Author Topic: The Living PCB Design Thread  (Read 382443 times)

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Offline _ODIN_

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #700 on: Fri, 25 May 2018, 13:18:36 »
Hello guys

I have managed to rotate the keys. Thanks!!!

But I am back with another question:

I am currently wiring everything up but for some reason, kicad doesn't let me connect some pads from the switches together.

I think a part of the problem is, that the pads, which cannot be connected, are labeled differently. Although it doesn't seem that you are able to rename them (or I haven't found a way yet).

https://imgur.com/a/bbehEHk
In this picture, I am not able to connect The Pad No. 1 from K23 to the Pad No.1 belonging to K24

Thanks in advance

Offline dead_pixel_design

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #701 on: Fri, 25 May 2018, 13:59:20 »
Are they connected in your schematic?

Offline _ODIN_

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #702 on: Fri, 25 May 2018, 14:18:33 »

Offline dead_pixel_design

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #703 on: Fri, 25 May 2018, 15:37:20 »
Are they connected in your schematic?
yes they are.
https://imgur.com/a/ZLW0qIl
Are you on the correct copper layer? Not trying to cross the trace connecting pad 2 to the diode?

Offline _ODIN_

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #704 on: Fri, 25 May 2018, 15:58:24 »
Are they connected in your schematic?
yes they are.
https://imgur.com/a/ZLW0qIl
Are you on the correct copper layer? Not trying to cross the trace connecting pad 2 to the diode?
no. I am not crossing the diode trace.
Didn't change the layer while connecting the switches

Offline dead_pixel_design

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #705 on: Fri, 25 May 2018, 17:02:51 »
no. I am not crossing the diode trace.
Didn't change the layer while connecting the switches

Try connecting on the back copper layer. In the image it shows your active layer is the front copper. Also have you been able to successfully trace other switch pad 1s together?

Might be helpful if you posted your kicad files someone could open and test, if you're comfortable doing that

Offline evn

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #706 on: Sat, 26 May 2018, 03:24:45 »
Hi guys, new here.

I've been going through this tutorial: https://github.com/ruiqimao/keyboard-pcb-guide

I have a question about the Crystal. In the tutorial he uses Crystals:crystal_FA238-TSX3225 (https://i.imgur.com/f1WR5VK.png), this exact crystal is not available and none of the libraries he links seem to contain it. I used the closest available crystal I could find: Crystals:Crystal_SMD_SeikoEpson_FA238-4pin_3.2x2.5mm_HandSoldering (https://i.imgur.com/M0uQ0AH.png).

Will this be okay to use instead? There are differences between the two, for example: (https://i.imgur.com/zzTUxxS.png) - here you can see there is 2 GND pads and that he has connected them, whereas in the crystal I'm using: (https://i.imgur.com/zAXujtS.png) - there is only 1 GND pad, the other is unlabelled. Should I try connect pads 3 and 4 anyway?

I did actually find the exact crystal he used in another library, but as this is my first time doing anything like this I don't know if it had been removed for a reason, or they're not manufactured anymore or s/t.

Any advice would be much appreciated

Offline TalkingTree

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #707 on: Sat, 26 May 2018, 05:40:14 »
crystal_FA238-TSX3225
Crystal_SMD_SeikoEpson_FA238-4pin_3.2x2.5mm_HandSoldering
Design-wise they are interchangeable since both are 3225 form factor

There are differences between the two, for example: (https://i.imgur.com/zzTUxxS.png) - here you can see there is 2 GND pads and that he has connected them, whereas in the crystal I'm using: (https://i.imgur.com/zAXujtS.png) - there is only 1 GND pad, the other is unlabelled. Should I try connect pads 3 and 4 anyway?
I've never seen a four pads SMD crystal with only one ground pad. Probably you could simply reassign the pads yourself, although know that, usually, odd pads are connected to capacitors and MCU and even pads are tied to ground.
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Offline evn

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #708 on: Sat, 26 May 2018, 07:16:11 »
Design-wise they are interchangeable since both are 3225 form factor

I've never seen a four pads SMD crystal with only one ground pad. Probably you could simply reassign the pads yourself, although know that, usually, odd pads are connected to capacitors and MCU and even pads are tied to ground.

Thank you for your reply. So I would be safe using the same crystal as is used in the guide, I won't have any problem finding a compatible part when I start buying the components?

