Oblivion OBMM Archive Invalidation question

[Melchior82]

How do I use the OblivionModManager's Archive invalidation functions to make the unofficial Oblivion Patches work right?
I ask because there are many options in the Archive invalidation window... and I'm not sure which to select...

 

I read above... BSA Redirection is what I should use since it is the default option....???

where is the setting for it stored? I ask because I store my saves and settings inside the Oblivion folder and don't use the

UserProfile\Documents\my games\Oblivion folder....

 

I ask because OBMM copies the Oblivion_default.ini to

UserProfile\Documents\my games\Oblivion\Oblivion.ini even though I deleted it before and don't use that location...

when I close OBMM that is..

 

Note: I am running Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit.

I keep my all games on there own HDD with full permissions so that is never an issue for me...

[Striker879]

OBMM isn't the one creating Oblivion.ini that is Oblivion.exe doing that. It uses Oblivion_default.ini as a base to create Oblivion.ini after it detects your hardware when the game first starts after you install it or any time that Oblivion.exe can't find Oblivion.ini in it's proper location. NEVER touch/move/edit Oblivion_default.ini ... ever.

 

As far as I know the game requires Oblivion.ini to be located in the Users\[username]\ Documents\My Games\Oblivion folder. You could store a backup in any folder you like.

 

OBMM's archive invalidation should be set to BSA Redirection, if you use the Steam version of the game click on Reset BSA Timestamps and then click on Update Now. The BSA Redirection method of archive invalidation creates an empty BSA file and then puts that BSA file in the first spot of the sArchiveList line in the [Archive] section of Oblivion.ini (there are slight differences in the file name used for that empty file depending on which utility you use to create it ... Wrye Bash names it ArchiveInvalidationInvalidated!.bsa and I believe OBMM uses either the same file name or similar).

[Melchior82]

Oblivion.exe looks first in the main Oblivion program folder for the Oblivion.ini then in the

default local --> UserProfile\Documents\my games\Oblivion\

 

as far at it has worked for me... as I store both the ini and the saves folder in my Oblivion main folder.

 

ahh hah... ok... I use the non steam version of Morrowind and Oblivion... but where is the BSA Redirection info/setting stored?

I just want to make sure Oblivion working right and actually looking for the loose updated files in the sub-folders in data folder...

no I do not see a ArchiveInvalidationInvalidated!.bsa or like named file... these are the following Archive settings..

[Archive]
SMasterMiscArchiveFileName=Oblivion - Misc.bsa
SMasterVoicesArchiveFileName2=Oblivion - Voices2.bsa
SMasterVoicesArchiveFileName1=Oblivion - Voices1.bsa
SMasterSoundsArchiveFileName=Oblivion - Sounds.bsa
SMasterTexturesArchiveFileName1=Oblivion - Textures - Compressed.bsa
SMasterMeshesArchiveFileName=Oblivion - Meshes.bsa
SInvalidationFile=ArchiveInvalidation.txt
iRetainFilenameOffsetTable=1
iRetainFilenameStringTable=1
iRetainDirectoryStringTable=1
bCheckRuntimeCollisions=0
bInvalidateOlderFiles=1
bUseArchives=1
SArchiveList=Oblivion - Meshes.bsa, Oblivion - Textures - Compressed.bsa, Oblivion - Sounds.bsa, Oblivion - Voices1.bsa, Oblivion - Voices2.bsa, Oblivion - Misc.bsa

.... I am guess with this line bInvalidateOlderFiles=1 everything should be working just fine...

 

 

and these are all the .bsa archives in my data folder..

DLCShiveringIsles - Faces.bsa
DLCShiveringIsles - Meshes.bsa
DLCShiveringIsles - Sounds.bsa
DLCShiveringIsles - Textures.bsa
DLCShiveringIsles - Voices.bsa
Harvest [Flora].bsa
Knights.bsa
Oblivion - Meshes.bsa
Oblivion - Misc.bsa
Oblivion - Sounds.bsa
Oblivion - Textures - Compressed.bsa
Oblivion - Voices1.bsa
Oblivion - Voices2.bsa

Edited March 3, 2017 by Melchior82

[Striker879]

Wish I could say 100% for certain that you are OK but I can't.

 

I have looked at my game backups from my two previous characters who did not use Wrye Bash and thus used OBMM for archive invalidation and neither of them has any significant difference to what you have posted (differences are all related to which DLCs are installed ... other than that BSAs and Oblivion.ini are the same as what you posted). Until I looked at those backups I was under the impression that OBMM's BSA Redirection worked the same as Wrye Bash's BSA Redirection ... it seems that is not the case. I do know that BSA Redirection was working for both those characters.

 

If you have a pure replacer type mod (a mod that changes something without using an ESP file) and it works then archive invalidation is working (a body replacer such as HGEC is a good example). You could install a pure replacer just as a test, as once you uninstall the assets it includes your game will automatically revert back to the vanilla assets found in the vanilla game BSA files.

[Melchior82]

ok.... thx for the reply...

 

I guess I will just have to hope it is all working right..

