Orcad newbie questions about libraries

[UroBoros]

Orcad Newbie!

Hai
I am a beginner with orcad.
I am having Orcad 9 only.
I am starting with orcad capture now.
Is there anyway I can update the component library of capture in Orcad 9?
Many of microcontrollers are not in the library of orcad9.

By the way As far as understand we have to create a schematic in capture and create a netlist. Then open this netlist in layout to create a board.
Schematic drawing I have almost suceeded.But after that locked. tutorial i am confused.
Can Anybody with a few words brief the procedure for creating a Board design from a schematic ?( just the route is enough)
A lot of tools in orcad and a large tutorial ,So many things not clear.
Please..
Picstudent

 

[Jack// ani]

Orcad Newbie!

Story goes like this........
When you have finished with your schematic in Capture, do a DRC(Degisn Rule Check) to verify that there is no error, then create a Layout netlist. Now your netlist is ready. Now open Layout........
When you try to open new file it asks about technology template (*.tch I think) this is most confusing to newbies. I'm not going to discuss the details about this file. You can use, for example protel.tch it work well (It can be found in Layout directory, search for it, right now OrCAD is not installed on my machine, so I'm not that clear). It will now ask you the location of netlist file. And now you can save you (*.max) borad file. After this you will be asked to assign footprints to various components. Once you finish with it you can see your unrouted borad layout.

Hope this helps

 

[gintaras_bar]

Re: Orcad Newbie!

Rather good tutorial on this can be found here:
**broken link removed**

 

[UroBoros]

Re: Orcad Newbie!

hai
thanks for the clue,Will try
btw what about device database update? Any chance?
Picstudent

 

[Jack// ani]

Re: Orcad Newbie!

Well I don't know any such trick to do it.

Good luck

 

[bobcat1]

Re: Orcad Newbie!

Hello


If you register for TI site you can get allmost all of TI components in orcad capture format


All the best

Bobi

 

[bimbla]

Re: Orcad Newbie!

Dont expect to find all the uC's in the lib.

Take a connector for the specified no. of pins, edit the pin names and get started.

bimbla.

 

[Jack// ani]

Orcad Newbie!

Yes I agree with bimbla until unless you have the latest version!

 

[Karthikeya]

Re: Orcad Newbie!

once u finish with the schematic and DRC - create layout netlist (.mnl) file. Then in Layout Plus open the .mnl file -it asks 4 deafult.tch( version 9.2) which is in the library directory then u save it as .max file.

i think it should work fine after this. for uC make sure the footprint u use is of exact dimension. if not, u can create a new footprint in the library manager. it is one of the common errors made while PCB making.
Then u must -fix boundary , adjust the pad stacks, set track width, set no of layers , no of route passes, etc which r explained in the tutorial

 

[UroBoros]

Re: Orcad Newbie!

hai
Thanks all.

In which manual or which document we can find the description of error messeges after the design rules check?
" Same pins connected to different nets" etc
Picstudent

 

[bimbla]

Re: Orcad Newbie!

I don't think there is a list of errors listed anywhere.
Most of them are logical messages. The error you mentioned is related if you have a duplicate refrence disignator or have assigned a different name for the off-page connector connecting the VCC and GND pins of an IC than the part- pin names.

bimbla.

 

[UroBoros]

Re: Orcad Newbie!

hai
thanks to all.
Design rules check ok. layout created a board full of messed connections and all.(Think it is autorouter. right?)

But as per lessons in help I cannot get the boardsize set for our purpose. It automatically creates something. How ?

thanks for the patience

Picstudent

 

[bimbla]

Re: Orcad Newbie!

The mess up is call rats net. It is a form of rubber-banding technique used. It assists you in interactive or manual routing.
In lay-out, first go to tools---> dimention---> move datum and selest this option.

Move the origin from its current location ON the drill key to 100 mils above the drill-key. This now becomes your origin.

Then select the obstacle tool. Choose new obstacle---type ----board outline----global layer----select this and w.r.t the origin, use the first quadrant to mark your PCB. This HAS to be an enclosed area.

bimbla.

 

[Karthikeya]

Re: Orcad Newbie!

If DRC shows no error tht doesnt mean tht the circuit is correct. it only says there is no violation in net connections. u have to check individual nets by selecting a net in capture ->right click-> select entire net and verify if it is correct.
There is no automatic generated board-size option in layout (correct me if i m wrong!!!)
-even if available it may not b efficient. u should have an idea as to what is the desired minimal size of the board and arrange the components accordingly