Offline TalkingTree

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #709 on: Sat, 26 May 2018, 07:30:57 »
So I would be safe using the same crystal as is used in the guide, I won't have any problem finding a compatible part when I start buying the components?
Yes, you should have no problem as long as your routing is correct.
My opensource projects: GH80-3000, TOAD, XMMX. Classified: stuff

Offline bpiphany

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #710 on: Sat, 26 May 2018, 07:46:27 »
The datasheet for Epson FA238 indicates it is a regular SMD package crystal. Pin 1 and 3 connects to the crystal, pin 2 and 4 are connected to the cover. A crystal technically does not need to be connected to GND, but you should connect the cover to GND for shielding. The pads are generally also connected through the cover, which means you can use it to jump GND across in a pinch.

The footprints with "handsoldering" in the name generally just have larger pads, sticking further out to make it easier to get to them with an iron. A 3225 crystal package can be a bit tricky to solder with an iron.
« Last Edit: Sat, 26 May 2018, 07:49:12 by bpiphany »

Offline _ODIN_

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #711 on: Sat, 26 May 2018, 08:10:04 »
I have managed to connect all rows and columns. But now I cant draw the final connections to the microcontroller.

I would like to share my files but I don't know how to do it  :-[ :blank:

Offline evn

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #712 on: Sat, 26 May 2018, 08:21:35 »
Yes, you should have no problem as long as your routing is correct.

Excellent, thank you!

The footprints with "handsoldering" in the name generally just have larger pads, sticking further out to make it easier to get to them with an iron. A 3225 crystal package can be a bit tricky to solder with an iron.

I think I read that somewhere. Someone mentioned using a hot air gun, do you think it would be worth picking up one for this?

Offline TalkingTree

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #713 on: Sat, 26 May 2018, 08:35:32 »
Someone mentioned using a hot air gun, do you think it would be worth picking up one for this?
I bought myself a cheap Baku 858D which seems to be one of a million rebrands, all with the same model name, and it's a game changer for soldering and desoldering crystals and other SMD components.
My opensource projects: GH80-3000, TOAD, XMMX. Classified: stuff

Offline evn

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #714 on: Sun, 27 May 2018, 04:51:18 »
I bought myself a cheap Baku 858D which seems to be one of a million rebrands, all with the same model name, and it's a game changer for soldering and desoldering crystals and other SMD components.

I'll definitely pick one up so, thanks for the recommnedation. My dad will likely find use for it even if I only end up using it once.

Offline dead_pixel_design

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #715 on: Sun, 27 May 2018, 13:24:09 »
I bought myself a cheap Baku 858D which seems to be one of a million rebrands, all with the same model name, and it's a game changer for soldering and desoldering crystals and other SMD components.

I'll definitely pick one up so, thanks for the recommnedation. My dad will likely find use for it even if I only end up using it once.

For what it's worth I just soldered the crystal on the board I had made using the same guide and didn't have any trouble using my iron, lots of flux and a magnifying lamp. This is the crystal I ended up using, but I had to find a footprint that matched it's pad layout in it's datasheet

But a hot air station would be worth having if you want to do more than just a few boards.
« Last Edit: Sun, 27 May 2018, 13:25:54 by dead_pixel_design »

Offline _ODIN_

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #716 on: Sun, 27 May 2018, 14:21:57 »
For some reason, I cant connect the rows and columns to the microcontroller. Moreover, I think I have made a lot of mistakes regarding the microcontroller in general.

These are my project files: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1wRREWIURsWbvziVsqD6W3SwTGTq49Xcd

If someone would like to look at it I would be very thankful. But I don't want to steal your free time.



Thanks in advance!

Offline dead_pixel_design

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #717 on: Sun, 27 May 2018, 14:41:48 »
For some reason, I cant connect the rows and columns to the microcontroller. Moreover, I think I have made a lot of mistakes regarding the microcontroller in general.

These are my project files: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1wRREWIURsWbvziVsqD6W3SwTGTq49Xcd

If someone would like to look at it I would be very thankful. But I don't want to steal your free time.



Thanks in advance!

None of your rows or columns on the schematic are connected to the MC. Get those connected and you shouldn't have any troubles. The way I found this out was by turning on your ratsnest and noticing that none of your MC's port pins had connections to any of the switches.

