Check your clearances very carefully. If two clearance zones "just"
touch then a track will not route.

Tracks at 0,45 and 90 tend to (but not always) have better chances of not
infringing on clearances

Andy


On Wed, 15 Dec 2021 18:17:56 +0100
"jpgendner" <jean-paul.gendner@...> wrote:

Hello,
 ??? I have unchecked "Limits Tracks to 45°" but using "Route Tracks" I 
am not able to create a track in an other direction that 0, 45 or 90°.
 ??? I am using Pcbnew version 5.1.8 under Win10.
 ??? Any help is welcome.
 ??? Regards,
 ??? Jean-Paul, F5BU

****
Jean-Paul Gendner
Site : f5bu.fr 

Hi,

On 21/11/2021 10:27, Mike Willis wrote:

And a steep learning curve towards version 6.0 which is just about to be released.

I'm curious: What exactly did you find difficult in the transition between 5.x and 6.0?

Pretty much everything that works in 5.x still works in 6.0 in almost the same way.

The only "problems" that I encountered were:

• You can migrate in only one direction from 5.x to 6.0 (should not be a problem once 6.0 becomes the default).

• A few keyboard shortcuts have changed (very easy to adapt to).

Everything else in my opinion is just more intuitive, much more flexible and easier to use. You don't have to use the new features if you don't want to, but I promise you will want to once you played with them... ;-)

I have been using 6.0 (5.99) exclusively for several months now and I don't look back. The nightly builds were surprisingly stable.

??? Konrad

Similar to similar upgrade query but not so drastic...??was running 5.10 from last february, and now have another project i need to work on.

BUT.. .i have never upgraded KiCAD before as I am a newbie to it.?

what is involved, can i just run the installer over the top of the existing?? ?for this "point" release, will it do this safely??

i have been searching the web for release/upgrade instructions to no avail?? ?is there any dox on upgrading ????

please tell me i dont have to completely re-install or have side by side parallel installs like Eagle pushed me into...?

"... point exactly at the little circle at the outer end of the pin"

I suspect that my problem is that I am not accurately hitting the right
spot on the end if the pin (at my age your hands develop a mind of their
own) - is it possible to increase the size of the target area at all ??

Other programs highlight the pin when you are in the correct position
(though not a lot of help with shaky hands). Or even if the circle were
to disappear when in the correct spot.

I'm sure I didn't have this much trouble when I created these boards a
month ago !

Dave


On 16/11/2021 20:30, Konrad Rosenbaum wrote:

Hi,

On 16/11/2021 18:58, David Slipper wrote:

Sorry re highlighting - getting confused with DipTrace ;-)

Using 5.1.10, but upgrading to 5.1.12 made no difference.

Yes editing in schematic editor (as per subject line).

Just a stab in the dark: I tried to prevent connecting wires, I found
two ways. (On Debian/Linux with 5.1.9 though.)

One: if the Ctrl and Shift keys are pressed while you are working the
wires are unable to make connection. This happens to me sometimes if I
have my keyboard stuffed away in a corner because I want all the space
for the mouse - inevitably something accidentally presses some keys...

Two: if I accidentally press the middle mouse button instead of the left
one the program does not register this as a valid click. On some models
there are so many buttons that it is easy to click the wrong one or two
by accident.

So:

Check your keyboard is okay and you don't accidentally press Ctrl+Shift
or some other keys. Do other programs misbehave too? If so your keyboard
may need replacing because of faulty keys. Sometimes switching between a
host system and a virtual machine makes the VM miss key-press or
key-release events and the VM believes some key is still pressed: press
all 6 Meta Keys (Ctrl, Shift, Alt) to give it an update on the keyboard
state. Connecting to a system via remote desktop can also confuse the
heck out of keyboard and mouse events - I regularly scream at my screen
because remote systems have the wrong keyboard layout...

Check you are really clicking the left button and your mouse is not
making your life more difficult than it needs to be.


Sometimes additional input devices can confuse the system. Like a
graphics tablet with its pen lying idly on the surface or an
over-sensitive laptop touch pad reacting to your typing on the keyboard.
Or some multi-media gadget acting as if it was a crazy keyboard. Talking
about multimedia: using the second monitor to watch videos with VLC (or
other players) does not help either - they intermittently create a
Shift- or Ctrl-Key-Event to prevent the screen from switching off.
Sometimes screen grabbers and conference software can have weird effects
too.


There is an alternative to ending the wire with a left click: go to
where it should end and press the RIGHT button, the context menu offers
an "End Wire" option.

