I can’t believe I even have to ask this. Just got V6 running under FreeBSD and want to get schematic entry going, but I gots no library symbols. I’ve been digging around in docs and faqs and previous forum listings and just can’t get a handle on it. Where do I get them from, and how (and where) do I install them? Did I miss an installation step or something?
Libraries are part of the normal Synaptics package install (xUbuntu). No idea about FreeBSD.
Target locations are:
/usr/share/kicad/symbols
/usr/share kicad/footprints
/usr/share/kicad/template
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Appears that FreeBSD uses /usr/local/share/kicad . Of the above, the only directory
present is template, which contains a small file called kicad.kicad.pro . No symbols or
footprints directories. Is there an installable package somewhere, or do I have to
download an archive and stuff 'em in here manually, or what?
According to FreshPorts -- cad/kicad: Schematic and PCB editing software you also need to install
FreshPorts -- cad/kicad-library-templates: Official KiCad project templates
FreshPorts -- cad/kicad-library-footprints: Official KiCad Footprint Libraries
FreshPorts -- cad/kicad-library-symbols: Official KiCad schematic symbol libraries
and probably
FreshPorts -- cad/kicad-library-packages3d: Official KiCad 3D model libraries for rendering and MCAD integration
Search your package manager for kicad related packages. It is possible the libraries have to be installed as a separate package.
If you have to install them separately, KiCad does not search for library locations. KiCad can create the sym-lib-table and fp-lib-table files when it thinks it’s run for the first time. You can force this by deleting the user configuration directory.
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Thanks for both your patience and pointers. I’m scarcely new at this, but still
manage to be stunned enough not to RTFM… especially when it’s just a “scroll
down the page, stupid.”
But why am I not finding any discretes in the default symbol library? I thought
they’d be under analog or something, but they’re just not jumping out at me.
They’re in the library “Device”
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Wow. That’s descriptive.
“Wow. That’s descriptive.”
Yes. It is. “Device” is the most important library in KiCAD, and it’s very good.
It’s unfortunately been submerged in a very high " noise floor" of special interests, manufacturer stuff etc. This is why you really need to create your own libraries.
BTW, why would you look for discretes in an analog library?
[quote=“ML9104, post:9, topic:39162, full:true”]
“Wow. That’s descriptive.”
Yes. It is. “Device” is the most important library in KiCAD, and it’s very good.[/quote]
Okay, that’s a very good thing to know, and really not obvious.
Sure, I get that.
Ultimately, of course. However, at the moment I’m choosing to get up
to speed on KiCAD with the reverse-engineering of a 40-year-old design,
so I figured it’s not unreasonable to expect that most, if not all, of the parts
in it are already in the libraries. On the other hand, a design that old also
means I’ll be creating my own symbols not for the latest chips, but for some
that are considered quite obsolete (e.g. bipolar PROMs).
A combination of habit (that’s how the libraries are organized in my Mentor
system, which I’ve been using for 20-some years) and common sense
(analog designs tend to use more, and a greater variety, of discrete parts).
I hadn’t (yet) made the leap to the idea that it would contain parts from
Analog Devices, etc.
You might save yourself some headache by reading through this: Getting Started in KiCad | 6.0 | English | Documentation | KiCad
or another v6 tutorial
Thanks - I’ll give it a look. I don’t expect any blinding revelations, given that I’ve used
a lot of EDA since my last hand-taped layout in 1987 or so, but it might clarify some of
KiCAD’s specifics. What I’m feeling so far is that a lot of the (schematic) UI’s logic is
drawn from windoze. I’m interested in seeing whether there are settings that will speed
it over the defaults - one that comes to mind would be the ability to map the right mouse
button for click/pan, that is, if I position the cursor somewhere on the drawing and right-click,
the drawing pans so that cursor location is now where the drawing is centered. Can it do
something like that?
(And yes, I get that this is drifting rather OT now…)
If your mouse is still set to “centre and warp cursor on zoom” (preferences > preferences > mouse & touchpad) , moving the scroll wheel one click back and forth will give you that function as well as zooming.
There is a bucket load of available hotkey functions, again in preferences, you are able to assign to keys.
There is also a lot of information in the FAQ (in blue at the top of this page).
Feel free to ask about any functions as many are not documented.
Eg. Selecting a group to move. Left to right select gives a different result compared to right to left select.
When moving something attached to the cursor, if the control key is held down, the grid is disabled.
Analog Devices hold the trademark, so using “Device” avoids any risk of unwanted legal issues
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I hope you’re joking, because otherwise that’s a completely ridiculous statement.
Much of ‘legal’ seems ridiculous to non lawyers. But, spread that across dozens of countries with differing laws and it becomes ridiculous to the power of infinity.
I don’t know that this is a conversation we should really be pursuing here, but I’m reasonably
conversant on the subject, and generally speaking there’s no place in the world as litigious
as the US - which is also where this business pretty much originated - and I’ve found myself
on the receiving end of a few trademark beefs, some real, some bogus.
To suggest that you can’t use the phrase “analog devices” because there’s a company called
Analog Devices is just silly. The phrase preexisted the company and is itself a term of art that’s
nonspecific to the company, its trademarks, or its products. So there’s zero chance of anyone
there (including the world’s most overzealous lawyer) complaining about the use of the phrase.
And even if the company’s products are being specifically referred to in this context, it’s in a
manner consistent with industry practice and not in a manner that could ever be considered a
contravention of their trademark rights.
Further, it would be stunned to use that argument against the use of their name in the context
of KiCAD’s libraries, when they’re already full of much more specific names like “Xilinx” and
“Renesas” that have no meaning other than referring to those companies and their products.
And it wouldn’t make sense for it to be any other way. If you make a chip and want people to
buy and use the chip, you’re gonna have to let them refer to it by name.
Unless you want to start the Rumpelstiltskin Semiconductor Corporation (RSC) and operate
by a different set of rules.
Seriously, I used to do appliance repair. Rather than put a company name on the card I put a description. Major Appliance Repair. Major’s Appliance Repair took exception. New business cards were way cheaper than consulting a lawyer to prove I was withing my rights.
Could this thread be closed, please? The last five replies bring nothing of substance.