Requesting help troubleshooting some mods and general advice

[Striker879]

Yes that is the one I'd suggest ... the top one under Main Files that says "Wrye Bash 296 - Installer - Automated installer/updater for both Python and Standalone versions". The installer should offer you the choice to install the standalone version.

[Striker879]

I agree the documentation around installing and using WB leaves a lot to be desired. When I first looked at WB (around version 2.85 or so) back before the standalone version days you only got the readme with the install instructions after you installed it!! Kept me away from it back then and now I've gotten used to working along without it. Someday a mod I decide to try will require WB and I'll need to hop onto the learning curve, but for now I hang onto my dinosaur ways.

[dtmwerks]

1) Ok Wyre Bash up and running. I dled UOP as a test mod. I get the feeling UOP is SO popular wyre bash is unneeded for it? It basically auto installed into the directory.

 

Basically I'm supposed to do this..

 

"Easiest way to get started with Bain is to just grab all your old mod archives and move them to the Installers directory. Then return to the Installers directory to see Bain's evaluation."

 

...for all mods though just to keep them organized and make them work together in WB?

 

So I should just drag the "UOP" folder in my "oblivion" folder into "oblivion mods/bash installers" in "steamapps/common"? Guess I'm just extra careful since I thought it was supposed to stay in the "oblivion" folder as it suggested. Maybe I'm supposed to copy it? Or cut n paste?

 

2) on the readme, it said "There is no BSA archive handling in Bain" when talking about differences of OBMM and WB. Is that something that should concern a simple mod downloader such as myself? What exactly is BSA archive handling anyway?

 

3) I saw I still had "uop patch 3.4.1 upgrade" dled (but not installed since I moved steam and oblivion) So I went ahead and installed it again. I decided to try and install it once more to see what would happen....like if it would at least ask if i wanted to overwrite, or tell me I already had it. Nope, it installed twice. Should I be worried?

 

4) Do I need OBMM at all with WB installed now? If I do, do I need to have both programs running the mods? Aka have UOP installed in both WB AND OBMM?

 

5) Does it matter what version I dl now? Manual install, omod, or auto installerexe are the usual 3 types you find right? Does WB have a preference?

Edited June 5, 2012 by dtmwerks

[Striker879]

1) Ok Wyre Bash up and running. I dled UOP as a test mod. I get the feeling UOP is SO popular wyre bash is unneeded for it? It basically auto installed into the directory.

 

Basically I'm supposed to do this..

 

"Easiest way to get started with Bain is to just grab all your old mod archives and move them to the Installers directory. Then return to the Installers directory to see Bain's evaluation."

 

...for all mods though just to keep them organized and make them work together in WB?

 

So I should just drag the "UOP" folder in my "oblivion" folder into "oblivion mods/bash installers" in "steamapps/common"? Guess I'm just extra careful since I thought it was supposed to stay in the "oblivion" folder as it suggested. Maybe I'm supposed to copy it? Or cut n paste?

Hopefully Nephenee13 or someone else more knowledgeable in WB will correct any errors I make here. From what I read in the WB Pictorial Guide Intro to Using Installers I suggest copy & paste from your download folder to the Bash Installers folder that was created when you first open the Installers tab in WB. Reading through the pictorial guide and using it while you get the hang of this is recommended.

 

2) on the readme, it said "There is no BSA archive handling in Bain" when talking about differences of OBMM and WB. Is that something that should concern a simple mod downloader such as myself? What exactly is BSA archive handling anyway?

BSAs are compressed archives used by the game (not all that dissimilar to zip or 7z archives). These days a number of modders prefer to release their mods using simply an esp and BSA for ease of support. To install them you can simply copy the two files (ModA.esp and ModA.bsa for example) from your extracted download and paste them into your Oblivion\Data folder. It hides all the folder/file structure of the mod within the BSA (the meshes and textures folders for example). All that is left is activating the ModA.esp using the vanilla game's Data Files, OBMM or BAIN. Which method to use I'll answer in question 4. As far as I know WB will install mods that come as esp plus BSA.

 

3) I saw I still had "uop patch 3.4.1 upgrade" dled (but not installed since I moved steam and oblivion) So I went ahead and installed it again. I decided to try and install it once more to see what would happen....like if it would at least ask if i wanted to overwrite, or tell me I already had it. Nope, it installed twice. Should I be worried?

