oshpark & gerber

Use Excellon Drill format, not Gerber.

Download a gerber viewer than can handle both. Import Gerber and export Excellon.

Unsure if this applies to your problem: here's the start of some drill file for JLCPCBs CAM job (the tool sizes are prepended to the drill insns inside the same file) also:

M48 Defines the start of an M48 part program header M72 │ Inch Measuring Mode

minimum.XLN:

% M48 M72 T01C0.0120 T02C0.0360 T03C0.1260 % T01 X5585Y3473 X6835Y3473 X7585Y3723 X8585Y4223 X9085Y4723 X8835Y5223 X9335Y5973 X9835Y6223 X10335Y5723 [...]

Are your drill sizes the drill size or the finished hole size? Remember that plating adds to (or subtracts from actually) the hole size. I believe a half oz plating is common, so a full oz inside the hole or -0.0014 inches/-0.035 mm smaller opening.

The files Eagle here is producing is in, or stated to be in, Excellon format and the files shown in my message are the result. The question seems to be what exactly is Oshpark seeking. That's why I'd like to see some files that Oshpark is happy with.

Hul

Ed Lee snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

Thanks Johann. The .xln file suffix is what's shown in Oshpark's .cam file and the combining of drill size & location fits. The M48 code I haven't seen before. Does that relate to other files? Stated differently, what's a "part program header"? The M72 code seems familiar. What you've shown is enough to translate the files here for a try on Oshpark's web site.

Hul

Johann Klammer snipped-for-privacy@nospam.a.net> wrote:

The drill sizes shown are drill sizes not hole sizes. That's usually stated in a readme file, but I suspect that's seldom read these days.

Hul

Rick C snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

Don't assume no one reads your readme file. I am often asked questions about my boards and if they don't find the readme file they always complain about that.

Your files are not the format they are expecting. It is meaningless to say "Excellon" format, because there is no Excellon standard. Excellon Automation is a company that makes equipment and they use various formats for their various equipment. Gerber was the same way, but to avoid all the confusion a standards body formalized it as RS-274X for the most recent and most widely used version.

After doing your searching for you, I found that Excellon 2 format is a superset of an IPC format spec.

The specification provided by Excellon Automation has "issues" and can not be used without problems. I use gerbv to view Gerber files and drill files. This program is very picky and typically finds fault with the drill files produced by the layout tool I use, however, it displays the drill holes with the Gerber files, so good enough.

Try loading your drill file(s) into gerbv and see if it accepts that format. Otherwise, I suggest you find an Eagle forum and ask others there how they work around the problem.

I'm curious, so I will ask about this in a forum for FreePCB that I use. It's a good group of people... mostly. lol

Here is a drill file from FreePCB

;Holesize 1 = 10.0 MILS ;Holesize 2 = 40.0 MILS ;Holesize 3 = 47.0 MILS ;Holesize 4 = 33.0 MILS ;Holesize 5 = 100.0 MILS M48 INCH,00.0000 T01C0.010 T02C0.040 T03C0.047 T04C0.033 T05C0.100 % G05 G90 T01 X006461Y005374 X002942Y003838 X006333Y003966 X002933Y003444 ...

Gerbv complains about the INCH command... "Found junk after INCH command."

I seem to recall digging into that error before and never got a resolution.

Oh, yes it's excellon format, like lee said. The codes I found on wikipedia/internet archive.. The file itself was output by an old eagle version(6.5.0). the boardhouses typically provide you with cam scripts. go look for those.

It's of course possible that the autodesk types broke it in the meantime. And then there's the stuff the standards people sometimes do, not sticking to established best practices but introducing incompatibilities to maximize their sales.

I've looked at some of those but it's mostly a duplicate Eagle with numerous examples, which can be useful. Unfortunantly, they don't show the Eagle version used here. What I'm looking for is gerber files that Oshpark is happy with. The info Johann Klamm (sp?) posted on the drill files served very well and Oshpark acceptes the drill files that have been altered in accordance with Johann's data. But, Oshpark doesn't like the outline in the .ref file. That requires another Gerber file that has an outline that Oshpark accepts!

