Lost while "getting started" in kicad 8.0.4+1

Software
1

See

1- In the “getting started” of pcbnew, chapter “Routing track”, there is “Now draw a trace between the GND pads of BT1 and D1, starting with the BT1 pad on the back of the board. Notice that the active layer automatically changed to B.Cu after clicking on the BT1 pad”. But when click, I remain on F.cu layer , and the trace is in red ! Wht do I miss.

2- A bit later “Another way to make a connection across layers is with a via.” When I try to make the via with “V”, the layer changes, the color of the track changes, but no via appears as below. Again, what do I miss ?

shot-2024-08-18_23-00-51
shot-2024-08-18_23-00-51369×513 38.5 KB

Thanks for any help

PC

2

In the tutorial it is also mentioned:

And the tutorial explains this detail. When you start from the THT pad (= Through Hole Technology) Then a track can start on either layer, and KiCad uses the active layer (with the small blue triangle in front of the F.Cu layer name as shown in the Appearance Manager on the right side

image

KiCad only automatically starts on the other layer, if there is another pad or track segment on that other layer that KiCad can connect to. The tutorial mentions:

You have to start on the SMT pad (Surface Mount Technology) It’s outside the screenshot, so I do not know what you did exactly.

I am not sure, but the most logical cause is that displaying of vias is turned off. You can check this in the Objects tab in the Appearance Manager. By clicking on the small round icon with the eye you can toggle display of via’s on and off:

image

3

Thank you very much.
But no, I have restarted from the beginning 3 times before posting… :wink:
I have followed srictly clic after clic the instructions.
1 - I have clicked on the GND pad of BT1 as indicated…
2 - Vias display has not been turned off, and I see them if I add a via manually with “add vias”.
3 - Moreover, I can make a route from VCC to ground without any error, as if any check was disabled.
I am using default parameters without any change,but something goes wrong…

4

Hello @pcouderc
I’m sorry you are having difficulties. I think the problem with 1. is you are starting your track from the wrong pad.

Now draw a trace between the GND pads of BT1 and D1, starting with the BT1 pad on the back of the board. Notice that the active layer automatically changed to B.Cu after clicking on the BT1 pad. Click on the D1 pad to finish the track.

Starting on the THT pad will always create a track on the active layer displayed in the Appearance Manager. In the case of this project, the track will be top (red) layer.

5

In small steps.

  1. Place the cursor in an empty area.
  2. Press X. This starts a track on the current layer.
  3. Move the mouse a bit, left click a few times. This places track segments on the PCB.
  4. Press v for via. This attaches a via to the mouse cursor, but does not place it yet.
  5. Press the left mouse button. this places the via.
  6. Move the mouse and left click a few more times. This now draws tracks on the other side of the PCB.
  7. Press [End]. This ends the track drawing. The active layer goes back to what it was from before the via.
  8. Place the cursor on top of a red track segment and press x to start a track.
  9. Move the mouse cursor, place a few track segments. Segments you draw now are red (F.Cu layer).
  10. Press [End]. This ends the track drawing.
  11. Place the cursor on a blue track segment. Press x to start a track.
  12. Track segments you draw now are blue (B.Cu layer).
  13. Press [End].
  14. Press [Page Up] and [Page_Down] This changes the active layer between F.Cu and B.Cu.
  15. Start a new track with x again.
  16. Place some segments.
  17. Press [Page Up] and [Page_Down] to make the other layer active.
  18. If there is a layer change, then a via is attached to the cursor, but not placed yet.

If this does not work for you, then zip up your project and post it here. Maybe there is something wrong with the configuration of the project.

Another option is to:

  1. Exit KiCad.
  2. Delete or rename the configuration directory.
  3. Start KiCad.
  4. Start a new project in KiCad.
  5. Repeat the 18 steps above.

The location of the configuration directory is:

  • Windows: %APPDATA%\kicad\8.0\
  • Linux: ~/.config/kicad/8.0/
  • macOS: ~/Library/Preferences/kicad/8.0/

If you are still having problems after this, then post your full KiCad version information:

  1. Open KiCad.
  2. Help / About KiCad / Copy Version Info
  3. Paste it in a post on this forum.
2 Likes
6

Thank you : you save me.
I have gone directly to what I supposed : bad configuration directory, removed it, and now all is as in the tutorial. I could even reuse the tuto.kicad_sch file of my previous session by copying it as-is in the new project…
It remains the mistery : how did I success to corrupt my config directory…? I do not expect an answer to rhis question… But I am no more blocked !
Thanks again !

7

Thank you very much !

8

If you had renamed it, then KiCad can not find it, and it also creates a new configuration directory with factory defaults. You can then use a program like Meld Merge to compare the differences, because all those files are readable text.

You probably can still do this, if you can recover this directory from the recycle bin, trash can or whatever it is called on your PC. Comparing these directories shows the differences and gives you clues to whether it’s some fluke, or you changed a setting without knowing what you did (common for beginners).

9

Mmm, I fear that:

rm -rI ~/.config/kicad/

be fairly rude on my PC…

But I note it in case problems turn back… :wink:

10

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