Just to make sure: to lay a wire you select the wire (green line without
a letter) from the tool bar on the right, then you single click the
start position, pull without continuing to click, and single-click the
end position. If you want the wire to end in the "air" without a pin you
double click.

Also: to connect a wire to a pin you have to point exactly at the little
circle at the outer end of the pin, otherwise it does not connect.
Enlarge the target symbol before pointing at it. You can use the mouse
scroll wheel to change zoom level (as well as Shift-Wheel and Ctrl-Wheel
to move about the sheet) while you are dragging a wire without losing
the wire. If the little circle at the end of the pin does not disappear
then you may have a wire, but no connection.

If you are using a graphics tablet or laptop pad as mouse you have to
remember to only tap the pen/pad to start a wire and then tap again for
ending it. You don't "paint" the wire like a line in a graphics program.


I hope that helps to narrow it down.



??? Konrad

Hi,

On 16/11/2021 18:58, David Slipper wrote:

Sorry re highlighting - getting confused with DipTrace ;-)

Using 5.1.10, but upgrading to 5.1.12 made no difference.

Yes editing in schematic editor (as per subject line).

Just a stab in the dark: I tried to prevent connecting wires, I found
two ways. (On Debian/Linux with 5.1.9 though.)

One: if the Ctrl and Shift keys are pressed while you are working the
wires are unable to make connection. This happens to me sometimes if I
have my keyboard stuffed away in a corner because I want all the space
for the mouse - inevitably something accidentally presses some keys...

Two: if I accidentally press the middle mouse button instead of the left
one the program does not register this as a valid click. On some models
there are so many buttons that it is easy to click the wrong one or two
by accident.

So:

Check your keyboard is okay and you don't accidentally press Ctrl+Shift
or some other keys. Do other programs misbehave too? If so your keyboard
may need replacing because of faulty keys. Sometimes switching between a
host system and a virtual machine makes the VM miss key-press or
key-release events and the VM believes some key is still pressed: press
all 6 Meta Keys (Ctrl, Shift, Alt) to give it an update on the keyboard
state. Connecting to a system via remote desktop can also confuse the
heck out of keyboard and mouse events - I regularly scream at my screen
because remote systems have the wrong keyboard layout...

Check you are really clicking the left button and your mouse is not
making your life more difficult than it needs to be.


Sometimes additional input devices can confuse the system. Like a
graphics tablet with its pen lying idly on the surface or an
over-sensitive laptop touch pad reacting to your typing on the keyboard.
Or some multi-media gadget acting as if it was a crazy keyboard. Talking
about multimedia: using the second monitor to watch videos with VLC (or
other players) does not help either - they intermittently create a
Shift- or Ctrl-Key-Event to prevent the screen from switching off.
Sometimes screen grabbers and conference software can have weird effects
too.


There is an alternative to ending the wire with a left click: go to
where it should end and press the RIGHT button, the context menu offers
an "End Wire" option.

Just to make sure: to lay a wire you select the wire (green line without
a letter) from the tool bar on the right, then you single click the
start position, pull without continuing to click, and single-click the
end position. If you want the wire to end in the "air" without a pin you
double click.

Also: to connect a wire to a pin you have to point exactly at the little
circle at the outer end of the pin, otherwise it does not connect.
Enlarge the target symbol before pointing at it. You can use the mouse
scroll wheel to change zoom level (as well as Shift-Wheel and Ctrl-Wheel
to move about the sheet) while you are dragging a wire without losing
the wire. If the little circle at the end of the pin does not disappear
then you may have a wire, but no connection.

If you are using a graphics tablet or laptop pad as mouse you have to
remember to only tap the pen/pad to start a wire and then tap again for
ending it. You don't "paint" the wire like a line in a graphics program.


I hope that helps to narrow it down.



??? Konrad

Hi,


On 16/11/2021 17:09, David Slipper wrote:

I have several projects that I created under Kicad v5.1.10 under Win 7
Pro x64.

what version of KiCad are you using to edit those files now?

I need to go back and change some stuff and while I can add new
components and change net labels it will not let me place new wires -
it draws the wire but it doesn't highlight pins or let me link a wire
to them.

What have I done wrong ??

I don't know, my crystal ball is broken. Sorry.

Are you trying to draw new wires in eeschema (the symbolic Schema
editor) or in pcbnew (PCB layout tool)?

If the former: that's very weird. I wasn't even aware it highlighted pins?

If the latter: of course! You need to change the schema first and then
update the PCB from it before you can add traces to the PCB! The PCB
editor does not allow you to place traces willy-nilly that would create
short circuits between nets that it is convinced must not meet.



??? Konrad