Oblivion corrupted (again)

[NeithanDiniem]

For some completely unknown reason to me my Oblivion folder is being corrupted somehow and causing the game to be unable to initiate/finish primary load up to the Main Menu. It is highly infuriating! When I first acquired the game it ran perfectly, mods and all, but latter in my XP os's life it went south, starting with CTDs and reduction in quality. Now in my Win7 os it is severely worse. Mods that once worked fine wont work, such as BBB animations for the body mesh (armors work fine, the body mesh wont), CM Partners caused the game to crash upon load up, and others as well. The most infuriating though is the main game file is getting corrupted. As it is right now I have Oblivion/KotN/SI + all but the tomes + Mehrunes DLC installed, OBSE latest version, OBMM revision latest version (tried to use that new "improved" OBMM revision expansion and it corrupted OBMM), BOSS to sort mods used, and ALL mods used were done through OBMM (now are all deactivated). The game will not work, even at out-of-the-box level. Nothing.

 

The first time this occurred, it was right after I "Batch Deactivated" all mods in OBMM (I did not have the DLC stuff at the time, this was about 4 days ago). I had never done that before, and found it odd at how fast it did so. Loaded game to see if in fact everything had been removed and that the game worked, no load up, just CTD immediately (forcing me to Ctrl+Alt+Del -> Task Manager -> End Task the error to close the program). My assumption was that the batch thing I did didn't replace the overridden files into the Data and/or corrupted the files. Pissed me off, so I Uninstalled the game, named the remaining file Oblivion old, reinstalled the game + OBSE/OBMM/BOSS and transferred the mods file over.

 

From there I began categorizing and testing each mod/mod group one by one to check its compatibility. Began with the heavy mods first like Elsewyre, Spires, and the like, most worked. moved along faster, too fast, and corrupted my file again. Since I couldn't remember what mods I had activated that session, I was forced to begin again. Deactivated all mods and started over, this time grouping the mods that worked, setting some aside for later, tagging the ones that downright CTD'd the game (CM, notably and to my deep regret), and marking the ones I would just delete due to not wanting them anymore. Went great, but tedious (three days work). Last night I activated another group of mods to test and boom, CTD. It was late, so I left it for today and went to bed. Today I deactivated all the mods not assigned to a group and nothing... game still CTD'd. Deactivated more, nothing. All of them, nothing, the main file was corrupted again.

 

Pretty much just wondering what the hell is going on. Is it a problem with OBMM not replacing the files it overrides through mods, is it a dirty mod screwing me over, or is it Win7's Program Files (x86) "security feature" kicking in (I've had problems with it and BOSS and heard it has some other problems with Oblivion related modding)? It completely sucks that I spend weeks downloading, OMODing, activating, and sorting the mods carefully just to get this, not to mention never even getting a crack at the new DLC I finally got round to buying (thought they were no longer sold before 4 days ago). Does ANYONE have a clue?

[Ferryt]

Never, ever, install a game in Win7's program files directories. That was your main mistake. Create a folder on the root and call it "Games" or something like that, and then reinstall Oblivion there, so your Oblivion directory is something like C:\Games\Oblivion . This will make a lot of potential problems go away before they ever get a chance to start.

 

As to what, precisely, could be causing this, it could be a combination of mods clashing and Win7 interfering with the ability of OBMM to do its job properly. Win7's security system is draconic and mostly covert, so you really never know for sure what it's doing and how it's hindering you. It tries to protect you from yourself in both the Program Files and Program Files (x86) directories and sometimes does too good a job.

 

Also, without a specific listing of your mod order it will be difficult to analyze what's going on. Ideally, you should post a load order that is stable and then the first load order that destabilizes the system. My guess, though, is that your troubles may well evaporate once Oblivion is removed from the Program Files (x86) directory.

[NeithanDiniem]

Yea that is precisely the thing I was going to do this time round. The Mod order will take time to make, so I'll have to wait till after I get back from work. I'll re-install the game in the new directory and move the files over and see what becomes of it all. As for mod conflicts, I do a pretty good job of looking through their readmes and seeing what is incompatible with what, also reading the BOSS load list to see if they say anything as well. I don't think that's the problem. I'll post the load order once I finally get them all reactivated.

 

EDIT: Aye, its going to have to wait till latter tomorrow. I didn't realize how long of a shift I had tonight. After I get back from college, I'll try your advice and post the results.

Edited February 15, 2011 by NeithanDiniem

[MotoSxorpio]

Note also, that you shouldn't drag your old mod folders over, RATHER install cleanly from scratch. Getting all your patches, official and unofficial first on a stable playing save. Then install your mods, ONE at a TIME. You should test play each mod as well.

[dsp2003]

Sorry for reviving this topic, but I think it might be related.

 

About week ago, I've discovered something very strange. Long story short, due to shortage of hard drive space, I've removed all unnecessary .omod files from OBMM's "mods" directory (I have a copy of them on my secondary hard drive anyway). To my unpleasant surprise, at the next launch of OBMM it appeared that stupid piece of C#-ware deleted files associated with (now missing) .omod's.

 

Like this, OBMM corrupts modded Oblivion installations. Always.

 

P.S. Now converting all .omod to .7z and never installing anything with OBMM again.

[Trinsic75]

Okay...

 

I have Windows 7 so I installed the game into a separate "Game" folder. Then I added my mods. Then OBSE Loader 20. The screen goes black...and then the game doesn't start. The black just vanishes as though it hadn't been there at all.

 

Any suggestions?

[Striker879]

Did you start the game using obse_loader.exe? If you are running the Steam download version of the game you continue to use the default OblivionLauncher.exe but for other versions compatible with OBSE you need to start the game using obse_loader.exe. The simpliest way is either edit your desktop shortcut or start the game using OBMM. If your version of the game came from either Direct2Drive or Impulse you won't be able to use OBSE (those versions are encrypted and OBSE can't alter the encrypted file). Edited October 15, 2011 by Striker879

[Trinsic75]

Yes. It's not a Steam download, or a download of any kind. It's a store-bought "Game of the Year edition" disk. Should I buy the Steam edition instead? Will that make a difference?

[bben46]

I hate it when people just pile any old question into a thread whether or not it has anything to do with the topic.

 

PLEASE start a new topic for each new problem. That makes it so much easier to keep track of what is going on and what answer is for what question. BTW, there is no extra charge for starting your own trouble topic. :thumbsup:

 

 

@DSP2003: have been using OBMM since it first came out and have NEVER had a corrupt file. However, I can see how removing a file from the omod folder without deactivating it first could cause problems. OMODS are put there for a reason. And if the OBMM cannot find the file in it's folder when starting OBMM, It assumes you didn't want it any more.

 

@Trinsic: Store bought GOTY is probably the best version for mods. Most of the advice on the Nexus is orientated to the store bought versions. The mods work exactly the same on Steam though.

 

Did you install OBSE before trying to use the OBSE loader to start the game?

[Trinsic75]

I did. I put the OBSE loader and other files into the same file as the Oblivion exe. As far as I know thats all I have to do. I have Norton antivirus but I turned it off before I installed anything. I got as far as the title screen before I put in my mods, but afterwards it didn't even get that far. None of my mods conflict as far as I can tell: I ran the game with them on my old system without crashing. But now...

 

I tried to run the BOSS program to see if there was a problem with load order, but all it gives me are error messages, so that's useless.

 

This is really frustrating. I've finally got a computer strong enough to play it with good graphics and now the thing won't run. I've installed and uninstalled it several times now and It all results in the same problem. No explanation or anything.