Yeah, that was my posting a month or so back. I tried (or thought I tried) everything that was suggested, but nothing has worked.
I have not tried hand-routing all of the VSS-layer vias together and all the VDD-layer vias together. That seems to be a very error-prone proposition. Maybe I just don't understand the intent behind zones? Maybe DRC is just broken when it comes to zones? I hope the problem lies with me and not DRC as I need to get this board finished ASAP. thanks, Greg ________________________________ From: Andy Eskelson <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, August 10, 2009 7:11:16 PM Subject: Re: [kicad-users] Strange problem with Zones and DRC I think I recall seeing a post on this matter before... If my memory is working correctly: (I've never done this myself) I think the trick is to connect the vias together with tracks, (obviously on your VDD of VSS layer) Then create your zone, that should then merge the lot together and well as giving the DRC something to work on. Looking back through the archive I've found the thread... Apparently with the latest version of the software things should connect up without the need for tracks, the thread started at [kicad-users] PLEASE help....Anyone out there??? from gregory.dyess on 15 jun 2009 Might be worth a read. Andy On Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:19:45 -0700 (PDT) Greg Dyess <[email protected]> wrote: > OOOPS, this only partially went out earlier, so please accept my appologies > for the resend. This problem is becoming a major stumbling block and is > holding up a project I need to get moving. > > I am seeing this very strange issue when using zones (at least it seems > strange to me).I have a 4-layer board with almost all surface mount. L1 is > almost entirely dedicated as my "VDD layer" by creating a zone connected to > my VDD net on that layer. L2 is the same thing with my VSS (Ground) layer. > > When I want to connect a pad or trace to VDD or VSS, I simply place a via in > the trace. According to the 3D view of the board, the hole plating is > connected to the VDD or VSS layer as I would expect. The photoplots (Gerber) > files seem to indicate the connections are there as well. I can export the > file and run the online router and it sees the connections. > > The problem is when I run the DRC, it complains that the pads are not > connected and throws several errors. With almost 500 connections to VSS or > VDD, hand-routing all of them to the inner layers would be extremely > cumbersome and error-prone. Just ignoring all of the errors isn't a good > option either as I could easily miss legitimate problems. > > I have tried doing a refill on all zones (which DRC is supposed to do > automatically) and no differences. > I have tried starting a trace from the component pad, switching to the L1 or > L2 layer and continuing the trace. > Nothing seems to work. It's as if DRC doesn't recognize connections to inner > layers on anything other than feed-through pads. > > Does anyone have any ideas as to what I could be doing wrong? > Is this a bug in the DRC? (I admit I don't know where or how to check for > bugs, so pointers to this information would be greatly appreciated as well.) > > Any help would be greatly appreciated as this is now the critical point in > getting this board completed so I can start working on the firmware. I have > attached a simple schematic and board to demonstrate the problem. > > BTW, I am running what I think is the latest version from February of this > year on an Ubuntu 9.04 platform. I will try the project later on my Windows > XP system to see if it is any different. > > Thanks in advance, > Greg > > > ------------------------------------ Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please visit http://www.kicadlib.org for details of how to contribute your symbols/modules to the kicad library. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-develYahoo! Groups Links