[DrakeTheDragon]

If I recall correctly the OBMM installs a file into your data folder called either "BSARedirection.bsa" or "ArchiveInvalidationInvalidated!.bsa", I have both of them in mine so I can't say which one's from which manager anymore, but as I applied my Archive Invalidation via the NMM last time, the one inside my Oblivion.ini now is "BSARedirection.bsa" for what it's worth.

 

My "SArchiveList" entry reads like so: "SArchiveList=BSARedirection.bsa, Oblivion - Meshes.bsa, Oblivion - Textures - Compressed.bsa, Oblivion - Sounds.bsa, Oblivion - Voices1.bsa, Oblivion - Voices2.bsa, Oblivion - Misc.bsa".

If your's doesn't, that is neither "BSARedirection.bsa" nor "ArchiveInvalidationInvalidated!.bsa" is inside there and at the right place, then Archive Invalidation simply was not applied.

 

The same goes for when neither of the files is found inside your Data folder, but in that case there could be different causes for this. The most common one would be using a later Windows OS from Vista upwards and having the game installed at the default location, somewhere inside your program files, as this is an over-protected classified system folder and the infamous UAC will prevent all 3rd party apps, like mod managers, from ever accessing it and putting files into it. Instead they will go into a folder called "VirtualStore" found somewhere inside your User folder.

 

The biggest issue with this is that if you look into your game's folder with the Windows Explorer, sometimes it "pretends" the files or folders would actually be there, but in reality they are not and the game can't be fooled like the Explorer tries to fool you. So if either the game can't find a file you "see" inside your folders, or a file actually can't be found neither by yourself, chances are high the UAC intervened and the file could not be put into the folder where it should be.

 

This all is especially true, if you missed to use "run as administrator" when starting the mod manager of your choice, as mostly only admins can access these restricted access folders like program files et al., and this doesn't mean you logging in with an administrator account to Windows either. Only "run as administrator" will work, either via right-click when launching the app or by setting it up inside the app's preferences for every time since instead.

 

 

And as for this removing the Oblivion.ini from the place the registry points to and into the game's actual folder instead, while this might work for the game, these mod managers only have the Windows registry to tell where the files should be, so they will always read them from and put them to where the registry points them, not into the game's folder ever.

 

And no, "bInvalidateOlderFiles=1" has no effect on Archive Invalidation at all.

[Melchior82]

thx for the reply...

 

if you read my upper posts.. I am pretty sure mentioned I think :wink: that I use a separate HDD with max permissions for all my game installs....

so there is no issue there... and since I store the ini in the Oblivion program folder I will manually update it for the Archive Invalidation thing

 

 

ok... I will have to look into the Archive Invalidation thing further, I am guess I need to press the update button on the Archive Invalidation form.. since opening and closing it didn't do anything...

 

I am a system Admin by default... that aside my Program files folders have full permissions set that I modified myself to get around M$'s crappyness

 

 

 

 

And no, "bInvalidateOlderFiles=1" has no effect on Archive Invalidation at all.

if that is so then what does it actually do? I tried googling it to no avail....

 

 

 

 

EDIT:

ok I got the BSARedirection.bsa, setup now... no load errors or crashes since I did it...

Edited March 3, 2017 by Melchior82

[DrakeTheDragon]

thx for the reply...

 

if you read my upper posts.. I am pretty sure mentioned I think :wink: that I use a separate HDD with max permissions for all my game installs....

so there is no issue there... and since I store the ini in the Oblivion program folder I will manually update it for the Archive Invalidation thing

 

 

ok... I will have to look into the Archive Invalidation thing further, I am guess I need to press the update button on the Archive Invalidation form.. since opening and closing it didn't do anything...

 

Ah, yes, that's one easily overlooked important part. Of course nothing will happen, if one doesn't click the Update button. Sorry for missing to mention that.

 

I am a system Admin by default... that aside my Program files folders have full permissions set that I modified myself to get around M$'s crappyness

While not using any protected system folders for the game or the mods makes this rather irrelevant anyways, keep in mind that this is exactly what I was talking of. You being "logged in" as a system admin to Windows is not the same as running apps "as admin". It does not help "being" the admin, if the game is installed in program files f.e. and 3rd party apps are used to install or modify files, only "run as admin" specifically will make things work in that case. But like I said, only worth keeping in mind at this point and not to mix up in future.

 

 

And no, "bInvalidateOlderFiles=1" has no effect on Archive Invalidation at all.

if that is so then what does it actually do? I tried googling it to no avail....

 

As did I. I've got no idea what it does or does not, or if it even does anything at all to begin with. I only know it's enabled by default and still without Archive Invalidation applied loose files will still not be used over the BSA contents.

 

Then again, as you re-mentioned it now, not using the Steam version of the game will make Archive Invalidation only required for replacement "textures" to work, not anything else. So when you test if it's working or not, make sure you test texture replacers, not meshes or otherwise.

 

But if everything seems to be working now, that is all that counts, quite irrelevant how it was achieved in the end.

[Melchior82]

Thx for the reply...