Problem with libriaries under linux mint for KiCAD v5

Software
1

Ladies and Gentelmens!
Good day to You people!
I am new to KiCAD in general, but I’ve read a lot of positive opinions about it, so became encouraged to try it. However, it turned out I have some issue with libraries. When I open KiCAD and open schematic editor I get this:



Here in this forum, I’ve found I should download the libraries myself and copy ftp-table and footprint table to /home/$USER/.config/kicad/, I did this and still, I can’t see any of the libraries.
Any suggestions on how to deal with it will be much appreciated.

2

It is strange that the “copy default table” is not available. (Is it possible that your linux distribution has separate packages for the library?)
What happens if you select the “copy custom table” option?

The library tables that are shipped with kicad rely on environment variables. You can set them up in the kicad main window -> preferences -> Configure paths

You will need to point these variables at the location where your libs are.

If you do not want to work with variables simply use the library managers and manually add the libs with the browse button instead of copying the library tables. (opens a file browser that allows you to navigate to your libs and select multiple of them using shift or crtl plus left click)

3

It seems it comes as a separate package, but it is automatically selected for installation.

I will try this.

I think I tried this and it only allowed me to select one by one. I couldn’t add them at once.
Anyway, thank You for your advice I will try your suggestions.
Cheers!

4

Ok, I managed this, but… THIS IS RETARDED (a bit)!
I went the path of a separate package, and it turns out that the default package which is installed is called “meta-package” consisting nothing… This is what apt show says:

Package: kicad-libraries
Version: 5.0.0-stable-201807260719+7~ubuntu16.04.1
Priority: optional
Section: electronics
Source: kicad-library-all
Maintainer: Jean-Samuel Reynaud js.reynaud@gmail.com
Installed-Size: 7168 B
Recommends: kicad, kicad-symbols, kicad-templates, kicad-footprints, kicad-packages3d
Conflicts: kicad-common, kicad-library, kicad-library-all
Replaces: kicad-library, kicad-library-all
Download-Size: 1334 B
APT-Manual-Installed: yes
APT-Sources: http://ppa.launchpad.net/js-reynaud/kicad-5/ubuntu xenial/main amd64 Packages
Description: meta-package for dep to all KiCad libraries (symbols, footprints, templates and 3D models)
This package is a meta package to allow a full installation for all KiCad libraries

  • footprint (also named modules)
  • symbols (for schematic)
  • packages 3D (step and wrml)
  • projects templates
    If you just install this there is no library folder in /usr/share/kicad.
    Moreover, please notice the size of this bad-boy, ~8MB. When I installed separately all of this packages (symbols(21.5 MB), footprints(~73 MB) and 3d files(4.7 GB!)), all of them became visible for KiCAD. So basically this phony package was the culprit of this whole situation. The question here is what is this package actually doing. It doesn’t even create proper paths (new folders)…

I am sorry for wasting your time on such a petty issue. I should have checked the size of this packages, before writing here. Next time no trust for meta-packages!!!
:slight_smile:

Ok, after installing I could see the libraries but if I open new project they are gone again. I need some time on this…

5

Just curious - are you using the Ubuntu version of Mint or the Debian version?

Cheers
Chris

6

What do you mean? The window manager (If yes, I am using cinnamon)?

7

Mint comes in two flavours. One is based on ubuntu the other on debian. (The differences are in the lowest levels of the operating system.)

8

Correct - The Ubuntu version (simply Linux Mint 19 or Tara) and LMDE (Cindy) which is the Debian version. If you are using the Debian version (Stretch - Stable) you wouldn’t be using the Ubuntu version of the KiCAD install.

You would need to at least wait until it hits “BackPorts”. Not saying that is your issue, but something to consider moving onward.

9

Ok, I have made an idiot of myself (not the first time). After typing cat /etc/linuxmint/info I get:
RELEASE=18.1
CODENAME=serena
EDITION=“Cinnamon 64-bit”
DESCRIPTION=“Linux Mint 18.1 Serena”
DESKTOP=Gnome
TOOLKIT=GTK
NEW_FEATURES_URL=http://www.linuxmint.com/rel_serena_cinnamon_whatsnew.php
RELEASE_NOTES_URL=http://www.linuxmint.com/rel_serena_cinnamon.php
USER_GUIDE_URL=help:linuxmint
GRUB_TITLE=Linux Mint 18.1 Cinnamon 64-bit
I hope this helps to answer your questions.

10

Again, it was just my curiosity and you have confirmed that you are installing KiCAD from a repo that is meant for Ubuntu. So that is a good thing for you. Again, this may or may not have any bearing, since you are using the Ubuntu Xenial version (16.04) you will probably want to ensure that you have the correct repo added to /etc/apt/source.list

For example, you would have this:
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/js-reynaud/kicad-5/ubuntu xenial main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/js-reynaud/kicad-5/ubuntu xenial main

Again, Im not an Ubuntu user, just pointing out some of the more obvious things to ensure are in place.

If all is correct, you may wish to reach out to the maintainer of that package and see if something was missed or can lend advice.

Cheers
Chris

11

Hello,
i’m also using Mint 19 Cinnamon (Ubuntu). It seems to be a problem with Mint in general, because the libraries don’t get installed with kicad by default. You have to install the packages manually (sudo apt install kicad-footprints kicad-libraries kicad-symbols kicad-packages3d ).
After that, you can choose the recommended option for symbol table after the first start.

mfg

12

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