Installing KiCad on Ubuntu

If you are an electronics enthusiast, this is a must application for you. It is used to create schematic captures, PCB designs, and create 3D views of the PCB designs.





you can install kicad from the repository by typing

sudo apt-get install kicad

in the terminal. Where the terminal is? see this link.

but, the installed version is not the latest one. so here is a guide on how to install an updated KiCad.


Installing the required softwares and dependencies

we need to install the following: debhelper, dpatch, libx11-dev, libglu1-mesa-dev, libgl1-mesa-dev, mesa-common-dev, libwxbase2.8-dev, libwxgtk2.8-dev, libboost-dev, subversion, cmake (>= 2.6.0)

to install on ubuntu, on the terminal, simply type

sudo apt-get install debhelper dpatch libx11-dev libglu1-mesa-dev libgl1-mesa-dev mesa-common-dev libwxbase2.8-dev libwxgtk2.8-dev libboost-dev fakeroot subversion libboost-serialization-dev

and finally, we need cmake, but we need atleast version 2.6, the one from the repository is not the updated one (atleast for ubuntu 8.04). You can download version 2.6 from here..

but if what the repository gives you is atleast version 2.6, then simply

sudo apt-get install cmake

Getting the Source Codes

we will be getting the source codes through svn. create a directory where you'll be downloading the source codes, and go to that directory. type the following:

svn checkout https://kicad.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/kicad/trunk/kicad kicad

svn checkout https://kicad.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/kicad/trunk/kicad-doc kicad-doc

svn checkout https://kicad.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/kicad/trunk/kicad-library kicad-library

also we need the following

svn checkout http://svn.flexserv.de/kicad/trunk/debian

Compiling

to compile simply do the following on your terminal (make sure you're still in the same directory where you did the svn)

fakeroot debian/rules binary

hopefully, there will be no errors.


Running KiCad

You'll find the compiled version of KiCad on

debian/kicad/usr/bin/

to complete things up, you'll need to copy the following folders

debian/kicad-common/usr/share/kicad/library
debian/kicad-common/usr/share/kicad/modules
debian/kicad-common/usr/share/kicad/template

in here

debian/kicad/usr/share

again, to run KiCad go to

debian/kicad/usr/bin/

and double click KiCad

enjoy!!

Installing MakeHuman on Ubuntu

MakeHuman is a software application that generates 3D humanoids; similar to Poser or DazStudio. If you need a human model, and want to make it as fast as possible (or simply you don't know yet how to do one), maybe you need this software.



the instructions in this post are based on the instructions from this page.

First, install the software needed to compile. You'll be needing (atleast) the softwares to be installed by the following commands. in your terminal (press ALT+F2, then type xterm). see this link.

sudo apt-get install freeglut3-dev

sudo apt-get install xorg-dev

sudo apt-get install libpng12-dev

Second, download the following files from this link and save anywhere on your drive (say /home/your_account_name/makehuman)

• animorph-xx.tar.gz
• makehuman-xx.tar.gz
• mhgui-xx.tar.gz

Third, extract the downloaded files, by right-clicking on them and select Extract Here.

Fourth, we now compile.. but first open again a terminal (ALT+F2, type xterm) and then cd to the directory where you extracted the downloaded files.

cd makehuman

first,compile and install the animorph..

cd animorph-xx
./configure
make
sudo make install

In first time we must run ldconfig so that MakeHuman can find animorph and mhgui libraries::

and then the mhgui..

cd ..
cd mhgui-xx
./configure
make
sudo make install

and lastly the makehuman...

cd ..
cd makehuman-xx
./configure
make
sudo make install

and after everything went well, we can now execute makehuman, but first we must run ldconfig so that MakeHuman can find animorph and mhgui libraries

sudo ldconfig

and then,finally run makehuman

makehuman

makehuman
makehuman will now open a window.

Lastly, to create a shortcut button on your desktop, we will create a launcher. anywhere on your desktop, right click and select Create Launcher... on the command type makehuman.

and there you go, you have now a button on your desktop for the makehuman.

enjoy!