I want to help test the next release.
I am using 5.1.10 on Windows 10, 64bit.
I see you package the builds so I can just run an installer, correct? It updates my files when I open them. Is there anything it doesn’t convert over? All libraries, symbols, footprints, 3D models should all be there as well? Anything I should be aware of in testing?
Do I want this:
kicad-5.1-jenkins-355-x86_64.exe
or this:
2021-06-23T20:05:15.061Z 1.0 GB kicad-msvc.r22978.1d6ad4a52a-x86_64.exe
I run Linux myself and have both KiCad V5.1.10 and V5.99 installed.
They are different programs installed in different directories and each has their own set of libraries. There is a bit of “weird” path substitution going on to make it work. It looks like it was done a bit sloppy or in a hurry, but I assume it’s temporary and will be done better when the official KiCad V6 is released.
The only limitation I know of that once you save a project from KiCad-V5.99, it can no longer be opened in older KiCad versions.
For installation I would normally follow the official recommended way:
Which points to:
https://kicad-downloads.s3.cern.ch/index.html?prefix=windows/nightly/
Which is the …1d6ad4a52a-x86_64… of your 2nd link.
Installing stuff on windows is very different from Linux though. On my linux box, the normal way is just to tell your operating system which programs you want installed and where to find them, and after that the operating system itself keeps those programs up-to-date with each normal update. You do not update separate programs on Linux. Instead you just tell the OS to update all programs. This is very handy for things like the KiCad-nightlies.
Your links have two completely different versions of KiCad: the testing version of the stable branch 5.1 where there are only bugfixes; and the “nightly builds” for 5.99, the unstable feature development branch.
If by “next release” you mean the new features you should use the official nightly builds which is nowadays compiled with MS Visual Studio, hence “msvc” in the file name.
You can use either the full or the “lite” installer. The full 1GB installer has the libraries inside it. The lite has a run time (installation time) option to download the libraries separately. Both lead to the same setup if you choose to install the libraries. As Paul said, 5.99 is automatically installed separately from the stable 5.1 so you don’t have to worry.
You should keep up to date with the nightly builds especially if you find bugs and report them. At the moment bugfixes and other small changes come in every day. Updating the libraries every time isn’t necessary, therefore I recommend the lite installer for updates.
The most important thing to remember is to not open and save the original v5 projects with 5.99 because you can’t go back.
At the moment it’s pretty safe to edit a project with a new nightly build. Even if there’s a new bug which prevents working, you can install a bit older version which didn’t have that bug. There will be crashes and there’s no guarantee that your files will stay OK, but chances of losing all the work are small. Save often and use a version control system if you do actual work with a project.
You can follow the development status in Post-v5 new features and development news. (The link goes directly to a post which may be the first relevant for you, otherwise the thread is too long to read.)
If you want to do some experiments with V5.99, then such an experiment is quicker to start from an existing project. I usually do this by copying an existing project to a new directory, and then appending “_5.99” to the directory name.
In V5.99 file extensions have changed too. For example the project file changed from: “project.pro” to: “project.kicad_pro”, and same for the schematic, from: “project.sch” to: “project.kicad_sch” so that makes them easy to recognize.
Thanks to all. I’m used to having to use GitHub to download dailies and compile for my software, so having an installer makes it relatively easy. I love the new transparency sliders!
There has been no Windows Testing since the 16th. I suspect the commit going from OCE to OCC has broken something
Testing directory is nearly empty now
https://kicad-downloads.s3.cern.ch/index.html?prefix=windows/testing/5.1/
Still no Windows 5.1.x build since 16th June, several commits since then
Hi,
today i tried to install the current 5.1 testing build.
Currently (29.06.2021) in the download directory is the
kicad-5.1-jenkins-386-x86_64.exe
This means that KiCad no longer starts, the error message is
The libdeflate.dll file does not exist on my system.
Downgrade back to
kicad-5.1-jenkins-355-x86_64-lite.exe (16.06.2021)
fixed the problem, this version works for me.
Application: KiCad
Version: (5.1.10-6-gecec324121)-1, release build
Libraries:
wxWidgets 3.0.5
libcurl/7.71.0 OpenSSL/1.1.1g (Schannel) zlib/1.2.11 brotli/1.0.7 libidn2/2.3.0 libpsl/0.21.0 (+libidn2/2.3.0) libssh2/1.9.0 nghttp2/1.41.0
Platform: Windows 8 (build 9200), 64-bit edition, 64 bit, Little endian, wxMSW
Build Info:
wxWidgets: 3.0.5 (wchar_t,wx containers,compatible with 2.8)
Boost: 1.73.0
OpenCASCADE Community Edition: 6.9.1
Curl: 7.71.0
Compiler: GCC 10.2.0 with C++ ABI 1014
Build settings:
USE_WX_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT=OFF
USE_WX_OVERLAY=OFF
KICAD_SCRIPTING=ON
KICAD_SCRIPTING_MODULES=ON
KICAD_SCRIPTING_PYTHON3=OFF
KICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON=ON
KICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON_PHOENIX=OFF
KICAD_SCRIPTING_ACTION_MENU=ON
BUILD_GITHUB_PLUGIN=ON
KICAD_USE_OCE=ON
KICAD_USE_OCC=OFF
KICAD_SPICE=ON
Why does the KiCad version information for my system show Windows 8 even though I have Windows 10?
Hubert
I raised a bug report on this, which took a couple of attempts and it then got moved
The Windows 8 thing is a Microsoft “feature”
From the gitlab:
nickoe @nickoe · 1 hour ago
@davidsrsb Please try this temporary build, I think everything should be correct now.
Seems to work. KiCad starts again. Thanks.
Hubert
You will probably find the 3d viewer does not quite work. It will work again tommorrow hopefully
Build 393 2nd July 2021 is the first 5.1.x Testing for a couple of weeks that does not have installation bugs with missing dlls
Maybe fixed
Down to two days again and there have been commits
There’s an actual build error
There’s no CI coverage for 5.1 unfortunately because it’s tooling isn’t so great compared to 5.99 
I see a new build today
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