DipTrace troubles with PCB

[sterlingswain]

Hello,
I’ve been building clones for a while now and feel comfortable working with perf boards, vero boards, and PCBs. I decided to experiment with DipTrace to recreate a known circuit, starting from the schematic and going all the way to the PCB, before diving into my own designs. I opened DipTrace, loaded the RubyWow libraries, went through the tutorials, and thought I had a good grasp on it. I then sent the Gerber files to JLCPCB and ordered five boards for testing.

A few days later, the boards arrived, and I went straight to soldering. But then everything went downhill! I get no sound when testing the board, and the LED doesn’t even light up. I tried two boards, carefully inspected all solder joints and connections, and everything looks fine. Clearly, I made a mistake in either the schematic or the PCB design.

I’m reaching out to this fantastic forum because A) it’s amazing, and B) there are many knowledgeable people here who are always willing to help. Would any of you experts take a look at my schematic and PCB layout to see if you can identify what went wrong? I'm 100% certain it's my mistake, but I just don’t know what I messed up.

I've attached screenshots of my attempt at recreating the Ginormous Fuzz (based on the incredible Frost Giant Massif). I can also provide the DipTrace files if needed.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

[Serg]

The images in the pictures are blurry. Try attaching them to your question using the “Attachments” menu or upload the design files. I think it will be easier for our forum readers to understand and give you advice that way. By the way, have you run the checks from the “Verification” main menu?
- Check Net Connectivity,
- Check Design Rules,
- Compate to Schematic.

[nolakomir]

It’s great that you’re taking the full schematic-to-PCB route, that first jump can definitely be rough, so don’t get discouraged. Since you’re getting no sound and not even LED activity, it really does sound like something fundamental in the schematic or power routing. Common culprits are flipped transistor/pin orientations, missing ground connections, wrong footprint pinouts, or traces that didn’t actually connect in the PCB layout even though they looked connected in the schematic. If you can post the schematic and the top/bottom copper views, people here can usually spot issues pretty quickly. DipTrace is powerful, but it’s also easy to accidentally misassign a footprint or overlook a tiny disconnected net. Happy to take a look, everyone here has been through this stage at some point!

[ScottBarnes]

Great job stepping into full PCB design with DipTrace! A few common issues to check: confirm all component footprints match the schematic pins (especially transistors/ICs), verify ground and power net continuity, and review any mirrored footprints or rotated parts. Also run a full DRC/ERC and compare your layout with the original reference PCB. I’d be happy to take a look at your files if you share them.