Major revision KiCad upgrade issue (libraries)

[IanJ]

Hi all,

Why is it that every time I update Kicad on a major rev, i.e. 8 to 9 that I have to re-import my custom libraries?

I realize I am installing the major rev in its own new folder, but what am I doing something wrong on the selections available whilst upgrading......or is this just how KiCad works?

My custom libraries are way off in their own folder on a different drive.
D:\KiCad\_Libraries\Footprints
D:\KiCad\_Libraries\Symbols

Ian.

[Monkeh]

Because major revisions have completely distinct configurations. This allows for using multiple versions on the same machine.

You wouldn't want a new version to automatically pick up on existing libraries, as any changes to them would then break them for older versions.

[IanJ]

Thanks.

I guess I wouldn't mind the choice. Oh well!

Ian.

[Benta]

Simple.
In the new version, just change the paths to point to your custom directories.
Preferences -> Configure paths
Change KICAD_USER_SYMBOL_DIR and KICAD_USER_FOOTPRINT_DIR to point to your existing libraries.

Hint: read the documentation.

[Doctorandus_P]

I use a sourcecode merge program such ashttps://meldmerge.org, and then start with a directory comparison between the old configuration and the new configuration. This is a great help when reviewing the sym-lib-table and fp-lib-table files.

Also, note that if you delete the whole configuration directory (or better: Rename it, so KiCad can't find it) then KiCad assumes it is started for the first time, and it creates a new configuration directory with default values. Comparing such directories with meldmerge makes it easy to see what sort of changes you've made to the configuration.

[IanJ]

Simple.
In the new version, just change the paths to point to your custom directories.
Preferences -> Configure paths
Change KICAD_USER_SYMBOL_DIR and KICAD_USER_FOOTPRINT_DIR to point to your existing libraries.

Hint: read the documentation.

I did that but it didn’t add them, I then had to go add my various library collections manually afterwards.

IMHO the library management could be better.

Ian

[JPortici]

Simple.
In the new version, just change the paths to point to your custom directories.
Preferences -> Configure paths
Change KICAD_USER_SYMBOL_DIR and KICAD_USER_FOOTPRINT_DIR to point to your existing libraries.

Hint: read the documentation.

I did that but it didn’t add them, I then had to go add my various library collections manually afterwards.

IMHO the library management could be better.

Ian

Strange!
didn't happen to me this time (it did happen when migrating from 6 to 7, but not from 7 to 8 or 8 to 9)

[Benta]

I've noticed that when you make these kind of changes, you need to restart KiCAD.

[PartialDischarge]

I think this is the reason I'm still using 6, has all I need. Not knowing what problems could I have now from 6 to 9 makes it more difficult to upgrade...

EDIT: I guess it doesn't matter cause I'm using a 27inch 2013 iMac and I'd need MacOS 12, which I can't use, to run Kicad 9.

[JPortici]

I think this is the reason I'm still using 6, has all I need. Not knowing what problems could I have now from 6 to 9 makes it more difficult to upgrade...

EDIT: I guess it doesn't matter cause I'm using a 27inch 2013 iMac and I'd need MacOS 12, which I can't use, to run Kicad 9.

Screw that, 9 is so much better. Actually, just 7 was SO SO SO much better, and it's been only quality of life improvements since then

(side note, my 2012 macbook happily runs debian trixie and all of today's software, better than OSX 10.15.2)

[IanJ]

Agree that upgrading mostly results in a better, more productive experience……except for the fact they changed how through hole pads appear in V9, removing the individual colour.
In my case I had yellow pads for through hole, green for topside and red for bottom side.
Now through hole pads appear as green or red depending on what side of the board you have active.

The mother of all backward steps.

Ian.

[Benta]

I think this is the reason I'm still using 6, has all I need. Not knowing what problems could I have now from 6 to 9 makes it more difficult to upgrade...

EDIT: I guess it doesn't matter cause I'm using a 27inch 2013 iMac and I'd need MacOS 12, which I can't use, to run Kicad 9.

Don't worry. The leap from 5.1 to 6.0 was revolutionary, 7.0 and 8.0 are merely evolutions from there. You're not missing anything.

[Harjit]

Will V9 pick up and upgrade from V7 libraries? Or does one have to install V8, do the library upgrade, and then install V9?

[JPortici]

Agree that upgrading mostly results in a better, more productive experience……except for the fact they changed how through hole pads appear in V9, removing the individual colour.
In my case I had yellow pads for through hole, green for topside and red for bottom side.
Now through hole pads appear as green or red depending on what side of the board you have active.

The mother of all backward steps.

Honestly, it looked like a big deal when i read the change, and was concerned, but i completely forgot about that by the time i upgraded (last week, i waited for the first bugfix before diving in)

[phil from seattle]

Don't get me wrong, I am a dedicated KiCAD user but they do that every major release.  Every. Single. Time. There is always some huge hassle with existing libraries.  I spend way too much time dicking around with libraries when I upgrade so, for now, I'm sticking with V 8.  Nothing I have seen in 9 is so compelling that I just HAVE to upgrade.  Maybe version 10 project should have a goal of not breaking designs made with earlier versions. Except for libraries, they have done reasonably well. I'd give them a B+ but with libraries, C---.

[SiliconWizard]

KiCad 9 adds a lot of nice features that are summed up here: https://www.kicad.org/blog/2025/02/Version-9.0.0-Released/
You may not find any of these useful to you, but worth a look before claiming that.

But yes, updating major versions always requires manual steps for your libraries and yes, that's a bit of a pain.
My advice at this point is to write a procedure of what steps to take to do it, according to your own setup. Do this once when you update, and for future updates, you'll just have to refer back to your procedure, which will save a lot of time and hassle (because chances are, between updates, enough time will have passed that you'll have forgotten half of the steps and will need to fiddle, search online, and fiddle again until it works.)