I would recommend spacing out all of your caps and resistors away from the MC, you have a beautiful chunk of space down there to work with, no reason to clump everything together like that, plus soldering will be easier if you give yourself some breathing room. Once you start routing traces you will be happy to have space to manuever everything. I will attach a pic of my MC diagram and you can see how much space I ended up needing, but for a few more switches.

I also want to offer the trace connecting k24 to k29 can be moved down to below R1 and save you from needing to via the trace, while it shouldn't make a performance difference, it will look a lot better!
« Last Edit: Sun, 27 May 2018, 15:46:40 by dead_pixel_design »

Offline dead_pixel_design

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #718 on: Sun, 27 May 2018, 14:59:03 »
Progress so far on getting my board all soldered up! still have diodes to go but all of the other components are done. Really enjoy soldering SMD more than through-hole.

Offline TalkingTree

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #719 on: Sun, 27 May 2018, 15:15:39 »
Progress so far on getting my board all soldered up! still have diodes to go but all of the other components are done. Really enjoy soldering SMD more than through-hole.
Clean soldering, very well done indeed. And I second the feeling on SMD soldering.
My opensource projects: GH80-3000, TOAD, XMMX. Classified: stuff

Offline _ODIN_

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #720 on: Mon, 28 May 2018, 14:20:31 »
For some reason, I cant connect the rows and columns to the microcontroller. Moreover, I think I have made a lot of mistakes regarding the microcontroller in general.

These are my project files: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1wRREWIURsWbvziVsqD6W3SwTGTq49Xcd

If someone would like to look at it I would be very thankful. But I don't want to steal your free time.



Thanks in advance!

None of your rows or columns on the schematic are connected to the MC. Get those connected and you shouldn't have any troubles. The way I found this out was by turning on your ratsnest and noticing that none of your MC's port pins had connections to any of the switches.

I would recommend spacing out all of your caps and resistors away from the MC, you have a beautiful chunk of space down there to work with, no reason to clump everything together like that, plus soldering will be easier if you give yourself some breathing room. Once you start routing traces you will be happy to have space to manuever everything. I will attach a pic of my MC diagram and you can see how much space I ended up needing, but for a few more switches.

I also want to offer the trace connecting k24 to k29 can be moved down to below R1 and save you from needing to via the trace, while it shouldn't make a performance difference, it will look a lot better!
I have connected them in the schematics but I still can't connect them in pcbnew.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1oQObxESNTSqrpTEbo2OHkQGIb1yoV09a

Offline dead_pixel_design

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #721 on: Mon, 28 May 2018, 14:34:20 »
For some reason, I cant connect the rows and columns to the microcontroller. Moreover, I think I have made a lot of mistakes regarding the microcontroller in general.

These are my project files: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1wRREWIURsWbvziVsqD6W3SwTGTq49Xcd

If someone would like to look at it I would be very thankful. But I don't want to steal your free time.



Thanks in advance!

None of your rows or columns on the schematic are connected to the MC. Get those connected and you shouldn't have any troubles. The way I found this out was by turning on your ratsnest and noticing that none of your MC's port pins had connections to any of the switches.

I would recommend spacing out all of your caps and resistors away from the MC, you have a beautiful chunk of space down there to work with, no reason to clump everything together like that, plus soldering will be easier if you give yourself some breathing room. Once you start routing traces you will be happy to have space to manuever everything. I will attach a pic of my MC diagram and you can see how much space I ended up needing, but for a few more switches.

I also want to offer the trace connecting k24 to k29 can be moved down to below R1 and save you from needing to via the trace, while it shouldn't make a performance difference, it will look a lot better!
I have connected them in the schematics but I still can't connect them in pcbnew.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1oQObxESNTSqrpTEbo2OHkQGIb1yoV09a

Check your ratsnest in PCBnew, it is still showing no connections to the MC. Which tells me that Pcbnew doesn't know anything changed.

After you make a change to your schematic you will need to generate a new netlist in the schematic viewer and then read the updated netlist in Pcbnew, otherwise pcbnew doesn't know there was an update.

Offline _ODIN_

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #722 on: Tue, 29 May 2018, 11:14:41 »
I connected everything but the control tool shows all kind of mistakes, including some switches that I clearly connected.

