Error when updating PCB from schematic

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1

Hello everyone,
I am on KiCad 9.0 (and enjoying :grinning:).

In the project I am working at, I wanted to create NPTH pads. As far as I have understood so far, KiCad does not allow creating a “flying pad” (unlike Altium, for example). In other words, you can’t create a standalone pad using tools like vias or similar.

To work around this, I placed a TPx (test pont) in the schematic and created a custom footprint library named npth_pad_xxmm, which I then assigned to the test point.

After updating the PCB from schematic, everything looks fine visually. However, I encounter the following error in the logs, when I hit Update PCB from Schematic:

Error: TP2 pad 1 not found in {project_name:footprint_name}.

I believe this error occurs because the footprint I created doesn’t contain a pad numbered “1” (or any pad number at all).

My questions are:

  1. Can this error safely be ignored in this context?
  2. Is there a better / easier / more straight forward method to create NPTH pads on pcb, with/without having it related to somewhere in schematic?

Thanks in advance!

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There are mounting holes, they are NPTH . . .

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In KiCad, NPTH does not have a pad number, because it has no copper, and thus you can’t connect a net to it, while the TP symbols are for TestPoints, and a test point does not have much use if it’s not connected to a net.

The solution, as RaptorUK shows, is to use one of the schematic symbols for a mounting hole without a pad, and assign a corresponding footprint to it.

Also, this is not true:

You can place a via, or a footprint PCB Editor / Place / Add Footprint [A] without it being present in the schematic at all. But it is true that KiCad does not like this very much and it has the tendency to remove such extra footprints if you’re not careful. So in general, it’s easier to stay with the “regular” workflow and add symbols for these things on the schematic too.

Good to read you’re having fun with KiCad. I do hope you keep up with the bug fix updates, which is currently V9.0.2. It’s been out for about a month now, so V9.0.3 won’t be far away either. Especially in the first few bug fix releases, quite a lot of bugs that have been found have also been fixed.

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Thank you very much for your reply.
I will consider what you and RaptorUK have suggested.

Also,

By this, I meant, it is not possible to create a NPTH pad out of a via, because “via hole” larger than “via diameter” is not permitted.

so bin ich gespannt! :D.

Thank you.

5

KiCad treats via’s as a different type from pads, and NPTH is treated as a pad, even though it does not have copper (or even a pad number). Pads can not be placed as separate entities on a PCB either. Pads have to be a part of a footprint.

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