Converting Gerber to PCB in Altium

[mrpeja]

Hi,
I tried to convert gerber to pcb in Altium, but at the end of process I got an error message, and no pcb is generated, as follows:

Error reading the nets from CAMtastic ! (C:\Build\AD.14.2\platform_edp\CAMTASTIC\Source Code\Dlls\CAMUtils\ExportCAMToPCB.pas, line 296) at 2BF0B4C4.
CAMTASTIC.DLL, Base Address: 2BAF0000.
Exception Occurred In
ExportToPCB

If anyone can help, I'll be gratefull

Mrpeja

 

[ArticCynda]

As far as I know, a Gerber can't be converted back to a PCB because it is a production format and not a design format. A Gerber file contains only one of the many layers of a PCB, an no information on nets, components or electrical connectivity at all.

 

[wizpic]

You can do reverse engineering on gerber files in Altium. I have done it in the past bit long winded but its easy really I'm away from PC at the moment when I get back I will look in to it and write the process can't remember off the top of me head

 

[ArticCynda]

You can do reverse engineering on gerber files in Altium.

Reverse engineering is always a possibility of course, Dave Jones has an excellent tutorial on that: https://www.eevblog.com/2014/10/22/eevblog-675-how-to-reverse-engineer-a-rigol-ds1054z

I believe OP is looking for an automated way to do that however, which does not exist as far as I know.

 

[wizpic]

Reverse engineering is always a possibility of course, Dave Jones has an excellent tutorial on that: https://www.eevblog.com/2014/10/22/eevblog-675-how-to-reverse-engineer-a-rigol-ds1054z


I believe OP is looking for an automated way to do that however, which does not exist as far as I know.

Yes you are correct there is no automated way
Mrpeja you need to extract the nest list first then export to PCb but will confirm

 

[mrpeja]

Yes you are correct there is no automated way
Mrpeja you need to extract the nest list first then export to PCb but will confirm

Hi, wizpic,
I did everything as is stated in Altium manual, import Gerber layers, import drill file, extract net list. But when I click on Convert to pcb, I have had an error message, like I wrote before:

(Error reading the nets from CAMtastic ! (C:\Build\AD.14.2\platform_edp\CAMTASTIC\Source Code\Dlls\CAMUtils\ExportCAMToPCB.pas, line 296) at 2BF0B4C4.
CAMTASTIC.DLL, Base Address: 2BAF0000.
Exception Occurred In
ExportToPCB)

So, I'm wondering, maybe something is wrong with my Altium?
mrpeja

 

[wizpic]

It sounds like it try and uninstall it and try again

 

[mrpeja]

It sounds like it try and uninstall it and try again

Hi, wizpic,
I'm not sure, maybe the my customer's computer where i tried to convert gerber to pcb, has cracked version of Atium? Can this be a cause of this issue?
In the field: Help-About stays: "Licensed to ru-board, Altium Platinum Partner
Altium Partner Special - This license can be used on all desing projects"

Any idea?
mrpeja

 

[wizpic]

That should not be the problem at all, I have never had any issues before like that

 

[mrpeja]

So, I'll wait until someone, maybe, knew a cause of this issue.
Here is the issue again:

[I tried to convert gerber to pcb in Altium, but at the end of process I got an error message, and no pcb is generated, as follows:

Error reading the nets from CAMtastic ! (C:\Build\AD.14.2\platform_edp\CAMTASTIC\Source Code\Dlls\CAMUtils\ExportCAMToPCB.pas, line 296) at 2BF0B4C4.
CAMTASTIC.DLL, Base Address: 2BAF0000.
Exception Occurred In
ExportToPCB

If anyone can help, I'll be grateful]

mrpeja

 

[ArticCynda]

That sounds like an Altium bug, unfortunately. Aside from rebooting Altium, there is no way around it.

In rare situations, it does help to perform the same action on another computer, then for unexplainable reasons it sometimes does work. But it doesn't seem to matter whether you have a cracked or registered version.