Hello to all,
As an occasional user of KICAD, I am having difficulties to finalize my circuit and generate the GERBER files.
The circuit itself seems to be correct, but when I run the DRC, I get error messages that I can’t understand, and therefore can’t correct.
Maybe that’s why the manufacturer doesn’t recognize them?
Can you help me?
I am attaching my file for your convenience.
Thanks in advance!
Carte de démarrage.kicad_pcb (254.5 KB)
Continued…
The errors identified by the DRC only concern the connectors located at the bottom of the PCB:
A few months ago, I had made a board with the same connectors, the DRC had issued the same error messages, but it had not prevented the production of Gerber files.
So this is not an explanation for my inability to generate these files.
Pascal
I see self intersecting courtyard errors. I don’t think that should be a problem. Did you generate the gerbers? I was able too. What exactly did your board house say?
Seems OK to me but I didn’t do a lot of checking. Just wanted to see if I could generate them.
board.zip (57.3 KB)
Euhm, no.
Having DRC errors does not prevent you from generating Gerber files, and it does not cause a PCB manufacturer to “not recognize” them.
Sending a set of Gerber files with DRC violations in the design that you do not understand is not a good decision. It can easily lead to faulty PCB’s. But of course not all DRC violations lead to faulty PCB’s.
I advise you put some effort into understanding what your DRC violations actually are, what they mean, and whether they are important to you.
Your PCB manufacturer not understanding the files is another issue. Several PCB manufacturers have online gerber viewers, so you can have a preview of what your PCB might look like, and you can test whether your gerbers work with their process. Some PCB manufacturers use older and/or pirated software and do not understand more modern gerber dialects. Some of the X2 features seem to fall in this category.
But if there is an online viewer, you can’t just assume it’s 1:1 with their internal process. The online gerber viewer (coded probably in javascript, working in a browser) doesn’t technically have anything to do with a viewer/editor which they use internally to inspect and modify your gerber files for their needs, or with a gerber → gcode or some other converter which they use to convert the gerber to a format which they can feed to their machinery (the two latter programs coded probably in C or C++ or Fortran or something like that, working on their local computers).
What does “doesn’t recognize” actually mean? Did you send the files to them and they sent email saying “we don’t recognize the files”? Or didn’t you manage to view the files in their online viewer?
Hi,
Thank you all for your comments.
JLCPCB says “here is no Gerber file in your zip file, could you please kindly check it?”, and their viewer doesn’t show any image, unlike in my previous orders.
So I must be the one making mistakes in the Gerber file generation process.
I did a test with hermit’s zip, it works perfectly and appears in the JLCPCB viewer, thanks!
So I will place my order, but I still have to solve my problem…
Pascal
Would be worth to show that message.
So you have send them gerbers but they don’t accept them.
How did you send gerbers you can’t generate?
I’m lost.
The attached file is indeed not a Gerber file, but a KiCad proprietary board file.
See Board File Format | Developer Documentation | KiCad
Perhaps this helps, Fabrication Outputs (section in the help files): Getting Started in KiCad | 7.0 | English | Documentation | KiCad
JLCPCB says “here is no Gerber file in your zip file, could you please kindly check it?”
Do you have a zip-file with Gerber files you uploaded where you got this complaint?
There are characters in your filename which are outside ASCII. Could there be a problem (either by your zip-program or by JLCPCB)? Maybe you have to try it again with only ASCII characters and no spaces.
Hello,
I tried again by renaming my file, and sent the Gerber file back to JLCPCB.
This time, I received this answer: “Hi Sir/ Madam, There are no drill in your file, please kindly check! You can click ‘Replace file’ button to re-upload the file in your JLCPCB account page”.
Attached is the file I uploaded.
Do you have an opinion?
Regards
Pascal
Fichiers Gerber demarrage.zip (49.7 KB)
Indeed there are no drill files in your zip, but drill map files which are not the same thing. In the Generate Drill Files dialogue you should click on Generate Drill Files, not Generate Map Files. The resulting drill files should end in .drl, not .gbr.
My opinion is that probably you simply didn’t generated drill files.
That’s exactly the mistake I made!
So I did it again, which produced the attached zip.
Does it look right now?
Regards
Pascal
Gerber start.zip (40.5 KB)
Looks good to me. Open it in the KiCAD Gerber Viewer and have a look yourself. Try to upload it to JLCPCB and see it what their online viewer shows (it there is something wrong, but KiCAD Gerber Viewer shows all good then don’t worry).
SEE DOWNLOAD OF REVISED VERSION IN LATER POST.
KiCad v.6
Carte de démarrage.kicad_pcb
Renamed File: carte_de_demarrage
(Excluded incompatible special character “é”)
20KOhm Resistor Silkscreen End Pins (Shortened/Overlap Removed)
Molex Connector Jacks 1-4 (Duplicate Courtyard Lines Removed)
DIP14 Footprint (Replaced)
Minor Routing Editing
Board Size/PCB Coordinates:
START <—> END
X = 120mm <—> 51mm
Y = 133mm <—> 51mm
Includes:
Updated KiCad 3D Models of
Converter_ACDC_MeanWell_IRM-03-xx_THT
Gerber Files/Zip FIle Generated & Tested O.K. at JLCPCB
Hello invntefx,
I am very impressed!
How on earth did you know that the courtyard lines of the Molex connectors had been duplicated?
Thank you all for your help, you have saved me a lot of time.
Regards
Pascal
I have worked in Electronics Engineering for over 50 years.
eCADs for over 20 years.
Although I just started working with KiCad 6 & 7
it was incredibly easy to familiarize with.
When I ran a DRC (Design Rule Check) on your board
it showed the Silkscreen overlap and
the 16 ‘malformed’ courtyard errors
with arrows —>
on the resistor and jacks …
I simply opened these in footprint editor and corrected.
Also your project name
“Carte de démarrage.kicad_pcb”
contains the french accented “é”
that is unrecognizable to the software
and pcb manufacturers.
It is also advisable to use either
an underline “_” of a dash “-”
to replace empty spaces in filenames.
CAUTION: KiCad v7 Schematic Flags should only have a dash “-”
EXAMPLE: L-IN, R-IN, L-OUT, R-OUT
P.S I just updated your pc board with a little route ‘grooming’.
“Give me a fish and I shall have food …
Teach me to fish and I shall have food for thought to share.”
I see you’re using an IRM-03 AC-DC converter. So I guess this PCB will be powered by Mains 230V?
Please for your safety and the safety of the users, REMOVE copper pours from this PCB.
Also, I wonder if there is a risk of plugging the mains connector into one of the other sockets. I would have used a different connector for mains.
