Mac OS Big Sur Install - How to

[KenF]

Works on Catalina probably, but I jumped from Mojave to Big Sur so I can’t say for sure.

If you have tried to install Kicad on the Big S, you noticed immediately that the libraries cannot be copied. Big Sur has put another security barrier that has to be jumped over, and the Kicad installer doesn’t yet know about it yet.

NOTE: There are two Library folders in MacOS, the System and the User. We will use both, so make sure which one you are in.

Firstly make sure that you can see your user Library. Open up a finder window, go to View/Show View options then at the bottom check the Show Library box.
Secondly. Put an icon of the Macintosh HD on your desktop. Finder/Preferences Check Hard Disk box.

If you have already tried to install Kicad, then you need to remove it, otherwise you will just keep trying to load a library that isn’t there. In the LOCAL library, (your name)/Library/Preferences delete the kicad folder. This will make the installer think you are installing for the first time again. If you wish to really start from scratch, delete the KiCad folder in Applications.

Now, click on the .dmg to install it again, dragging the main program i(KiCad) into Applications. This will work.

Again, if you try to drag the lower folder (kicad) of libraries and runtime stuff, it will bounce back. In Big Sur permission is needed for the installer to write to that folder and the needed popup to inform you of that, and to allow entry of your password, is missing. But…

Click on the Macintosh HD icon to open another finder window. You will see the SYSTEM library folder. Click on it, then on Application Support. Now drag the kicad (lowercase) folder into this Application Support. You will be prompted for a password. This is where the KiCad GUI installer trips up. Enter your password and wait for the data to move.

6gb or so later, you can close everything, then start KiCad with the libraries working.

Notice. I have just started to use KiCad on Big Sur so I can’t say what else might need tweaking, but it has worked so far.

BTW. On a new M1 Mini, it FLIES.

[Meterman2026]

Another way to get to the user Library:

With the Finder window open, select the ‘Go’ menu, then hold down the Option key.

Library will then appear as an option in the drop-down menu.

[Dan_Green]

Same problem occurs with Catalina 10.15.7 (but I don’t believe so in earlier 10.15.x releases):
Dragging the kicad folder to the Application Support folder doesn’t work, and the folder “bounces back” without copying.

An easier solution that works in Catalina (and may work in Big Sur as well, I haven’t tried) is to double-click the Application Support folder from the DMG window. This will open up a new window. Then you can drag the kicad folder from the DMG window into the new Application Support window. It will ask for your password and then proceed to copy the 6GB of data.

[KenF]

I totally jumped over Catalina on all of my systems. Had too many 32 bit programs that I hadn’t replaced yet, so I know nothing about it.

Almost all of the KiCad users that I have helped on Big Sur knew the reason why the problem was happening, they just kept trying to work on the wrong Library/Applications Support folder, not realizing (or remembering, more likely) that there are two sets of them.

[Gewurstraminer]

I had already figured this workaround to install on M1, but still no libs. Choose symbol is empty. New to kicad, do I need to do anything else?

[floating-io]

Not sure if this is related, but I’ve had a number of issues due to the app translocation feature. I started doing this from a terminal before starting KiCad whenever I install a new nightly version:

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /Applications/KiCad/KiCad.app/Contents/MacOS/kicad

I don’t even remember what was broken that started me down this path (python scripts or something I think), but I have had far fewer problems since adopting this habit.

Might or might not help in your situation.