Footprint view not available

Martius108 · March 10, 2024, 2:22pm

Hello,

I just installed KiCad 8.0 on my Mac (Mac mini M1 and Sonoma 14.3.1) and started to design. When I’m going into the part/symbol library I can choose a part and a suitable footprint. The footprint is shown in the footprint preview window (bottom right).

When I’m in the schematic editor and choose “Run footprint assignment tool” from the menu and pick the desired part I can choose from the menu “View the selected footprint in footprint view” but end up with an empty black window (zoom in and zoom out doesn’t help). Btw the 3D view is working properly.

So what is happening here? Footprints are available but not in the footprint view. What can I do to solve this problem?

baldengineer · March 10, 2024, 5:05pm

Which parts are you looking at? Are you certain they have a 3D model associated with it?

When you say “3d view is working properly,” does that mean you are seeing the models in the 3d viewer?

JeffYoung · March 10, 2024, 11:28pm

I also saw this once, but after rebuilding I couldn’t reproduce it. It appeared to be an RTTI failure in the debugger, but I have not idea what caused it (or what made it go away again).

You could try re-installing (or installing the 8.0.1RC2 that just came out).

fta · March 16, 2024, 6:14pm

I just upgraded from 7 to 8.0.1, and I am experiencing this same issue. I am attempting to update the connector on an existing design, but the footprint view is not there so I’m not able to place it on the PCB.

Here you can see the PCB editor has no footprint, but the 3D viewer is showing the part:

fta · March 16, 2024, 6:17pm

Closing and opening the project seems to have fixed it.

Martius108 · March 21, 2024, 8:41am

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your help. I updated to 8.01. Maybe I’m doing something wrong but when I open the footprint editor and select a random part I don’t see any footprint.

Just to make it a little bit clearer. When I want to select a part I can’t see a preview of the footprint. That is the same what I described above. Let’s call this KiCads global footprint viewer (This is the window where the overall parts list is on the left and the footprint preview in the middle).
But when I already have parts in my project and I open the footprint editor I can select a part from my list and I can now see the footprint (This is the window where the parts list is in the middle and the footprint window on the right).

Martius108 · March 21, 2024, 9:29am

Yes, I can see the models in the 3D viewer.

jmk · March 21, 2024, 1:03pm

Hi @Martius108

Are you writing about the “Footprint Library Browser” in the PCB Editor?

Post edited to remove incorrect information. See next post down.

dsa-t · March 21, 2024, 2:38pm

FYI, v8 adds hover previews to Footprint/Symbol editors.

jmk · March 21, 2024, 11:35pm

Thanks, @dsa-t

That’ll teach me to learn to hover, rather than go straight for the double click then move off the column.
I edited my above post.

Martius108 · March 22, 2024, 7:27am

ok, thank you. It seems I’d expected something which doesn’t exist.
I tried the hover function, it’s nice but what do I need it for when there is only a little black screen appearing next to a big black screen?

I could post screenshots here but I don’t know how to upload them.

RaptorUK · March 22, 2024, 8:30am

From a Mac I don’t know . . . in Windows I use the Snipping tool, you can also upload a JPG or if you can get the screenshot on your clipboard you should be able to simply paste it into your message.

Martius108 · March 22, 2024, 8:48am

This is what I see in the footprint editor when I hover over the part.

mf_ibfeew · March 22, 2024, 10:48am

The big black window is ok (because you have no footprint loaded yet - look at the titlebar of the footprint editor).
The small hover preview window is not ok - this should show a preview of the hovered library item. Could be a apple specific bug.

Martius108 · March 23, 2024, 6:23am

Thank you. Sometimes I get a preview by hovering over the part, sometimes not. Maybe a bug …

YashicaFan · April 10, 2024, 11:25am

Closing and opening the project seems to have fixed it.

I have the same issue. Reopen PCB editor show Footprint.

But, in Footprint Chooser, the footprint always not showing.

YashicaFan · April 11, 2024, 2:35am

More informations:

macOS 13.5 (22G74)
Application: KiCad arm64 on arm64

Version: 8.0.1, release build

Libraries:
wxWidgets 3.2.4
FreeType 2.13.2
HarfBuzz 8.3.0
FontConfig 2.15.0
libcurl/8.1.2 (SecureTransport) LibreSSL/3.3.6 zlib/1.2.11 nghttp2/1.51.0

Platform: macOS Ventura Version 13.5 (Build 22G74), 64 bit, Little endian, wxMac

Build Info:
Date: Mar 14 2024 13:30:33
wxWidgets: 3.2.4 (wchar_t,wx containers)
Boost: 1.84.0
OCC: 7.7.2
Curl: 7.87.0
ngspice: 42
Compiler: Clang 14.0.3 with C++ ABI 1002

And I have another computer running KiCad, without problems:

macOS 12.7.4 (21H1123)
Application: KiCad PCB Editor arm64 on arm64

Version: 8.0.1, release build

Libraries:
wxWidgets 3.2.4
FreeType 2.13.2
HarfBuzz 8.3.0
FontConfig 2.15.0
libcurl/8.4.0 (SecureTransport) LibreSSL/3.3.6 zlib/1.2.11 nghttp2/1.45.1

Platform: macOS Monterey Version 12.7.4 (Build 21H1123), 64 bit, Little endian, wxMac

Build Info:
Date: Mar 14 2024 13:30:33
wxWidgets: 3.2.4 (wchar_t,wx containers)
Boost: 1.84.0
OCC: 7.7.2
Curl: 7.87.0
ngspice: 42
Compiler: Clang 14.0.3 with C++ ABI 1002