I occasionally have the rats nest disappear completely. The button on the left still shows “hide rats nest” so Kicad apparently thinks it is still being shown. Repeatedly pushing the hide/show button has no effect, the rats nest remains invisible. The only way to get it back is to re-read the current netlist, and then it shows up again. Just to be sure, I upgraded to the latest test version, but it still happens.
I am not sure that I am doing anything different when this happens. I think it may occur after I have placed a track, and then right-click to end the tool. But it catches me by surprise, and after clicking away on the hide/show etc, I can’t always recall the last action!
My info:
Application: kicad
Version: 4.0.0-rc1-stable release build
wxWidgets: Version 3.0.2 (debug,wchar_t,compiler with C++ ABI 1009,GCC 5.2.0,wx containers,compatible with 2.8)
Platform: Windows 7 (build 7601, Service Pack 1), 64-bit edition, 64 bit, Little endian, wxMSW
Boost version: 1.57.0
USE_WX_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT=OFF
USE_WX_OVERLAY=OFF
KICAD_SCRIPTING=ON
KICAD_SCRIPTING_MODULES=ON
KICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON=ON
USE_FP_LIB_TABLE=HARD_CODED_ON
BUILD_GITHUB_PLUGIN=ON
Did you try the [Redraw the screen of the board (F3)] button yet, up there where the zoom buttons are?
I remember such a behavior myself after laying down tracks the ratsnest would vanish and I needed to hit that button I think to get it back.
I finally got a chance to try it again- F3/Redraw does not bring back the rats nest. So far only reading the netlist works (I suppose closing and re-opening the project would work as well).
Just had it happen to me doing a layout in BZR 6097 (not a recent version) while putting down tracks - moving a footprint (or attempting to) did bring the ratsnest back to visibility (zooming or redrawing did indeed not help - didn’t try re-reading the netlist).
Happening regularly with Win64 v4.0.2 and the default canvas. The ratsnet disappears pretty regularly. Moving a component will sometimes bring it back (iirc), but re-reading the netlist seems to be the only workaround.
Rats net lost bug have been there for a long time (pop up rate once/month or so). Yesterday I did start new project and with it that problem pops up several times in hour. I did use Win64 version 4.0.2 and upgraded it to the version 4.0.5. The problem remains.