How to stop Fallout 4 from updating (Steam/GOG/Xbox)

[capSAR]

I followed the steps in the OP, and after restarting Steam it is still prompting me to update Fallout 4. I changed each manifest for each depot for the base game and DLC to match what is now on SteamDB now that the update is out so they should all be accurate. @Pickysaurus Is there another step to take? My app manifest is attached.

appmanifest_377160.acf

[agentj3di]

This was a little confusing at first, but I think I figured it out  , but after everything was said and done, Fallout 4 is no longer asking to update, and I was able to successfully play my modded game all last night without any problems and seemingly subverting the update. 

So, I thought I would share my method for anyone else who might have also been confused. I wasn't sure if you were supposed to change the manifest ID for all of the Depots, or just the last one until I went to the SteamDB page and clicked around a bit.

Here's what I did:

1) Yesterday I set the appmanifest_377160.acf file to Read Only (and changed Updates frequency to Only when launching) as directed in the OP.

Today, Fallout 4 showed [  Update Required ].

2) Since I don't want the update (at least, not now) - using the Depot ID and Manifest ID for -each- row from my .acf file, I changed the Manifest ID to the new one.
(If you click on the Manifest ID link on the right of your matching Depot ID, you will see:

Example for Depot ID 377161 from the SteamDB page: https://steamdb.info/app/377160/depots/?branch=public (as directed)

Depots

ID	Configuration	Manifest ID	Size	DL.
228984	Windows Shared InstallDepot from 228980 VC 2012 Redist		No size
228990	Windows Shared InstallDepot from 228980 DirectX Jun 2010 Redist		No size
377161	Fallout 4 content_a	7332110922360867314	5.67 GiB	5.21 GiB

3) So for the first Depot 377161: the link on the left will take you to a page that has the following on the bottom:

 Manifest ID changed – 7497069378349273908 › 7332110922360867314

Aha, now I could see that my (original) file matched the OLD ID: 7497069378349273908

"InstalledDepots"
    {
        "377161"
        {
            "manifest"        "7497069378349273908"
            "size"        "6092666130"
        }

4) So I changed the "manifest" in the file (with Notepad) to the NEW ID from the website:  7332110922360867314

It now reads:

{
        "377161"
        {
            "manifest"        "7332110922360867314"
            "size"        "6092666130"
        }

5) I then did the same steps for each of the remaining Depots and Manifest IDs. I only have VANILLA (NO DLC), so there were only 4 matching Depot Manifest IDs to change.
6) I exited Steam, Unset the Read Only for the appmanifest_377160.acf file, and then SAVED the changes in Notepad.

7) After saving -- I RESET the Read Only on appmanifest_377160.acf --- otherwise, Steam might try and get the 'real' update.

Upon launching Steam, Fallout 4 now shows [  Play ] -- so I believe Steam thinks FO4 is current, and I'm set. 

Hope this helps someone! 

 

 

Edited April 26 by agentj3di
colors, a vital step, and confirming success!

[sdliddo]

Sigh. I clearly did something wrong and now mine updated.

[H3Nutcracker]

37 minutes ago, agentj3di said:

This was a little confusing at first, but I think I figured it out. After everything was said and done, Fallout 4 is no longer asking to update, so I thought I would share my method for anyone else who might have also been confused. I wasn't sure if you were supposed to change the manifest ID for all of the Depots, or just the last one until I went to the SteamDB page and clicked around a bit.

Here's what I did:

1) Yesterday I set the appmanifest_377160.acf file to Read Only (and changed Updates frequency to Only when launching) as directed in the OP.

Today, Fallout 4 showed [  Update Required ].

