Layout: libraries INVALID

[dnmeeks]

New install on new computer (Win10). Using old libraries that I built on previous computer. When I try to add my footprint libraries it says they are “INVALID”.
Adding KiCad libraries generates no errors.
Version 4.0.7 (latest) of KiCad.
Never had any issues with my libraries before, and there is nothing telling me what is wrong. Has anyone else seen this? Any solution?
Thanks.

[Rene_Poschl]

Well stating the lib is invalid is not a lot to go on. (Not your fault. Kicad could give a bit more details here)
Did you ever run kicad nightly?
Are the libs made by you or do they come from some other source?

Are your libs the kicad v4 .pretty format (directory with .pretty ending containing one file per footprint with kicad_mod file ending)?
If so did you look via a file browser into the lib directory?

• Are there files in there? (Empty libs are shown as invalid)
• Could you try eliminating one footprint at a time until the lib is not shown as invalid any more?
• Make a backup of the lib beforehand
• Delete one (using the file browser), try to add the lib using the wizard -> if still invalid delete the next. (But always remember which once you removed. Maybe have a list.)
• Alternatively you could also use a more efficient search algorithm. Example binary search tree.
• As soon as you can add the lib as valid, you know that the last file you removed from the lib is probably the one responsible for the lib being invalid. (Some other file might be invalid as well.)

Now you can try to find the reason for the footprint being invalid.

• You can check if this footprint defines rounded rectangles. (Not supported by stable but supported in nightly.) Simply search the file using a text editor for something similar to:
  • (pad 2 smd roundrect (at 0.65 0) (size 1 1.5) (layers F.Cu F.Mask)(roundrect_rratio 0.5))
• with a more powerfull text editor you could even search all files in the directory for roundrect. If you get a hit you found your problem. (This could spare you the search i mentioned above.)
• If there is no rounded rectangle pad, you can try to import the footprint into kicad. This should give you more details about what is wrong with the footprint. (It will say that a parse error occurred and give you the line number of the problem.)