gEDA

Sites

• gEDA Home Page
• gEDA wiki
  • gEDA wiki Documentation List
  • gEDA File Format Definition
• gEDA Symbols
• PCB Project Pages
  • PCB Manual
• DJ's Site - Mostly about PCB including his experiences making SMD PCBs at home and some good utilities
• John Luciani's Site - Also mostly about PCB; good utilities

PCB Operation Tips

• My Favorite gEDA keys
• My PCB Design Rules
• PCB Installation and Initial Setup
• PCB FAQ -> A must read
  • Selecting Footprints
• DJ's rewrite of the PCB user docs
• Creating PCB Footprints
• PCB Feature Requests - My wish list of PCB features and enhancements

gschem Operation Tips

• gschem Installation and Initial Setup

FAQs that helped me Full List - A must read

• Parts Not Aligned - i.e. wire will not attach; endpoing stays red (unconnected)
• Power Pins BCP - Best current practice for assiging power pins to symbols
• Symbol Creation Guide
• Printing in color
• gattrib How To - Use for populating all the atributes on many components

Initial Tutorial Showing the PCB Workflow

• Follow the gsch2pcb tutorial
• Create a network shared directory for the project

• Create the project file for the board

• Create the schematics

• Renumber the components (included slotted parts)

• Run the Design rules check and fix any problems

• Update all the attributes using the tabular editor

• Create the initial PCB netlist and board

• Run PCB

• Set grid spacing to 25mils: View->Grid Setting->25 mil
• Set board size: File->Preferences
• Set default line and via sizes
• Enable grid: View->Enable Visible Grid
• Scatter items: Select->Disperse All Elements
• Load the Netlist: File->Load Netlist
• Run the gsch2pcb cmd file :ExecuteFile(board.cmd)
• Connect->Optimize Rats Nest

Update schematic if needed

• Run gschem and make changes
• Run refdes_renum (by default only renumbers un-numbered parts)
• Run DRC (gnetlist -g drc2 ....)
• Run gattrib if needed
• Run gsch2pcb again
• Run pcb
  • Load the new foot prints: File -> Load layout data to paste buffer
  • Load the Netlist: File->Load Netlist File
  • Connect->Optimize Rats Nest