2) Since I don't want the update (at least, not now) - using the Depot ID and Manifest ID for -each- row from my .acf file, I changed the Manifest ID to the new one.
(If you click on the Manifest ID link on the right of your matching Depot ID, you will see:

Example for Depot ID 377161 from the SteamDB page: https://steamdb.info/app/377160/depots/?branch=public (as directed)

Depots

ID	Configuration	Manifest ID	Size	DL.
228984	Windows Shared InstallDepot from 228980 VC 2012 Redist		No size
228990	Windows Shared InstallDepot from 228980 DirectX Jun 2010 Redist		No size
377161	Fallout 4 content_a	7332110922360867314	5.67 GiB	5.21 GiB

3) So for the first Depot 377161: the link on the left will take you to a page that has the following on the bottom:

 Manifest ID changed – 7497069378349273908 › 7332110922360867314

Aha, now I could see that my (original) file matched the OLD ID: 7497069378349273908

"InstalledDepots"
    {
        "377161"
        {
            "manifest"        "7497069378349273908"
            "size"        "6092666130"
        }

4) So I changed the "manifest" in the file (with Notepad) to the NEW ID from the website:  7332110922360867314

It now reads:

{
        "377161"
        {
            "manifest"        "7332110922360867314"
            "size"        "6092666130"
        }

5) I then did the same steps for each of the remaining Depots and Manifest IDs. I only have VANILLA (NO DLC), so there were only 4 matching Depot Manifest IDs to change.
6) I exited Steam, Unset the Read Only for the appmanifest_377160.acf file, and then SAVED the changes in Notepad.

Upon launching Steam, Fallout 4 now shows [  Play ] -- so I believe I'm set. 

Hope this helps someone! 

 

 

Thank you for breaking this down, I didn´t know if I should change all the rows. I did it and follow the rest of the steps. However upon launching steam, Fallout 4 still shows Update Required

[Qrsr]

Just update ... where is the problem?

[Guest deleted194113433]

On 4/17/2024 at 7:09 AM, Pickysaurus said:

How to backup your game folder

The final recommendation is to back up your entire Fallout 4 folder somewhere safe so that if all else fails, you always have a copy of the original files to refer back to. 

1. Open your Fallout 4 install folder.
2. Select all files (Ctrl + A on the keyboard).
3. Right-click and select copy and paste these files to another location on your PC (optionally, use 7zip to compress them).
4. If your game ever updates accidentally, you can extract the contents of this file into your game folder to restore the original content. 

So, if I do this, does it mean I don't have to deal with the other nonsense?

[alyfoxlp]

39 minutes ago, H3Nutcracker said:

Thank you for breaking this down, I didn´t know if I should change all the rows. I did it and follow the rest of the steps. However upon launching steam, Fallout 4 still shows Update Required

So long as you keep the file read-only and launch through vortex or mod organizer or something like that it won't update. 

I thought changing "lastupdated" and "buildid" To the new info on the appmanifest website would remove that but it didnt. Ah well, I'm just launching via vortex so it *should* be fine. 

[alyfoxlp]

Its unfortunate that the original thread-poster hasn't edited the original post to be more clear, given some of the comments that have come up through this thread, but I want to extend thanks to   agentj3d1   for clarifying the confusion I was having.   Thanks agentj3d1!    However, I do also want to thank Pickysaurus for the original work - even if it was confusing at first, it *did* provide a base to work out the rest from. Thank you Pickysaurus :D

[Guest deleted194113433]

21 minutes ago, Qrsr said:

Just update ... where is the problem?

Because it's breaking people's modded games, and if the AE update for SSE is an indicator of anything, many modders will have a hard time trying to update their mods due to the changes.

[H3Nutcracker]

8 minutes ago, alyfoxlp said:

So long as you keep the file read-only and launch through vortex or mod organizer or something like that it won't update. 

I thought changing "lastupdated" and "buildid" To the new info on the appmanifest website would remove that but it didnt. Ah well, I'm just launching via vortex so it *should* be fine. 

Yeah, I kept it as Read Only and I only launch it from MO2, I guess it should be enough. However I did an entire Backup of the unupdated game files just in case. One more question if you allow me. If for any reason I need to open the launcher to change something in the options am I in risk of updating unintentionally?