When trying to add a library symbol why does this setting not prevent the “Could not use OpenGL” popup message? Is there any way to permanently suppress it?
Most people here do have opengl available and can’t trigger this message. We can’t guess what exactly you are doing. Give a detailed step by step description so that nothing is left for guesswork. Preferably with a screenshot or even a screencast.
-
What’s your GPU?
-
Can you update your graphics drivers?
-
What is the specific message you get in the dialog?
-
Can you try reducing antialiasing settings?
The ‘Fallback graphics’ Preferences choice has already been set.
Clicking ‘Place Symbol’ on right-hand toolbar:
immediately produces this pop up:
When the pop up is dismissed the expected ‘Choose Symbol’ dialog appears.
It’s getting pretty annoying!
Setting ‘No Antialiasing’ has no effect.
Is 'Most people’s OS linux or Windows?
Is there a modern OpenGL driver for Windows available?
Your first screenshot is made from the settings for the Symbol Editor. The Schematic Editor (and KiCad’s other sub programs) each have separate radio buttons for Accelerated / Fallback -graphics.
So what is your GPU?
I’m not an expert on this, but don’t most PC/laptop display driver HW/SW support OpenGL by default?
If there’s somehow no GPU driver installed, Windows will use a fallback software-based OpenGL 1.1 implementation. KiCad needs OpenGL 2.1+. Also this implementation will be slow.
1 Like
I’m running an Intel i9-11900K CPU on Windows using the CPU graphics with the default Microsoft Basic Display Adapter drive. AFAIK, there in no OpenGL driver, v1.1 or other, that ships with Windows10 for any Intel CPU. I downloaded and ran the Intel Driver & Support Assistant with no mention of OpenGL support existing or even possible…
Both the schematics editor and the schematics symbol editor have the accelerated graphics option disabled. If Kicad falls back to OpenGL v1.1 then it is internal to the Kicad package, not Windows. Whichever case may be, there’s never a problem with the schematic editor, but always with the symbol editor.
Intel i9-11900K has Intel® UHD Graphics 750 GPU integated.
Install Intel® Arc™ & Iris® Xe Graphics - Windows* from Intel Website:
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/212325/intel-core-i911900k-processor-16m-cache-up-to-5-30-ghz/downloads.html
2 Likes
From here: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005524/graphics.html#primary-content
1 Like
Here’s a screenshot from the symbol chooser:
As we can see, it has a preview area for the footprint. Oftentimes it’s not populated, but I suppose the dialog tries to initialize the view every time with OpenGL.
KiCad tries to avoid “nagging dialogs”, and this one violates the rule. It could be handled as a usability bug.
But if you have set the PCB and Footprint Editors to use fallback graphics and KiCad still tries to use OpenGL (the preview pane in this dialog naturally uses something from the footprint/PCB editor view), it’s a technical bug which should be fixed in any case.
EDIT: although the actual “fix” for you is to install better drivers, as was said.
(The default Windows drivers by Microsoft often don’t work too well even when they seem to basically work, and this is not only for graphics drivers: I recently saw a situation with two identical machines where the bluetooth couldn’t find certain device from one machine, but the other machine found it. “Have you installed the motherboard manufacturer drivers for that machine?” No I hadn’t, somebody had already installed them for the other machine. Bluetooth basically worked, finding many other devices, but didn’t work optimally. Lesson learned, hopefully.)
Installing the Intel driver solved the problem! Intel made no mention that there was an updated OpenGL within it. This really should be emphasized in the installation instructions for Windows platforms. Just why the Symbol editor requires it (for eliminating the nag pop up) and the Schematic editor doesn’t seems to be a bug since the fall-back graphics works fine for both.
All stand-alone OpenGL drivers/helpers are for discrete video graphics cards; none exist for Intel processor native graphics.
1 Like
Note that now you can switch to Accelerated graphics for all editors in Preferences.
For the benefit of anyone else finding this thread in the future with the same/similar issue . . . the solution (and it often is the solution) was given in post #3
…except that trying to “update” a driver made by Microsoft to the latest version wouldn’t help. You need to download and install a completely different driver made by the hardware manufacturer, be it integrated or specialized HW.
Yup, that is what is meant by updating your Graphics driver.