Mods still in Bannerlord/modules folder after uninstalling

[Bundy714]

I'm using Vortex to mod Bannerlord. When I uninstall a mod, it disappears from my Vortex menu, and Vortex will delete the mod from both the Vortex Download Folder, and the Vortex Staging Folder. So far, that's exactly what I expected. BUT...it does not delete anything at all from my Bannerlord/modules folder, the mod folder is still there, and the contents of those folders are still there.

 

So Vortex is cleaning up after itself in both of the Vortex folders, but it's leaving my game folder a mess. I have to remember to go to the Bannerlord/modules folder and delete any uninstalled mod, myself. Is this how it's supposed to work? Why would Vortex do housekeeping on it's folders, but leave my game folder cluttered with mods that I asked Vortex to uninstall?

 

I hope I set Vortex up correctly, but will include how it's set up in case I did something wrong (Vortex v1.2.11):

 

Bannerlord is installed in Z:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Mount & Blade II Bannerlord

Vortex is installed on the same drive in Z:\Vortex

The Staging Folder is Z:\Vortex Mods\{GAME} or Z:\Vortex Mods\mountandblade2bannerlord

The Download folder is F:\Vortex Downloads

The only other thing that might matter is I chose to use Hardlink Deployment. And to tell the truth, I had no idea which deployment method I should use. The instructions went right over my head. So I went with Hardlink because it said something about being more compatible with no performance penalty.

 

No problems downloading mods, installing them, sorting them, it's just uninstalling that seems to be messed up. Vortex will uninstall the mod from all of it's folders, but leave the mod in the game folder. And I just have a hard time believing that Vortex is designed to leave "uninstalled" mods in the game's modules folder.

[Pickysaurus]

It's sounding to me like you deleted the mod directly from Vortex's staging folder, rather than uninstalling it through Vortex. If you did this, you didn't uninstall it, you deleted files that Vortex needs to function correctly.

 

Only remove mods through the Vortex UI.

 

I can't think of any other reason why this would happen.

[Bundy714]

Nope, I uninstalled via Vortex. Now you've got me wondering if I'm uninstalling correctly. I'm working from the Mod Screen on Vortex. On the left hand column labeled Status, we have several states, a blue "never installed" to indicate the mod is only in the Download Folder. Then you "Enable" the mod, and that moves it to the Staging Folder, and puts it in the game's Modules folder. I can "Disable" from here, and it has a Red "Uninstalled" option, that seems to be just another word for Disabled, because it really doesn't uninstall the mod. BUT on the right hand column labeled "Actions", I have a choice to "Remove" along with an icon that looks like a trashcan to me. THIS is what I'm hitting when I say I'm trying to Uninstall the Mod. Maybe I should have said, "Remove" to be more clear. But when I hit "Remove", the mod is gone from everywhere on my computer except the Modules game folder. Is there another way to uninstall/Remove a mod? To Illustrate, I installed a small mod, and enabled it. Once enabled, it's actually in 3 places, the Download folder, the Staging folder, and the Game/Modules folder. But when I "Remove" the mod, it's only removed from the Staging folder, & the Download folder, but NOT the game/modules folder. I get this pop up warning when I hit remove:

And when I confirm that I want to Remove the mod, it's removed from everywhere except the game/modules folder. Is there another way to remove/uninstall a mod that I'm missing? I'm doing everything through Vortex, and it's only because this is my first time to use Vortex, that I even bothered to double check to make sure Vortex was cleaning out my Modules folder. And indeed, it was NOT removing mods from my modules folder.

 