I just don't know to progress at this point. :\

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1f5VJ8613EKY711xgIbW3sTmmD2qsVNpS

Offline dead_pixel_design

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #723 on: Tue, 29 May 2018, 19:13:54 »
I got everything soldered on, but I can't seem to get my pc to recognize that anything is plugged in. What is the best place to start troubleshooting?

Offline _ODIN_

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #724 on: Wed, 30 May 2018, 00:52:49 »
I got everything soldered on, but I can't seem to get my pc to recognize that anything is plugged in. What is the best place to start troubleshooting?
drivers?

Offline hanya

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #725 on: Wed, 30 May 2018, 02:09:16 »
I connected everything but the control tool shows all kind of mistakes, including some switches that I clearly connected.
You should solve all DRC errors before sending the design to a manufacturer in general.
- Via near track, this error should not happen if you enable DRC while routing new track.
- Track near pad, the same above.
- Two track ends too close, see assigned net of a track you have this error. Tracks assigned to different nets should not be connected each other.
You have some unconnected pins in your schematic. Run rule check on the Eeschema too.
Did you choose Epson TSX3225 for crystal X1? If so, please check its datasheet. Internal crystal of the TSX3225 is connected between pin 1 and 3, not between 1 and 2.
PFU HHKB JP, Sanwa MA-TB38 trackball

Offline dead_pixel_design

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #726 on: Wed, 30 May 2018, 14:54:41 »
I got everything soldered on, but I can't seem to get my pc to recognize that anything is plugged in. What is the best place to start troubleshooting?
drivers?

Looks like I'm not getting continuity across some of my resistors. I am gong to replace and try again. Though with the missed VCC connections I might just have the board reprinted just to eliminate the chance for that to cause issue. I made a few other little design tweaks as well that will work better.. So we'll see.

Offline _ODIN_

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #727 on: Thu, 31 May 2018, 10:53:32 »
Thanks for the help. you guys are awesome!!!

I have got one more question regarding the crystal.

The control tool shows me these two messages regarding the connections of the crystal.
https://imgur.com/a/uIfOVEG
How can I resolve these?

THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL YOUR HELP SO FAR!

Offline TalkingTree

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #728 on: Thu, 31 May 2018, 14:35:42 »
https://imgur.com/a/uIfOVEG
Are you sure about the pads numbering? In my experience odd and even pads should be on a diagonal rather than side by side.

Like so:
« Last Edit: Thu, 31 May 2018, 14:40:51 by TalkingTree »
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Offline _ODIN_

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #729 on: Thu, 31 May 2018, 14:41:28 »
https://imgur.com/a/uIfOVEG
Are you sure about the pads numbering? In my experience odd and even pads should be on a diagonal rather than side by side.
no I am not sure. Thanks

Offline TalkingTree

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #730 on: Thu, 31 May 2018, 14:44:09 »
https://imgur.com/a/uIfOVEG
Are you sure about the pads numbering? In my experience odd and even pads should be on a diagonal rather than side by side.
no I am not sure. Thanks
Double check your crystal's datasheet or post it so we can look into it together. If you get the crystal wrong, the board is guaranteed not to work.
My opensource projects: GH80-3000, TOAD, XMMX. Classified: stuff

Offline _ODIN_

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #731 on: Thu, 31 May 2018, 14:52:35 »
https://imgur.com/a/uIfOVEG
Are you sure about the pads numbering? In my experience odd and even pads should be on a diagonal rather than side by side.
no I am not sure. Thanks
Double check your crystal's datasheet or post it so we can look into it together. If you get the crystal wrong, the board is guaranteed not to work.
Jup I have to change them  :blank:
https://imgur.com/a/iWvz7fI

Offline evn

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #732 on: Fri, 01 June 2018, 01:45:44 »
https://imgur.com/a/uIfOVEG
Are you sure about the pads numbering? In my experience odd and even pads should be on a diagonal rather than side by side.
no I am not sure. Thanks
Double check your crystal's datasheet or post it so we can look into it together. If you get the crystal wrong, the board is guaranteed not to work.
Jup I have to change them  :blank:
https://imgur.com/a/iWvz7fI

Are you following ruiqimao's github tutorial? the crystal he uses in the tut doesn't appear to be in any of the libraries he links. I found it in this library: https://github.com/s-light/Crystals_Oscillators_SMD.pretty/

