How to remove "recovered" layers from design in Ultiboard

[Todc.18]

I designed a 4 layer board and later was required to change a number of parts' foot prints.

I forward annotated the new data from Multisim and lost the two inner layers of the design (or so I thought).

I reconstructed the two inner layers from scratch, saved and closed the design.

Upon opening the file the next day, I discovered two extra "recovered" layers. Now my design has 6 layers.

I tried deleting the recovered layers, but I can't do it without losing the drill information as well.

Is there a safe way to extract the recovered layers from the design without losing the drill info?

Thanks very much, Tod

[GarretF · Accepted solution]

Hi Tod,

"Recovered layers" are created on opening a file if Ultiboard find objects that are referencing layers that do not exist in the board. Generally, it should be safe to remove these layers in the PCB Properties dialog, as these objects are typically pieces of copper. First you will need to remove all objects from these layers. One easy way to do this is:

1. Right click and hold down, dragging the mouse over your entire design (similar to the way you would normally select with the left mouse button)
2. Release the mouse button, and a context menu will show
3. Click Select objects on specified layers...
4. Select one of the "recovered" layers. Click OK.
5. Edit > Delete

(I feel like I might be missing here, and if so, let me know).

[Todc.18]

Thank you very much Garrett, I was able to remove the actual data from the recovered layers without removing the drill information from the design! Unfortunately, the "delete" function of the edit menu is greyed out, so I can't remove the layers from the design toolbox. Tod

[GarretF]

You are correct, delete does not delete layers. Instead, you need to change the PCB properties to remove the layers.

1. Click Options > PCB Properties
2. Select the Copper layers tab
3. Decrease Layer pairs to 2 (that will give you a 4 layer board
4. Click OK. You will get some warning messages about removing data, just click OK.

(I'll also add a feature request to find some way to make adding/removing layers through the design toolbox more clear.)

Message Edited by GarretF on 11-27-2009 07:29 PM