I'm not dense, it may sound like I'm dense because I keep saying the same thing over and over, but that's only because I know people's first reaction is he probably did something stupid. See the above response. You think I'm deleting files myself when I should be using Vortex, and that is why I am trying to be so precise in describing what is happening. So you will see, I am not doing stupid things. I know that the first thing users always say is "I followed the instructions exactly", and we know they did not, otherwise it would have worked. LOL Because I'd have to be dense if I had done what you suggested. Rest assured, I am doing everything thru Vortex.......but Vortex is leaving supposedly removed mods in my game/modules folder, and yeah, if I want them out of there, I do have to do it manually via file explorer, because Vortex is not removing/uninstalling them. I don't know anyway to say that in a more clear manner. Now.....I am not saying that I'm overlooking some Uninstall/Remove option. IF I am, it's sure not in an obvious place. I do not know why Vortex is leaving mods in my modules folder. I really doubt that can not be how it was designed to work. I don't know how to convince you that I'm not some idiot, because by the very nature of me asking about this in a support forum, I'm admitting that I do not know the answer to this problem. I've tried looking for various tutorials or guides on the web for using Vortex, but inevitably they deal with installation, and installing/deploying mods. And they just kind of skip over removing/uninstalling mods. At least, I haven't found a guide or tutorial yet that deals with Mod removal, only mod installation. So.....am I unique? When you hit REMOVE on the Vortex actions, does it remove the mod from your game/modules folder? Or do all Vortex users have a game/modules folder that has every mod they've ever tried, still hanging around in there?

[Pickysaurus]

Hmm ok based on what you said you are uninstalling properly.

 

Where is your game installed? My next theory is that Vortex has permission to add files to the folder but not remove them

[Bundy714]

Like I said above:

 

Bannerlord is installed in Z:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Mount & Blade II Bannerlord

Vortex is installed on the same drive in Z:\Vortex

The Staging Folder is Z:\Vortex Mods\{GAME} or Z:\Vortex Mods\mountandblade2bannerlord

The Download folder is F:\Vortex Downloads

 

I have a 2TB SSD for my Steam library, and gave it the drive letter Z. So, there should be no issues with UAC or permissions.

 

I've tried this multiple times with multiple mods because it should not be happening. Yet it continues to happen. Mod installations work just fine, the game runs just fine, but when I remove a mod via Vortex, it removes it from the download folder (on F:) and it removes it from the Staging folder on Z:, but it always leaves the mod in my modules folder. I don't know why, and surely if it happened more often, I wouldn't be the only one asking about it.

 

Ahhhh, I have figured it out. I was trying to figure out what that red Uninstall option did, since it did not remove the mod. So I got to trying things in different order. First disabling a mod, then choosing to Remove it, or leaving it enabled, and choosing to remove it. This brought up a different screen than the one I posted above, it had a check box for removing the mod, and another box for removing the archive! You didn't get both options if you disabled the mod first, all it offered to do was remove the archive, but not the mod. Hmmmm, so I looked around a bit more. I went to settings, and went to the Workarounds tab. Here was an option that was not on by default that claimed to remove empty directories. It went on to say that Vortex usually did not remove empty directories as they did no harm and cleaning them out took time. So, I enabled this workaround to clean empty directories and voila! Now when I remove a mod, it is completely removed with no left over signs of it in my Modules folder.

 

So, what have I learned? Vortex when set up with the default options, will leave a folder and subfolders of any mod you've ever installed, in your Bannerlord/Modules folder. It does appear to remove any files that would make that mod work, but it leaves the folder and directory tree. IF you want to have a clean and uncluttered, Modules folder, you need to enable the "Clean up empty directories" in the Workarounds tab of Settings. And it's my opinion that there is ample documentation, tutorials, and examples of how to set up, and install mods via Vortex, but a lack of information about removing any of those mods. Because this confused me for a while, and I really wasn't sure what was going on. It took a while for me to figure out exactly what that red Uninstall option did, and why both Uninstall, and/or Remove left the mod directory in my game folder. IF I weren't such a stickler for keeping things neat and tidy, it probably would have never come up, because like the options on the "Clean up empty Directories" said, leaving the directories is not hurting anything. It just bothered my OCD need to have a Modules folder with only the working mods subfolders showing. It annoyed me that removing and/or uninstalling the mod was leaving orphaned subfolders in my modules directory. When I remove a mod, I expected the directory it was in to be removed too. I hope this makes sense, it's late and I'm very sleepy...haha.

