For some reason some of my footprints in Pcbnew are labelled with their symbol value information as shown in the example. In this particular example I’ve uploaded screenshots for, I don’t even see the ‘U5’ reference that should be there for the chip with value OPT3002_DNPT. In the footprint editor, OPT3002_DNPT doesn’t exist.
How does the symbol value get into Pcbnew, how do I get rid of it and make sure I have the correct reference designator on the component?
Here is what I did-
I updated some schematic symbol information and replaced some footprints, I then exported the netlist. In Pcbnew I selected Update PCB from Schematic (Match Keep existing symbol to footprint assoc. Options Update footprints, Delete extra footprints). I’ve also done Tools | Update footprints from Library.
You are trying to use %R in the Value field, and it doesn’t work because %R means the “copy of what is the value of REF**”. REF** is the primary reference designator, and it can be used only once in the footprint.
The Value field is automatic. In the footprint editor it’s the footprint name, but it’s replaced by the Value of the symbol when you add it to a board.
If you need the reference designator in the fab layer, add a new text field and use %R there.
EDIT: Sorry, you wanted to get rid of it. You can just make it invisible. Then it’s affected by Layers Manager -> Items -> Hidden Text and Plot -> Force plotting of invisible values/refs.
Thank you, that was very useful information. I had to pay close attention to the first label in the Footprint Text Properties windows in the Footprint Editor and Pcbnew. The first box can be labelled Reference, Value, or Text - I never noticed that before. The problem is fixed now, and I’m going to have to do a bit more reading on the differences to make it totally clear in my head!
Thank you very much!
