My working libraries are under my home directory where I have full control but…
Just tried to add symbol and it reports the library is read only… They are not… what is KiCad (6) trying to edit?
The KiCad libraries are read only to ensure that you don’t save your own assets in the same location. Why? Because if/when you update your version of KiCad, it will completely overwrite the library, hosing any of your carefully made symbols and footprints.
You need to store your own libraries separately. There is a guide here - it is for 5 but the same principles apply for 6.I
And, it’s best to start a new thread rather than tack on to one two years old.
Moved to a new thread
What is your OS, KiCad version etc
You are saying that you cannot write to a personal library in your own directory?
It’s version: 6.0.1, release build and yes, I can’t edit / add symbols. Footprints are fine, I can add/edit etc… If I switch to 5.0.2 I can create/edit with the same files, so this is my workaround…
Version: 6.0.1, release build
Libraries:
wxWidgets 3.1.5
libcurl/7.79.1-DEV GnuTLS/3.7.2 zlib/1.2.11 libidn2/2.3.1 nghttp2/1.44.0
Platform: Linux 5.10.0-9mx-amd64 x86_64, 64 bit, Little endian, wxGTK, xfce, x11
Build Info:
Date: Jan 16 2022 19:28:53
wxWidgets: 3.1.5 (wchar_t,wx containers) GTK+ 3.24
Boost: 1.78.0
OCC: 7.6.0
Curl: 7.79.1-DEV
ngspice: 36
Compiler: GCC 11.2.0 with C++ ABI 1016
Build settings:
KICAD_USE_OCC=ON
KICAD_USE_EGL=ON
KICAD_SPICE=ON
Mike
Have you Migrated your Personal Libraries to KiCad 6?
The “Migrate Libraries” button is just above the OK in Preferences / Manage Symbol Libraries.
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What do you mean with “Working Libraries”?
What is the origin of these libraries?
Did you create these yourself, or are they KiCad libraries installed in a different place?
As far as I know KiCad has no way to mark files as “read only” for it’s own use.
It just relies of the read-only attributes of the files, as managed by your operating system.
It is not a good idea to make a copy of all the KiCad libraries.
If you want schematic symbols or footprints that are similar to what is in KiCad, then create a new personal library, and copy only the schematic symbols or footprints that you want into them.
This way you can still benefit from improvements in the KiCad libraries, while also having your personal parts. There are tens of thousands parts in the KiCad libraries, and if you start modifying them, you will get lost in what you did and did not change. It’s a nightmare for future updates.
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@ jmk
That appears to have fixed the issue… wasn’t aware I needed to migrate, thanks…
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@ paulvdh
It did not appear to be a permissions problem as I have in the past made libraries writable to allow editing and this time it didn’t work so I guess it was down to migrating them as that appears to have fixed the issue…
After years of creating and then loosing parts, footprints and 3D images, I think my latest creation works… I must admit I copied libraries and edited them but now I just build what I need and add them to my stack… life is so mush easier now…
Mike
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Great! @Michael_O_Toole
The migrate button only appeared with 5.99 & 6 and only for schematic libraries, due to the major overhaul for schematics.
Only libraries created prior to 6 need migrating.
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