apples to Oranges.

I’m pretty confident it’s something to do with this Mac, or old config/install files that are causing me the grief. And unfortunately this Mac Pro is my main daily use system - in a more convenient location than the Win 10 machine. I’ll keep trudging along… maybe I figure out the source of the problem.

You mean comparing Apples to IBMs… :rofl:

touche lol … yes apples to (insert pc brand here) :+1:

Well, I was trying to use time-period appropriate names. Back when Macs were called Apples was close, if not before, to the massive proliferation of IBM-PC clones.

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