As I understand it, the component signals dialog associates pin numbers with their function.
First question: do these assignments mean anything or are they just there for reference? Does LPCB interpret these or just carry them along so we know what each pin does? (For a quick and dirty hobby project, can I just put about anything in there and be ok?)
Using the thing is driving me nuts. I duplicated an existing component in “MyLibrary”. Renamed it to match an existing symbol, deleted all the info in the component dialog and began to assign functions to pins. I assume that the left most column is the pin number in the symbol and “Name” is the function of that pin. I began to add names to the pins:D, J1, J2, Qb2, Qb1, Qb3, J3. When I got to pin 8 and put in “Gnd”, suddenly I get this:
Ah I understand what you mean. Usually this problem doesn’t exist because in 99% of the cases, the component signal names correspond to the symbol pin names and therefore the pre-filled names do not need to be modified.
The first column (the numbers) are actually not the symbol pin names, it’s just the enumeration of the component signals. The table gets sorted by name because the order is not relevant. The actual assignment to the symbol pins happens in the next wizard page (after clicking “Next”).
So generally you just specify all the signal names, and in the next step you assign them to the corresponding symbol pins. Alternatively you could also just keep the pre-filled names, and rename them later (after the wizard has been finished).
I agree the workflow is not ideal, and actually it has been completely redesigned in LibrePCB 2.0 which will be available soon. I think it should be more intuitive then. If you already want to try, you could use the nightly builds here (should be safe to use, but may still have some bugs).
When creating the device, are the signals supposed to automatically show up in the pad/signal table? The information is already set up in other elements and the pad numbers should match the pin numbers.
As far as I can tell, I have managed to get everything whipped into shape but get message that no device or package found when I try to put it on the board. Saved, shut down and restarted LPCB, still get the error. What am I missing?
Not sure if I understand your question correctly. But the device pinout is independent of the component pinout. Sometimes pin numbers match pad numbers, but that is not always the case. At least generally your screenshot looks good (beside the unnecessary pin name labels which you added on the symbol outlines layer, those are not needed).
Sure you added the correct component to the schematic? Maybe your libraries contain two different CD4018B (same name, but different UUIDs, e.g. if you made a duplicate of it)? Maybe you see multiple CD4018B in the “Add COmponent” dialog? And just to be sure, you waited until the background library scan has finished at least once (progress bar at bottom right)?
And btw, for creating good library elements it is highly recommended to follow our library conventions. For example pin placement of your symbol does not follow the conventions. Though of course for your personal library it’s your own decision whether to follow the conventions or not.
Created a new project called test. Added the 4013 to schematic. Then went to the board and it loaded no problem. Deleted the 4013 from my actual project and then added it in again and it will now load onto the board. Gotta love it.
