Lost schematic KiCad 6.0.9

Schematic
1

Hi everyone,

New to KiCad.

I was working off an existing schematic originally built with Altium. I converted it to KiCad using the online tool Altium -> KiCad converter

Not knowing much about the file structure of KiCad I opened up the schematic file and started working… there was a warning about it being KiCad 5 file (I’m using 6.0.9) which said would be updated on save. I clicked save and it didn’t throw any errors.

I’ve been working on this file for a few days, clicking save and thinking all good. Then I opened up another schematic file just now, it asked if I wanted to save the file I’ve been working on… click yes.

New file opens I take a look, close, then go back to the file I was working on. When I open from the Finder on Mac it throws and error something like “Well this is embarrassing, the file you were working on has not been saving properly”.

I think I clicked “Recover” then got the following warning which I screenshot:

image
image932×1066 86.5 KB

Then it threw a couple more errors which I saved to a .log:
18:26:47: Impossible to get permissions for file ‘/Users/removed/Downloads/altium2kicad/_autosave-nrf52840_qiaa_config6-SchDoc.kicad_sch’ (error 2: No such file or directory)
18:26:47: File ‘/Users/removed/Downloads/altium2kicad/_autosave-nrf52840_qiaa_config6-SchDoc.kicad_sch’ couldn’t be renamed ‘/Users/removed/Downloads/altium2kicad/nrf52840_qiaa_config6-SchDoc.kicad_sch’ (error 0: Undefined error: 0)

When the file finally opens it looks like the original file, with no changes from the last few days.

After searching the forum I’m wondering if it’s because I haven’t been “properly” working on it in a KiCad project? Does anyone have any suggestions of how I might be able to recover my work?

Thanks in advance

2

Are you using Time Machine?

3

I do use Time Machine. However since working on this file I haven’t been able to back up as I’m away from my backup disk.

4

If Time Machine is still running, it may have made local backups.
If you can figure out where the schematic was saved, you can enter Time Machine and see if older versions are available.

1 Like
5

KiCad creates zipped backups in a separate [Projectname]-backups directory in each project.

Also, KiCad has built in converters for altium files. It does not do altium projects, but you can: Schematic Editor / File / Import / Non-KiCad Schematic and PCB Editor / File / Import / Non-KiCad Board File

The import in the PCB editor is only visible in the menu when you open the PCB editor in Stand Alone Mode. That is directly from your file manager, and without an active project.

And on top of that, a gentle reminder to manage your own backups. I’ve gotten into a habit of zipping up a project at least once a day when I’m working actively on a project. Putting the thing in GIT is another option. I have no personal experience with time machines.

1 Like
6

Thank you @3Dogs and @paulvdh for your help. I’ve learned a lot about KiCad and Time Machine!

I’ve managed to recover the bulk of my work, which is a huge relief. Thanks so much. Need to have much better backup habits now :slight_smile:

7

This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.