How to Run gEDA tools on Windows 10

Updated if opengl is disabled in VcXsrv, then pcb-gtk & pcb-rnd seem to work fine.

I am able to run gschem and pcb on Windows 10 using Windows Linux Subsystem. Here are the steps I followed:

Install Windows Linux Subsystem

• Follow instructions on this website to install.Optionally install the Ubuntu fonts.
  How to Install and Use the Linux Bash Shell on Windows 10
• Run Ubuntu shell, go thru the setup process (username, passwd, etc.).
• sudo apt update, and then sudo apt upgrade.
• Add the following to the end of ~/.bashrc.

export DISPLAY=127.0.0.1:0

Install X-Windows Server

• Install VcXsrv:
  VcXsrv Windows X Server
• Right click on XLauncher icon on desktop, go to Compatibility and check Override high DPI scaling behavior.

Install gEDA and PCB

Run Ubuntu shell and execute the following:

sudo apt install geda pcb pcb-rnd

Run gschem and pcb

To run these tools:

1. Start VcXsrv server. Disable Native opengl in options.
2. Start Ubuntu shell
3. gschem or pcb

pcb-gtk had UI problems when opengl was enabled by default, so disable it when you run VcXsrv:

git

git is also available in Ubuntu shell but for some reason it can not clone publicly. It complained about access problems. I thought I had this problem earlier for another time and fixed it. Unfortunately, I don’t remember how I fixed it :(

For the time being, I’m using git under cmder to sync and Ubuntu shell to run gEDA tools. I know…