Offline _ODIN_

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #733 on: Fri, 01 June 2018, 02:32:45 »
https://imgur.com/a/uIfOVEG
Are you sure about the pads numbering? In my experience odd and even pads should be on a diagonal rather than side by side.
no I am not sure. Thanks
Double check your crystal's datasheet or post it so we can look into it together. If you get the crystal wrong, the board is guaranteed not to work.
Jup I have to change them  :blank:
https://imgur.com/a/iWvz7fI

Are you following ruiqimao's github tutorial? the crystal he uses in the tut doesn't appear to be in any of the libraries he links. I found it in this library: https://github.com/s-light/Crystals_Oscillators_SMD.pretty/
wow thanks

Offline _ODIN_

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #734 on: Fri, 01 June 2018, 12:00:18 »
with the new crystal, it doesn't let me draw the internal pad connections

Offline dead_pixel_design

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #735 on: Fri, 01 June 2018, 14:13:42 »
with the new crystal, it doesn't let me draw the internal pad connections

Update your schematic

Offline TalkingTree

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #736 on: Fri, 01 June 2018, 14:16:13 »
with the new crystal, it doesn't let me draw the internal pad connections
Remember to connect them in the schematic first.
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Offline dead_pixel_design

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #737 on: Fri, 01 June 2018, 14:26:45 »
Best practice is ANYTIME you change something in Pcbnew you need to check it against your schematic, and then if you need to update your schematic you will also need to generate a new netlist and then, in Pcbnew, to read the newly generated Netlist. Pcbnew can't make any connections that the Netlist from your schematic hasn't told it it can make.

Understanding Pcbnew's dependency on the schematic, and that the Netlist is how the schematic communicates to Pcbnew, is critical.

Offline _ODIN_

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #738 on: Fri, 01 June 2018, 16:50:39 »
with the new crystal, it doesn't let me draw the internal pad connections
Remember to connect them in the schematic first.
I updated the schematic. If I utilize the highlight net tool in pcbnew it shows me that they should be connected. As soon as I connect them the connection disappears.

https://imgur.com/a/2AFCPeO

Sorry for all my questions :-[ :blank:

Offline dead_pixel_design

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #739 on: Fri, 01 June 2018, 17:07:57 »
I updated the schematic. If I utilize the highlight net tool in pcbnew it shows me that they should be connected. As soon as I connect them the connection disappears.
https://imgur.com/a/2AFCPeO

Is it the xtal grounds you're trying to connect? Shoot me a link to the files and I'll take a look, the trace you're trying to lay might be coming to close to other pads and it's not letting you lay it. I'll play around with it and see if I can ident the problem

Offline _ODIN_

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #740 on: Fri, 01 June 2018, 17:17:53 »
I updated the schematic. If I utilize the highlight net tool in pcbnew it shows me that they should be connected. As soon as I connect them the connection disappears.
https://imgur.com/a/2AFCPeO

Is it the xtal grounds you're trying to connect? Shoot me a link to the files and I'll take a look, the trace you're trying to lay might be coming to close to other pads and it's not letting you lay it. I'll play around with it and see if I can ident the problem
Yup the grounds. Thanks a lot for all the support. This community is amazing!
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1mGSo2ln4veV4INIBUW4d-pTSt9_pbd4S

Offline dead_pixel_design

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #741 on: Fri, 01 June 2018, 17:41:10 »
Yup the grounds.

I am able to get it to connect, but I have to zigzag the trace a little bit. I highlighted the trace I got to work in yellow, the blue arrow points to where I had to zigzag it a little bit so it wasn't too close to pads 1 or 2 (red X's). It has to be a minimum distance from the pads, I suspect it was giving you trouble because you were trying to route too close to them. There should be dialogue at the bottom of the screen that shows error messages in red when something isn't working (attachment 2). It can be easy to miss and goes away when you click somewhere else.

Let us know if that works.
« Last Edit: Fri, 01 June 2018, 17:45:06 by dead_pixel_design »

Offline _ODIN_

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #742 on: Fri, 01 June 2018, 17:50:26 »
Yup the grounds.

