Hi KiCAD folks,
I have a fresh install of 8.0 on a new Win10 machine, but it’s also coming with fresh headaches!
The first thing it asks me is if I would like to configure KiCAD and import settings from a previous version. I took all the files from
C:\Users[username]\AppData\Roaming\kicad
and put them in a folder to point KiCAD 8.0 to. It refuses to see any files and just says,
“The selected path does not contain valid KiCad settings!”
but, of course it does. Those are all my KiCad 5.0 settings. Help?
Also, as an aside, this documentation is unhelpful to beginners just saying " APPDATA%\kicad\8.0" is the location.
Even if this did work for 8.0, which it doesn’t appear to, theres actually another sub-folder (roaming), and this isn’t the full path name. “Appdata” is also a hidden folder, so like for the uninitiated non-l33t, assuming we want more KiCad users in the world, a better explanation on the site would be so nice. If volunteers are wanted, I could add it. I would mark this as a bug right now.
(The first % was cut off in your message.) For me %APPDATA%\kicad\8.0 leads to C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\kicad\8.0. The text in the documentation can be copied and pasted to the file manager address line verbatim, and it works. I can understand that not all Windows users know this.
You can zip the old v5.0 kicad\ folder and attach it here. We can test. I’m not going to install v5.0 just to create a test configuration.
The text in the documentation can be copied and pasted to the file manager address line verbatim
yeah, this is not clear from the documentation. But that’s helpful to know. I think a couple sentences and the full URL would go a long way to limit the human suffering >.<
You can zip the old v5.0 kicad\ folder and attach it here.
the site here will not allow me to upload, says new users cannot upload. (appears to be a bug, since I joined in Oct, 2022).
But I uploaded here:
You were at trust level 0 (maybe you haven’t used the forum for some time), after I wrote my previous message I pushed you to level 1 which should enable attachements. Please try again. (Some forum writers don’t want to open external services.)
that is because I have only posted once since joining. But the text said “new users” - but that is not accurate. I’m not new, I’m just not super active. The text is a bug I think, and should read
“you need more posts / levels before you can upload.”
The forum framework, including the trust levels and messages, come from the 3rd party. The administrators don’t have resources to customize all details. The message may be annoying, but only once. This far nobody has complained and I don’t think it really misleads anyone.
I mean, it literally misled me into looking up my join date and posts and scratching my head. If you weren’t here to explain it and help me, I would still be lost about it. I think it is a bug, albeit a very minor one.
The forum framework, including the trust levels and messages, come from the 3rd party.
Ah ok, well if it can’t be changed then that’s life. It’s ok.
Looking forward to any help / update on the 8.0 settings importing issue. Thanks again!
I put the files directly under C:\Users\Human Being\AppData\Roaming\kicad where they have been in v5 (versioned folders were added in later versions). I renamed my 8.0 folder to start KiCad v8 from scratch.
I chose to import from a previous version, then clicked the folder icon. The dialog opens in C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\kicad. I accepted with “Select Folder” button. Then I accepted the dialog above. KiCad asks an extra question but doesn’t complain. I can’t verify how well the settings are imported, but there seems to be no problem.
The only small bug seems to be that the base folder kicad\ under appdata isn’t added to the list of the suggested folders automatically (the versioned folders of later versions are, if they are found). After you select the folder through the icon everything seems to work as expected.
BTW, in any case v5.0 and 8 are quite different. Most of the active users who vaguely remember v5 will recommend starting from scratch. It pays back to go through all the settings afresh.
KiCad V5 is indeed very vague for me I am not sure what I would want to import from such a prehistoric KiCad version.
You almost certainly would not want to keep the old libraries. Even if you want to keep the old symbols / footprints for some of your projects, make sure the [Project]-cache.lib and**[Project]-rescue.lib]** files are present when you import the project into KiCad V8. KiCad then embeds all symbols and footprints used in that project into the schematic and PCB files (this is standard for KiCad V6 and higher). After that, you can easily export them to project specific libraries to make the circle go round. (It’s more robust).
For other settings. KiCad V8 has: Schematic Editor / File / Schematic Setup and then:
And if you are really desperate, KiCad creates a new configuration directory for each KiCad version, and all those files are human readable text. Apart from the obvious text editor, you can use a sourcecode merge program such as meldmerge to transfer settings between KiCad versions. You can even delete (or better: rename) the whole configuration directory. If KiCad can not find this directory, it assumes it is a fresh install, and you can do the initial setup again.
I put the files directly under C:\Users\Human Being\AppData\Roaming\kicad where they have been in v5 (versioned folders were added in later versions).
Thanks for your help.
This is a really frustrating bug.
The issue: There is a folder icon to import settings on the dialogue shown in eelik’s post, but it will only recognize the settings if they are located in a specific place, under C:\Users[your username]\AppData\Roaming\kicad
I was transfering to a new machine, so of course the files were not there.
This workaround seems to be effective, but it would be nice if this bug were fixed for other people working on a new machine and transferring settings over on a usb drive or similar.
Is there a better place to report these bugs?
Thanks for your help with the workarounds.
I renamed KiCad’s config directory, so KiCad can’t find it.
Start KiCad, it asks for:
Radio button Import Settings and then click on the folder icon right of the path name, to open a file browser window.
I can now browse to another location and open a directory.
Note that If I click on the “down triangle / arrow”, it only shows a few pre-selected locations. Maybe that is the difference with you. (Dialogs also look differently depending on OS and such).
I have not verified whether it actually imports settings from such a directory. My memory is too much of a swiss cheese to keep track of such details. The preset list, seems to be dynamically generated from the directory names in the ~/.config/kicad directory. (That is Linux’s default locationf for the stuff that is under roaming in windows.
Here is a link to the trust level abilities of the Discourse Forum program used by the Kicad Forum. https://blog.discourse.org/2018/06/understanding-discourse-trust-levels/
Basically, the Discourse philosophy seems to be: the more active you are, and continue to be, the more abilities you have.
That link, and others regarding the forum software, can be found in this FAQ.
Please try with a folder say, on your desktop. Something not burried in the Appdata directory. Does it still work? That was the bug I was seeing (it appears to need files in a specific location).
Thanks for trying it out!
the Discourse philosophy seems to be: the more active you are, and continue to be, the more abilities you have
Hi, this isn’t the bug I’m reporting (I support this philosophy). It’s the error message it gives - does not make sense when it says “new users cannot upload.” It’s a simple change of words needed. Looks like Gitlab is the place to report bugs, so I’ll do so there.
You may need to make a report to Discourse. It is their program the forum is using. I don’t know if Admin have the permission to change wording. I doubt the moderators have the ability.
Gitlab reporting is for the Kicad program not the Discourse program.
However. KiCad V5 is quite old. Maybe KiCad has trouble importing settings from such an old version. While searching for something recognizable I could modify in a settings file, I did not see much that was worth all this trouble. The differences between KiCad V5 and V8 are also so big that it’s dubious whether importing settings would be really useful anyway.
This forum doesn’t belong under the KiCad project in any way. Even though this is kind of the official user forum, this is run by a “3rd party” – the KiCad development team has nothing to do with hosting or administration of this forum. Metadiscussion happens here if needed, but bug - Discourse Meta seems to be the right place to report actual bugs in the forum software.
One small thing I can find – it still says “none found”. But it refers to the automatic check which will give you the list of the older versioned folders if you happen to have some, not to the manually chosen folder. The dropdown list is empty when you don’t have versions 6…7 installed before v8.
