CraptasticS14 Posted June 3, 2022 Posted June 3, 2022 So, a little over a month ago, I rebuilt my PC and upgrade from an HDD to an SSD, used a dock to plug in the HDD and basically just did a copy/paste of all folders relating to Vortex, my steam folder, mods folders, and games onto the SSD. Fortunately everything worked out perfectly fine and after transferring everything over, I ran the games with no issues, all mods in the same condition as they were, updated Vortex, and even installed a new mod and got it running with absolutely no issues what so ever. It's been running perfectly fine ever since, but today I decided to try out another mod. After installing it with no issues, I went to adjust it in BodySlide, but the file didn't show up, so I refreshed groups and they all disappeared. I went back to Vortex and did a another deploy to just to make sure and after doing so I got a message saying I had redundant mods but it listed every single mod I had installed, a message saying FNIS wasn't installed, and a message saying Invalid Primary Tool and would have to launch from the Skyrim executable. I Tried closing and opening Vortex again incase it just wigged out, but all it did was auto update Vortex and then pop up with all the same messages again. All of my mods show in the mods list, but only the one I installed today and the basic game files (Original and all the DLC) show up in Plugins. I tried opening up BodySlide again but when I clicked on my desktop icon for it, it said the associated file had changed and removed the icon from my desktop. I haven't touched anything yet and haven't made any changes to it since it did this as I'm not exactly a "professional" moder. I just followed a few guides on how to set it up, got things to work and was able to add mods and get them working as I wanted them, and was happy with that. So as far as what could be wrong or where to even look for a solution is beyond me, and I'd rather wait for someone who actually knows what could be wrong before I go around clicking things or changing things I shouldn't.
rmm200 Posted June 3, 2022 Posted June 3, 2022 "copy/paste of all folders relating to Vortex, my steam folder, mods folders, and games onto the SSD".Look up how Windows handles hard links and what a deep copy is.What you did basically changed each hard link into a copy of the mod, removing it from Vortex control.Vortex also depends on the Windows Registry to know where games are located. When you move the game without having Steam move it, you break that. Next time you do something like that, "Purge" your mods first. That removes all the hard links. And use Steam to move the game. That will fix the registry. Which leaves you with - what do you do now. First - Purge all your mods.Second - clean your game directory. Delete everything not installed by Bethesda. Delete the Data directory.Third - use Regedit to fix your game location.Forth - Validate your game through Steam. That will replace any missing pieces.Fifth - From the Vortex mods page, use the reinstall dropdown on each mod.Six - Deploy - and you should be done. Asking us in advance before moving things can often save you a lot of work...
CraptasticS14 Posted June 3, 2022 Author Posted June 3, 2022 Curious question about moving them and the registries. If it technically broke all the hardlinks to everything, why was I able to install mods and edit them in BodySlide and deploy everything and run my game perfectly fine "after" transferring them for about a month or so? It was only now that it decided to break everything. If the registries and hardlinks to everything had been changed or compromised, wouldn't it have broken from the moment I transferred everything over? Not trying to question you or anything, just trying to get a better understanding of things.
rmm200 Posted June 3, 2022 Posted June 3, 2022 Remember what a broken hard link means. The actual mod was copied to the game directory, chewing up space.The mod is still there and operational. As far as Vortex is concerned, you installed that mod manually, outside of Vortex.Vortex should actually have given you the option to revert or use latest for each mod.That Redundant message you got says that every file Vortex wanted to install - was already there. Nothing to install.The Registry being incorrect will often mean Vortex can not find the game, or it uses the original copy. Both bad.Bodyslide not finding files is the same issue. Your dashboard shortcut may be pointing to the wrong disk.
CraptasticS14 Posted June 4, 2022 Author Posted June 4, 2022 I'm still just confused as to why if the hardlinks were broken because of the copy/paste method of transfer, everything worked flawlessly at the beginning. If doing it that way breaks a link, and a broken link causes Vortex to do all this, then it should've done it all from the moment I transferred all the files over. But instead, I was able to add mods, open and adjust things in BodySlide with my desktop link, deploy mods and enable and disable them without any issues what so ever. Why or how it took over a month for Vortex to realize the hardlinks were broken and then finally start freaking out because of it makes no sense to me. On the plus side, I only did the copy/paste method because looking into it before I went ahead and did it, I searched for a proper way to do it and there was a ton of different guides all saying different things and listing different requirements and warnings and the whole thing just seemed like a headache. I have a few mods and other things that have been technically broken for a while that I've just ignored that can only be fixed with a fresh re-install, so I figured I'd give copy/pasting all the relevant files over and see if it worked, and if not I'd just nuke the whole thing and start over and only put in the stuff I know works properly and doesn't cause issues. To my surprise, after initially doing the transfer everything worked out perfectly and I had 0 problems so I was actually kind of excited. But it seems like now I'll most likely be better off just nuking the whole thing and reinstalling from scratch. I already took the time to make a checklist of all the mods I use and what is still available, and there isn't anything I'd be missing out on if I did. I made this thread knowing I might just have to start over, but at the same time was curious as to why it was such a delayed breaking, and if it even was the transfer method that caused it to break in the first place because the way it happened just made no sense. If it was something else perhaps it might have been a quick fix and save me hours of fiddly work, but I guess that was wishful thinking lol. edit: I don't know if it matters or not, but I though I might add that I was actually playing Skyrim like an hour before everything blew up. I was curious what new mods might be up as I hadn't checked in a while so I closed it and started looking around, and that's when I opened up Vortex and everything decided to explode. edit2: Out of curiosity, I switched Vortex over to Fo4 from Skyrim, and it shows 0 errors at all, and my desktop link for BodySlike for Fo4 still works too. So why would it break all the hardlinks for Skyrim and not Fo4? They both went through the same transfer method to the SSD, so they should both have the same issue. I'm just making myself more and more confused here.
rmm200 Posted June 4, 2022 Posted June 4, 2022 Another list: 1) You never need to download a game again. If it is on your system, it can be cleaned then validated by Steam.2) You never need to download a mod again. The ones you have in your Downloads directory are perfectly fine, wherever they are. These are the Archives; usually .zip.3) Mods in your mod staging directory are suspect now. Changes might have been merged back from the moved game directory, likely deleting files.Reinstalling the mod fixes all these problems.
CraptasticS14 Posted June 4, 2022 Author Posted June 4, 2022 Well, after purging the mods and a few hours of reinstalling everything one by one, I got it all back up and running without having to nuke the whole thing. Only downside is not remembering exactly what options I chose for some of the installers so things look a little awkward atm, but it works and that's what matters. Thanks for the assistance and pointing me in the right direction.
Guest deleted34304850 Posted June 4, 2022 Posted June 4, 2022 i wish we could change post titles - this should read "a litany of user errors causes problems for computer program".
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