KiCad cannot find text editor
And we canât find your Kicad Version and OS. 
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You should always keep your text editor on a leash, or else it runs away.
Duck -taping it to your HDD sometimes also works, but if itâs not in the middle you may get a lot of vibrations.
For more sensible answers, give more info.
Itâs probably a good idea if you start by reading:
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
before you respond.
Specify text editor in preferences on the common tab.
Getting started in KiCad. I am trying to generate a new symbol and the example on making a new library/symbol is not clear to me. I have activated ânotepadâ on my computer, but when I try to read or edit a file I get the message âText Editor not foundâ. What am I doing wrong?
jim-dpc
On my Linux machine I have to specify a full path which is painful since the UI doesnât have an option to type it in.
From:
KiCad / Preferences / Preferences / Common
The âGetting started in KiCadâ document is seriously out of date. I think it was written for KiCad V4. Iâve been working on updating it, but got lost in delays from multiple causes.
Anyway,
Find the full path name to your text editor, try it out in a terminal window to verify it works, then copy and paste it in KiCad.
Addition:
I did a little experiment, and it can find both âgeanyâ or âxedâ on my linux box by just the filename. No need to enter a full path.
Sometimes these things open up a menu of applications. Sometimes the file system. Once I clicked on the button I saw files but not place to type it in. So I followed down the rabbit hole instead of pulling my head back out.
One of Linux Torvaldâs more famous rants was not having an area in that menu to type in a path.
Itâs also one of my little annoyances. In the âfile openâ dialogs there often is no way to paste in a long (7 directories deep) path that I already have on the clipboard. Combined with a multiple different âfile openâ dialogs. Itâs a bit *&^%$#@!
Sometimes it works if you just start typing text in the âFile Openâ dialog. Then the buttons with path name change in a text field, so you can backspace what you just typed and then paste from the clipboard. I prefer KiCadâs method of having a direct text field which you can edit or paste into without opening a file browser dialog window thingie. Phew.
Recently switched from Mint 19.3 Xfce to Mint 20 MATE, because of some irritating bugs in Thunar (File manager for Xfce). Now I have to live with replacing old irritants and workarounds with new ones. The behaviour of the screen grabber in Xfce was much better than with Mate, and I use that a lot on this forum.
Actually you can type the path in the GTK dialog on Linux. Just type it. Really! It works that way. This is worth repeating: just type the path. It may be difficult to believe because the UX is eccentric and non-obvious, but it works and is actually faster and simpler than any alternative.
Just a smidge off topic
Iâm on Ubuntu Mate 20.04 and use ksnip. Works well lots of features including ability to edit the screenshot with arrows, text, boxes and so on. Available as Appimage if you want to try out. Go for the Continuous version as it added ability to Zoom which was lacking in 1.73.
Sorry for interruption but I too was not fully satisfied with built in tool.
Thank you â I believe that I am getting the picture. I was assuming that everything happened inside the app. Apparently I need to use the text editor as an external device and weave in and out of the PRO.
Thanks. I think I need to specify the full path and paste the text into the project. Yes, the âGetting started in KiCadâ needs a bit of refinement. I have been using Hi-Wire for 30 years and need to update my brain. This program is the greatest. Thank you all.
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I have finished my first schematic â 147 components including one created symbol.
I have found a lot of help online by Googling âCreate symbols in KiCadâ. Some good helps with pictures.
Thanks to all of you helpers
jim-dpc
If you update your brain, then donât forget to also add a few gigabytes of memory.
Current prices for DDR4 are around EUR5 per GB. I donât know what that is per transistor (inclusive address decoding, buffers etc,) but it sounds like quite a steal.
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