I’m back after a nearly year long mental health break from my missing symbol issue. I have spent over 12 hours today reading and attempting repairs….. But no joy.
I was running Ver. 7 and couldn’t get the symbols to load but a few categories would. Today I saved my project, deleted Ver. 7 and installed 9 (Win 10). Everything went well. I ran a sample project and the libraries all loaded without a hitch. I then loaded my old problem child project and began working with it. When I went to add a component to the schematic the problem reared its ugly head, only a few component categories had anything in them. I looked in the folders and everything was there. I even edited the path just in case. When pulling up the main start screen I see no pertinent library files listed. If a picture is worth a thousand words so here are a few thousand.
The most frustrating part is that the libraries are all there and although I am no expert the path looks correct. I am sure it should be a two minute fix but I have diligently tried my best to read and understand what causes this kind of problem with no avail. I have thrown in the towel and here I am asking for help.
I wonder why at list you have .kicad_sym but Error says about .lib.
I am using only my own libraries so each new main number version I just say to use list from previous version and was not watching that list for years so I even don’t know which one file extension is correct.
I just went into the footprint editor and the footprints are all there. Next I went into the symbol editor and only some symbols are there which makes sense considering the problem I have been having. I saw where on the Kicad website the symbols are there to download. I would like to download them and add them into the half empty symbol file but as I looked I could only see where people have edited and posted them. Do you or does anyone have a download link for the current full symbol library? I think it would be a good idea to, and will, build my own list someday but I don’t have the time right now. I need to get the current project finished. You had helped me in the past, nice to see you again.
The *.lib files can exist in KiCad, but they are symbol library files in the old format. (I think older then V6). So the error message is not about the greyed / highlighted line (did you select that line yourself?) But it’s about some other file. Maybe it is in the Project Specific Libraries tab.
Yes, I read it but got sidetracked. Perhaps those were leftover from Ver. 5 that I had moved from another PC into my current one and then went from Ver. 5 to 7 and now 9. The artifacts may be the sporadic symbols that I am seeing. I am going to delete all of the files and reinstall Ver. 9. I am not sure but it should reload the correct files with a new install. I will report back afterward.
I reinstalled and the schematic came up as read only and the symbols are still not available. I’ve gone from bad to worse. However, the circuit board layout is still intact. I’m not sure what to try now.
I have fixed the “read only” error but I am still getting the same error when I go to place a new component. Usually I can figure things out and have tried many suggestions that I have read online but this one has me stumped. it appears that there is something that is still lingering after a de-install that the installer is picking up on. This is actually a very long list….
Ah, I just saw your post. I understand. It is what I was thinking in the back of my mind. However, I haven’t been able to figure out how to add the library to the project. From what I have read, I need to go to preferences - Manage footprint libraries - Project specific libraries and then add a path. However, I don’t see any symbol files in the correct path. C:\Program Files\KiCad\9.0\share\kicad\symbols. If I navigate to “footprints” there are many files there, just none in “Symbols”. I need to somehow find the symbol files before I can place them there. Where can I find them? I can’t seem to find them anywhere.
Your last screenshot is for the footprint libraries. There is a very similar window for the symbol libraries. There is also a chapter in the schematic editor manual / help file that explains how it all works.
I use Windows so I download one file containing program+libraries.
I always delete everything before installing next version.
I use KiCad libraries only to copy from them some footprints (I do it with file manager not seeing them in KiCad) into my libraries to then select one to use and delete all others.
Not using KiCad libraries in my projects I have never had a problem that my project is linked to (even the same symbol or footprint) but from old library. I would not know how to solve it.
I’m used to frequently update all symbols (footprints) from library to keep everything current. I think I would have lot of problems (using KiCad libraries) if I would open old project when all old libraries were gone.
I understand that the libraries work similarly but the symbol library is empty. The symbols that I do have are the ones that are in the project at hand. I am beginning to believe that I need to download the symbol library from an internet source. I have done a full search of my computer and the main library isn’t there. I thought I had deleted all related files when I reinstalled but the library didn’t install just the same. I tried to find the library but couldn’t. It is sounding like I need to install on a virgin PC and then copy the library. I will give it a try. I will report back after I find a solution. I appreciate your help.
I now have the full library installed and when I create a new project All symbols come up as they should. A great improvement. However, when I load my old project only a few symbol categories come up. Is there a way to load a new “Symbol Project File” in the project to look at the full library instead of the abbreviated one now in the project? I think we are close.
I was sure that a library list is a program configuration not depending on project. But I am using only global libraries. May be you just see project local libraries that I have never even tried.