I am able to get it to connect, but I have to zigzag the trace a little bit. I highlighted the trace I got to work in yellow, the blue arrow points to where I had to zigzag it a little bit so it wasn't too close to pads 1 or 2 (red X's). It has to be a minimum distance from the pads, I suspect it was giving you trouble because you were trying to route too close to them. There should be dialogue at the bottom of the screen that shows error messages in red when something isn't working (attachment 2). It can be easy to miss and goes away when you click somewhere else.

Let us know if that works.
wow. thank you.
it drove me crazy ;)

Offline dead_pixel_design

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #743 on: Fri, 01 June 2018, 17:55:26 »
wow. thank you.
it drove me crazy ;)

That's one of the situations where having parts oriented diagonally can make things just a little but trickier than they need to be.

Offline TalkingTree

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #744 on: Sat, 02 June 2018, 06:22:20 »
_ODIN_ put a mark on the silkscreen where your XTAL pad 1 is, it will help you remember the correct orientation in the soldering stage.
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Offline bpiphany

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #745 on: Sat, 02 June 2018, 13:04:34 »
_ODIN_ put a mark on the silkscreen where your XTAL pad 1 is, it will help you remember the correct orientation in the soldering stage.

They are actually 180" rotationally symmetric.

Offline TalkingTree

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #746 on: Sat, 02 June 2018, 13:11:13 »
_ODIN_ put a mark on the silkscreen where your XTAL pad 1 is, it will help you remember the correct orientation in the soldering stage.

They are actually 180" rotationally symmetric.
Oh, nice to know. Thanks.
My opensource projects: GH80-3000, TOAD, XMMX. Classified: stuff

Offline evn

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Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #747 on: Tue, 05 June 2018, 05:57:42 »
Hi guys, back with another question. I'm following ruiqimao's tutorial.

Firstly, my usb footprint differs from the one in the tutorial in that there are 2 green GND pads at the top. I wired it exactly as in the tut, ignoring the extra pads, but DRC lists these unconnected pads. I connected all four GND pad 6's together like this and that took care of the errors.

Secondly, my C7, C8, & C5 footprints appear identical to those in the tut but I'm also getting an unconnected pads error between C7 GND and U1 pad 5. I wired C7's GND pad to the micro controller's pad 43 GND like so, and that took care of this error.

But are these solutions okay? I have little knowledge of electronics/pcb's prior to this project so I really don't know. I'm kinda assuming the GND's just need to be connected.

Offline _ODIN_

  • Posts: 629
Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #748 on: Tue, 05 June 2018, 06:18:40 »
Hi guys, back with another question. I'm following ruiqimao's tutorial.

Firstly, my usb footprint differs from the one in the tutorial in that there are 2 green GND pads at the top. I wired it exactly as in the tut, ignoring the extra pads, but DRC lists these unconnected pads. I connected all four GND pad 6's together like this and that took care of the errors.

Secondly, my C7, C8, & C5 footprints appear identical to those in the tut but I'm also getting an unconnected pads error between C7 GND and U1 pad 5. I wired C7's GND pad to the micro controller's pad 43 GND like so, and that took care of this error.

But are these solutions okay? I have little knowledge of electronics/pcb's prior to this project so I really don't know. I'm kinda assuming the GND's just need to be connected.
Put a ground plane under your pcb and start the test again. It is mentioned in the tutorial

Offline evn

  • Posts: 10
Re: The Living PCB Design Thread
« Reply #749 on: Tue, 05 June 2018, 06:47:44 »
Hi guys, back with another question. I'm following ruiqimao's tutorial.

Firstly, my usb footprint differs from the one in the tutorial in that there are 2 green GND pads at the top. I wired it exactly as in the tut, ignoring the extra pads, but DRC lists these unconnected pads. I connected all four GND pad 6's together like this and that took care of the errors.

Secondly, my C7, C8, & C5 footprints appear identical to those in the tut but I'm also getting an unconnected pads error between C7 GND and U1 pad 5. I wired C7's GND pad to the micro controller's pad 43 GND like so, and that took care of this error.

But are these solutions okay? I have little knowledge of electronics/pcb's prior to this project so I really don't know. I'm kinda assuming the GND's just need to be connected.
Put a ground plane under your pcb and start the test again. It is mentioned in the tutorial

I do have the ground planes set up, as per the tutorial. However I did end up with more large red areas which I assume are 'missing ground planes' than he has in the tutorial, which I was not sure what to do with.