Hul

Lasse Langwadt Christensen snipped-for-privacy@f>

Johann - the data you posted did the trick and Oshpark is now accepting the drill file. But they can't find an outline. I had thought that an outline in a .ref file would work but it doesn't. Do you have file with an outline that you could post here? Would be appreciated if possible. Just guessing for now that Oshpark opens the .ref file and looks for a Gerber code announcing an outline. And possibly that is a modern Gerber code not included the .ref files the Eagle here is generating.

Hul

Johann Klammer snipped-for-privacy@nospam.a.net> wrote:

Rick - thanks for the drill file below. The altered drill file (no longer files) here is working but I'll keep your code on record in case of trouble with another pcb maker. The remaining problem is supplying Oshpark with an outline. I had thought a .ref file with an outline would work but it didnt. I'm guessing a Gerber code of some sort is needed to mark the outline. Once again a Gerber file with an outline accepted by Oshpark is needed.

Hul

Rick C snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

søndag den 27. februar 2022 kl. 14.56.54 UTC+1 skrev Hul Tytus:

tried renaming it to .gko ?

The outline file is just a Gerber layer with nothing but the outline coordinates and possibly routing slots if you have them. It should be very short.

BTW, can you stop top posting? It's not what pretty much everyone else uses and makes it harder to reply to your posts. Thanks.

Lasse - tried renaming the file with the outline .gko and it didn't work but Oshpark looked which is changing in the right direction. Oshpark said roughly "the .gko file is not a valid Gerber outline". I'm hoping you have a .gko file that has worked and you would post a copy here. That would then be used as a model for generating the outline for a .gko to go with the Eagle here.

Hul

Lasse Langwadt Christensen snipped-for-privacy@f> s??ndag den 27. februar 2022 kl. 14.56.54 UTC+1 skrev Hul Tytus:

G04 FreePCB MFC Application* G04 Version: FreePCB--481036337* G04 WebSite:

* G04 C:\Arius\Boards_new\TDC_upgrade\Layout\TestFreePCB2\CAM(MS-DCARD_2-1)(2-26-2022)\BOARD_OUTLINE.gbr* G04 board outline layer * G04 Scale: 100 percent, Rotated: No, Reflected: No * %FSLAX24Y24*% %MOIN*% %LN board outline *% G04 Rounded Rectangle Macro, params: W/2, H/2, R * %AMRNDREC*

