Error loading pcb board / cache.lib not loading

Software
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Hi.

I cloned an open source Kicad project and I am having two issues.

  1. Opening Schematc file in KiCad
    I thought the cache.lib file should have all the required schematic libraries. Instead, I get

988×905 75.9 KB

Shouldn’t these libraries be already included in the cache.lib?

When I close the prompt it looks the all the schematic footprints are there.

PLEASE let me know if have to add copy of the libary via the “component library menu”

2.Error opening the pcb file

I am running a Windows 10 Machine with Kicad 4.0.5.

However, when I open the file I see this error and the PCB is not loaded.

"KiCad was unable to opent this file , as it was created with a more recent version than the one you are running. To Open it, you’ll need to upgrade to a more recent version.

Date of KiCAD version required (or newer): 08/15/16"

Which is odd as I have Stable V 4.0.5.

Very new to KiCAD sorry of these questions are basic.
I am trying to switch over from Altium Designer to KiCAD.

Any reference to good library setup tutorials would be much appreciated. I understand a major overhaul is expected for 5.0

thanks

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1062×965 88.3 KB

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941×782 66.8 KB

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*cache.lib doesn’t contain libraries - only a set of the specific footprints used by a particular PCB project. (*cache.lib is a human-readable, plain-text, file. Open it in “Notepad++” or your favorite text editor and look at it. By doing this you can’t avoid learning at least SOMETHING. Someplace on the kicad.org website there’s a document that explains the file syntax. Don’t be afraid to look inside other KiCAD files, as well.)

Have you looked for those libraries on the Olimex site? They may have made them available for folks like you who want to replicate their projects. If not, you could email Olimex and ask for the files. (Alerting Olimex to this Forum thread may help.)

I am still fumbling and struggling with the KiCAD library scheme myself. I think you can remove all those entries from the library table, leaving ONLY the *cache.lib file as a table entry, and KiCAD will find the footprints in cache.lib . (Get somebody else to verify that before you try it.)

A couple of weeks ago there was some discussion about compatibility between pcb files created from nightly builds, and files created from stable releases. I think this is the thread:

The culprit seems to be lines which refer to parameters for differential-pair routing. If the design doesn’t use differential pairs, you can remove the troublesome lines with a text editor and then the file is compatible.

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An introduction to what is what:

No, those are libraries that the projects xyz.pro file has listed as available component libraries (*).

The components (symbols) that are being used by the schematic are stored in the projects xyz-cache.lib file.

*) EEschema currently doesn’t know a global component-library-table file that is being used for global symbol libraries.
This information is stored in a file called template.pro (with absolute paths) and when you create a new project will be the template for the projects .pro file.
If you change the template.pro file after the creation of the project those changes are not adapted!

To solve your trouble there you can either find those libs and put them into the folder where they are searched for in or open the Component Libraries dialog (EEschema) and get rid of those entries.
For checking an existing project they are not needed.

As for the footprints, @dchisholm should be on the money.

PS: we really should be starting to call components symbols… it’s getting messy.
Components are parts with linked footprints IMHO.
Might need to ask @c4757p or @SchrodingersGat about that one… :disappointed_relieved:

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  1. I found the Olimex kicad github
    https://github.com/OLIMEX/KiCAD/tree/master/KiCAD_Components

And as suggested I cloned the repo and added these components while removing the old list of component libary files. I hope this is correct. Do I have to do this for the footprints too?

  1. @dchisholm thanks do I uninstall 4.0.4 and move to something like 4.0.2 or do I get the latest nightly build? Not familiar with how nightly dev builds work. Again i am moving from Altium Designer.

Wow libary/footpring/component/part is very tricky but I think it is going to be worth it once I get a hang of it

thanks

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I strongly recommend you stay away from Nightly builds as new library management code is being merged and bad things are happening occasionally

1 Like
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= at the moment they work on this and you don’t want to sit there and break your KiCAD while you need stuff done.
If you want to play with new features and know your way around setting up the libs/repos you should definitely have a look.

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[quote=“Kimod, post:6, topic:5329”]
@dchisholm thanks do I uninstall 4.0.4 and move to something like 4.0.2 or do I get the latest nightly build? [/quote]

I don’t know what is the best advice to offer.

You have a PCB file that won’t open, because it was created with a more advanced version of KiCAD than the 4.0.x stable release series. Dropping back to an earlier version will not cure this problem. (When your version of PCBNew tries to read the board file, it finds syntax that is unknown to it. In fact, that syntax is related to features contained in upcoming version 5.x.x releases.

The error message you received tells you how to solve the problem: Open the file using a KiCAD nightly release from Aug 15 or later. Unfortunately, some of the recent nightly versions have had serious bugs that corrupted files. That is why several Forum members advised you to stay away from nightly builds.

(Serious defects in recent nightly builds is not surprising. There seems to be some very significant development work in progress. The size of the installation packages has grown by about 20%, and the build numbering increased by more than 200, over the last 6 weeks or so.)

If you are willing to accept some risk - risk to this particular project, risk to your KiCAD libraries, risk to your frustration level - you can try installing a nightly release from a few weeks ago. I would say that release R7628 (from 10 Feb) is good, but I certainly haven’t tested it with all of the features used in your Olimex project.

The nightly builds work like the 4.0.x series releases that you have now.

Download recent nightly builds here: http://downloads.kicad.org/windows/nightly/
They are complete installation packages, just like 4.04. Run (or double-click) the downloaded file, assure the security monitor that it’s OK, select the desired installation options, chose a directory for KiCAD to live in, and press “Install”. I have always allowed it to install all the libraries, help files, etc - you may have reason to do otherwise. I install programs to "C:\Applications\ " to avoid security annoyances. Installing KiCAD like this WILL overwrite previous files; that’s only a problem if you have modified the standard libraries or supplemented them with your own symbols or footprints.

Inside the nightly releases you’ll find some new features or augmented old features. Nothing earth shaking - two useful (to me) new features that come to mind are the rounded-rectangle pads, and the highlighted areas that appear around a trace when you are routing it with the OpenGL canvas. My impression is that the OpenGL canvas works much better in recent nightly versions than it did in 4.0.2, but I can’t prove it. Others are impressed with the “Differential Pair” routing features, but I have never had a need for these. There are probably numerous changes “under the hood” that I’m not aware of (which is how it SHOULD be).

Dale

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