Stats

  • Locked Locked
  • Replies 3
  • Subscribers 167
  • Views 2379
  • Members are here 0
More Content
This discussion has been locked.
You can no longer post new replies to this discussion. If you have a question you can start a new discussion

I'm struggling to download a simple footprint

Decaf

Hello,

I'm using OrCAD 16.6 and I'm struggling to download a simple footprint. 

I download the footprint from snapEDA. It's just an 0805 resistor. I see the .dra file and can open it in allegro. 

The problem is: this file does not show up when i go to place --> components manually in a .brd editor. If i want to add it to the "PCB footprint" property of my schematic, it needs to be in here. I assume I can just add it to whatever folder these files are in, but I cannot find the folder. 

How do I do this? 

To be fully clear: my start-to-end desire is to download a footprint from snapEDA and link it to my schematic.  

Best Regards,

Mike 

  • There are two pieces to any symbol: drawing and compiled symbol.  I have only had bad experiences with symbols from SnapEDA so that said, make sure that you open the symbol in the drawing editor and then "compile" the symbol. The compiled symbol (with .psm extension) is the only thing that Allegro can find.  Also make sure that you are putting the .psm file into the appropriate path.  You can assign the path in the user settings.  There are "padstack" paths and "symbol" paths.  Both need to be set correctly otherwise you won't be able to place a part.

  • Mike, Allegro has to be configured so that it knows where the actual footprints reside ".dra"

    To do this

    Go to Setup "User Preferences" > "Paths" > "Library"

    Change the following to point to where you keep your footprints.

    psmpath

    padpath

    FYI 16.6 comes with a library of footprints already,  they are located at C:\Cadence\SPB_16.6\share\pcb\pcb_lib\symbols

    There is a "SMD0805" footprint in there with many more SMD types.

    A note of caution on footprints: You really need to check them to make sure they are correct. "They may very well not be"

    Also your schematic symbol has to have the same number of pins as the footprint does otherwise you wont be able to generate a netlist in the schematic.

    All the best.

  • in reply to excellon1

    Thank you! I'm using a school computer and apparently there is no 0805 in the library. Someone must have accidentally moved it. I thought it was odd that no 0805 footprint existed. 

    I may download 17.2 Lite and link the libraries from it so I have the full options from OrCAD. 

    If not, I now know how to update my library path and understand .psm files, so thank you both for that. 

    Best,

    Mike

Cadence Guidelines

Community Guidelines

The Cadence Design Communities support Cadence users and technologists interacting to exchange ideas, news, technical information, and best practices to solve problems and get the most from Cadence technology. The community is open to everyone, and to provide the most value, we require participants to follow our Community Guidelines that facilitate a quality exchange of ideas and information. By accessing, contributing, using or downloading any materials from the site, you agree to be bound by the full Community Guidelines.