No symbols found

clarks · February 23, 2021, 3:23am

I am a new user trying to run the Getting Started with Kicad tutorial from here: https://docs.kicad.org/5.1/en/getting_started_in_kicad/getting_started_in_kicad.html

At almost the very beginning when I try to install my first resistor, I can’t do it because there are no symbols.

Here is how my paths are currently set:

And here is my Symbol Libraries window.

I have no idea if it looks right or not.

I am using Kicad 5.1.9 with macOS Big Sur. I have installed the library in both /Library/Application Support and ~/Library/Application Support. I did this and I tried setting the paths to first one path and then the other to see if it would fix my problem. It did not. With the paths set either way I still have no symbols.

So does anyone have any idea what is going wrong?

Clark

Meterman2026 · February 23, 2021, 4:30am

How big is the library folder? It should be in /Library/Application Support/kicad

Mine shows 6.08GB (currently running on Catalina, will be migrating over to my new M1 mini and Big Sur once I’m reasonably close to done on my project).

eelik · February 23, 2021, 8:21am

The path variables don’t work so that KiCad woul just search for libraries there. All libraries must be added to a library table. Library tables may have those variables. KiCad replaces the variables in the library tables with those defined in Configure Paths.

So, you seem to have an empty symbol library table file /Users/clark…, see the Symbol Libraries window in your screenshot.

The official KiCad libraries should have up to date library tables with them, they are just files in the library folder. You can for example copy them to your Preferences, replacing the old ones.

Rene_Poschl · February 23, 2021, 8:55am

Or just follow the reset to default workflow described in Library management in KiCad version 5

system · May 24, 2021, 8:55am

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