21,1,$1+$1,$2+$2-$3-$3,0,0,0* 21,1,$1+$1-$3-$3,$2+$2,0,0,0* 1,1,$3+$3,$1-$3,$2-$3* 1,1,$3+$3,$3-$1,$2-$3* 1,1,$3+$3,$1-$3,$3-$2* 1,1,$3+$3,$3-$1,$3-$2*% G04 Rectangular Thermal Macro, params: W/4, H/4, TW/4, TC/4 * %AMRECTHERM* 21,1,$1+$1-$3-$3-$4-$4,$2+$2-$3-$3-$4-$4-$4-$4,0-$1-$3-$4,0-$2-$3,0* 21,1,$1+$1-$3-$3-$4-$4-$4-$4,$2+$2-$3-$3-$4-$4,0-$1-$3,0-$2-$3-$4,0* 1,1,$4+$4+$4+$4,0-$1-$1+$4+$4,0-$2-$2+$4+$4* 1,1,$4+$4+$4+$4,0-$1-$1+$4+$4,0-$3-$3-$4-$4* 1,1,$4+$4+$4+$4,0-$3-$3-$4-$4,0-$2-$2+$4+$4* 21,1,$1+$1-$3-$3-$4-$4,$2+$2-$3-$3-$4-$4-$4-$4,0-$1-$3-$4,$2+$3,0* 21,1,$1+$1-$3-$3-$4-$4-$4-$4,$2+$2-$3-$3-$4-$4,0-$1-$3,$2+$3+$4,0* 1,1,$4+$4+$4+$4,0-$1-$1+$4+$4,$2+$2-$4-$4* 1,1,$4+$4+$4+$4,0-$1-$1+$4+$4,$3+$3+$4+$4* 1,1,$4+$4+$4+$4,0-$3-$3-$4-$4,$2+$2-$4-$4* 21,1,$1+$1-$3-$3-$4-$4,$2+$2-$3-$3-$4-$4-$4-$4,$1+$3+$4,0-$2-$3,0* 21,1,$1+$1-$3-$3-$4-$4-$4-$4,$2+$2-$3-$3-$4-$4,$1+$3,0-$2-$3-$4,0* 1,1,$4+$4+$4+$4,$1+$1-$4-$4,0-$2-$2+$4+$4* 1,1,$4+$4+$4+$4,$1+$1-$4-$4,0-$3-$3-$4-$4* 1,1,$4+$4+$4+$4,$3+$3+$4+$4,0-$2-$2+$4+$4* 21,1,$1+$1-$3-$3-$4-$4,$2+$2-$3-$3-$4-$4-$4-$4,$1+$3+$4,$2+$3,0* 21,1,$1+$1-$3-$3-$4-$4-$4-$4,$2+$2-$3-$3-$4-$4,$1+$3,$2+$3+$4,0* 1,1,$4+$4+$4+$4,$1+$1-$4-$4,$2+$2-$4-$4* 1,1,$4+$4+$4+$4,$1+$1-$4-$4,$3+$3+$4+$4* 1,1,$4+$4+$4+$4,$3+$3+$4+$4,$2+$2-$4-$4*% %AMRECTHERM_45* 21,1,$1+$1+$1+$1,$2+$2+$2+$2-$4-$4-$4-$4-$4-$4-$4-$4-$4-$4-$3-$3,0,0,0* 21,1,$1+$1+$1+$1-$4-$4-$4-$4-$4-$4-$4-$4-$4-$4-$3-$3,$2+$2+$2+$2,0,0,0* 1,1,$4+$4+$4+$4,$1+$1-$4-$4,$2+$2-$4-$4-$4-$4-$4-$3* 1,1,$4+$4+$4+$4,$1+$1-$4-$4,0-$2-$2+$4+$4+$4+$4+$4+$3* 1,1,$4+$4+$4+$4,$1+$1-$4-$4-$4-$4-$4-$3,$2+$2-$4-$4* 1,1,$4+$4+$4+$4,0-$1-$1+$4+$4+$4+$4+$4+$3,$2+$2-$4-$4* 1,1,$4+$4+$4+$4,0-$1-$1+$4+$4,$2+$2-$4-$4-$4-$4-$4-$3* 1,1,$4+$4+$4+$4,0-$1-$1+$4+$4,0-$2-$2+$4+$4+$4+$4+$4+$3* 1,1,$4+$4+$4+$4,$1+$1-$4-$4-$4-$4-$4-$3,0-$2-$2+$4+$4* 1,1,$4+$4+$4+$4,0-$1-$1+$4+$4+$4+$4+$4+$3,0-$2-$2+$4+$4*% %ADD10C,0.010000*% G90* G70D02* G04 begin color: clBlack* %LPD*%

G04 Step and Repeat for panelization *

G04 ----------------------- Draw board outline (positive)*

G04 -------------- Draw Parts, Pads, Traces, Vias and Text (positive)*

G04 Draw traces*

G04 Draw Text* G54D10* G01X0Y0D02* G01X45275Y0D01* G01X45275Y8503D01* G01X0Y8503D01* G01X0Y0D01* M00* M02*

Can you post your file so we can see what it contains?

And I again, ask that you not top post. Makes it hard to read when the rest of us use bottom posting.

try creating annew project and paint the outline as a 6 mil trace in the top copper layer generate gerbers and rename the top layer file to gko.

(or does eagle 3.5 allow creating a layer named outline? what exactly can it do?)