The various flavours of Unofficial Patches are a somewhat confusing mess of patches and updates to previous patches. Often a later patch supercedes previous patches plus updates. I would have to believe that if you installed the latest patch (highest number) it would include all the preceding patches, but if you installed the lower numbered patches and updates to patches in order I don't see where you would run into trouble. Normally if an older version of a mod (and the patches are just mods) needs to be uninstalled before a new version is installed it will give you instructions to that effect.

 

4) Do I need OBMM at all with WB installed now? If I do, do I need to have both programs running the mods? Aka have UOP installed in both WB AND OBMM?

Some mods come as a premade OMOD (i.e. the download is the file ModA.omod). Often (though not always) those OMODs come with an installation script that helps you through selecting the various options available in the mod. Mods that come as premade OMODs are best installed using OBMM. Mods that come as 'OMOD friendly format' have all the files and folders organized to make it easy for users to create their own OMOD, but I would suggest using BAIN for those due to it's more robust options (that same OMOD friendly format will be BAIN friendly in most cases). If you run into something that isn't packaged BAIN friendly then you'll need to decide whether to go with manual install or OMOD for that particular mod. I can't speak for the situation of having BAIN thrown into the mix, but I use a mixture of manual install and OMOD without problem. I believe you can activate mods in both OBMM and BAIN without problem, but BAIN will probably become your primary method of install and activating (I use both OBMM and Data Files together).

 

5) Does it matter what version I dl now? Manual install, omod, or auto installerexe are the usual 3 types you find right? Does WB have a preference?

You will most frequently find either 'manual install friendly' (those mods that tell you to extract to your Data folder ... not something I recommend, extract to your OblivionDownloads folder) or 'OMOD friendly' format. In the majority of cases either of those will also be BAIN friendly. As I said, if the download comes as a premade OMOD and doesn't offer any other way use OBMM ... if it comes as premade OMOD and premade BAIN use BAIN (you won't find many of those ... generally it's an either or situation).

 

- Edit - Follow Nephenee's advice on anything that overlaps ... Nephenee has far more experience and knowledge on all things WB.

Edited June 5, 2012 by Striker879

[Nephenee13]

Wrye Bash can automatically extract OMODs into BAIN archives, though you will not have hte OMOD installation script, if one existed.

 

As for the UOP, I would suggest downloading the Archive version and dropping it into your Bash Installer's folder. The EXE version is really for people who have no idea what they are doing.

[dtmwerks]

Ok. Once again ty so much everyone! I will be away until sun/mon, so if you're wondering why I suddenly stop posting here, it's not cause I've given up.

 

Will resume my attempts when I get back! (:

 

edit: might as well ask this now

 

"As for the UOP, I would suggest downloading the Archive version and dropping it into your Bash Installer's folder. The EXE version is really for people who have no idea what they are doing. "

 

I do have no idea what I am doing :P but I am learning. I already dled the exe version and it's up and running. Do you recommend uninstalling that (that's safe to do right? I loaded a game already with UOP) so I can install the archive manual version?

 

And oops I kinda forgot about the pictorial guide. The readme itself is dozens if not hundreds of pages already. So many guides and faqs hard to keep track of em all.

Edited June 6, 2012 by dtmwerks

[Striker879]

Better to have plenty of reference material and have trouble keeping track of it all than too little. If you have the UOP up and running without any issues I'd go with the "If it ain't broke, don't try fixing it!" school of thought.

[dtmwerks]

Sorry it's been so long. I feel like I forgot everything I learnt but I'm trying to do this again. Was sick for about 2 weeks but here I am. I'm not sure how many "boss" things I have. I believe I installed it once when oblivion was still in program files, and then I believe it comes packaged with wyrebash. Not sure if that matters.

 

Anyway, I tried running boss while reading the pictorial guide, and I get this prompt when it opens in firefox (note that it worked before when Oblivion was still in program files)

 

"Critical Error: The modification date of "Oblivion.esm" cannot be read! Filesystem response: "boost::filesystem::last_write_time: The system cannot find the file specified: "c:\games\steam\steamapps\common\oblivion\Data\Oblivion.esm"".

Check the Troubleshooting section of the ReadMe for more information and possible solutions.

Utility will end now."

 

Sure enough theres no oblivion.esm, only a "oblivion.esm.ghost"

 

What should I do?

[Nephenee13]

Err...Oblivion.esm should never be ghosted. How did you manage that?

[dtmwerks]

The pictorial guide told me to turn on "auto ghost" in the mods tab. Would that do it?

 

edit: turning off auto ghost allows boss to work again. This is page 3 of the pictorial guide, the pic has auto ghost turned on and this page is about "check your settings are as recommended above" so I did.

Edited July 2, 2012 by dtmwerks