 

But thank you Pickysaurus for your help in solving this. I'd have probably given up on figuring out what was going on without your encouragement. I only kept going because I didn't want you to think I was full of ....well, whatever. LOL I'm really surprised that I'm the only one that's freaked out over seeing folders for mods that were removed, still hanging out in your modules folder, long after you thought they were completely removed. They don't get completely removed unless you enable that Workaround option to delete empty directories. And now we know. In retrospect, I probably should have made a better effort to verify if the complete mod was still in the Modules folder, rather than just the mostly empty mod folders. I saw some files, like a 1kb file called __folder_managed_by_vortex, and all the supposedly uninstalled mod subfolders. But I didn't verify if those subfolders still had the mod in them, or were empty. It appears they were empty, and I assumed since the folders still existed, that the mod was still there too. Seeing the orphaned mod folders when I did not expect to see them, made me assume that they were still populated with the various mod files. Nevertheless, enabling the option to remove empty directories has Vortex working like I assumed it should in the first place.

[Guest deleted34304850]

brilliant write-up. absolutely brilliant. thanks so much for sharing your issue and your analysis/solution.

[HadToRegister]

 

Ahhhh, I have figured it out. I was trying to figure out what that red Uninstall option did, since it did not remove the mod. So I got to trying things in different order. First disabling a mod, then choosing to Remove it, or leaving it enabled, and choosing to remove it. This brought up a different screen than the one I posted above, it had a check box for removing the mod, and another box for removing the archive! You didn't get both options if you disabled the mod first, all it offered to do was remove the archive, but not the mod. Hmmmm, so I looked around a bit more. I went to settings, and went to the Workarounds tab. Here was an option that was not on by default that claimed to remove empty directories. It went on to say that Vortex usually did not remove empty directories as they did no harm and cleaning them out took time. So, I enabled this workaround to clean empty directories and voila! Now when I remove a mod, it is completely removed with no left over signs of it in my Modules folder.

 

So, what have I learned? Vortex when set up with the default options, will leave a folder and subfolders of any mod you've ever installed, in your Bannerlord/Modules folder. It does appear to remove any files that would make that mod work, but it leaves the folder and directory tree. IF you want to have a clean and uncluttered, Modules folder, you need to enable the "Clean up empty directories" in the Workarounds tab of Settings. And it's my opinion that there is ample documentation, tutorials, and examples of how to set up, and install mods via Vortex, but a lack of information about removing any of those mods. Because this confused me for a while, and I really wasn't sure what was going on. It took a while for me to figure out exactly what that red Uninstall option did, and why both Uninstall, and/or Remove left the mod directory in my game folder. IF I weren't such a stickler for keeping things neat and tidy, it probably would have never come up, because like the options on the "Clean up empty Directories" said, leaving the directories is not hurting anything. It just bothered my OCD need to have a Modules folder with only the working mods subfolders showing. It annoyed me that removing and/or uninstalling the mod was leaving orphaned subfolders in my modules directory. When I remove a mod, I expected the directory it was in to be removed too. I hope this makes sense, it's late and I'm very sleepy...haha.

 

But thank you Pickysaurus for your help in solving this. I'd have probably given up on figuring out what was going on without your encouragement. I only kept going because I didn't want you to think I was full of ....well, whatever. LOL I'm really surprised that I'm the only one that's freaked out over seeing folders for mods that were removed, still hanging out in your modules folder, long after you thought they were completely removed. They don't get completely removed unless you enable that Workaround option to delete empty directories. And now we know. In retrospect, I probably should have made a better effort to verify if the complete mod was still in the Modules folder, rather than just the mostly empty mod folders. I saw some files, like a 1kb file called __folder_managed_by_vortex, and all the supposedly uninstalled mod subfolders. But I didn't verify if those subfolders still had the mod in them, or were empty. It appears they were empty, and I assumed since the folders still existed, that the mod was still there too. Seeing the orphaned mod folders when I did not expect to see them, made me assume that they were still populated with the various mod files. Nevertheless, enabling the option to remove empty directories has Vortex working like I assumed it should in the first place.

 

 

Thank you for this!

While I may not need it, there are going to be plenty of people who come across this thread, and read your solution, it's so great to come across a thread, when you're looking for a solution and someone has actually posted a solution, rather than the usual "NVM fixed it"

 

I'm giving you a KUDOS for this, for helping the community!

[Bundy714]

Haha, another lesson to be learned is about assumptions. We all know the old adage about making assumptions and I fell right into that trap.

 

First I assumed uninstalling the mod would also remove its directory in the modules folder. Not necessarily, it depends on the settings you have enabled. The second assumption that got me into trouble was a pedantic and semantic one, where I assumed that "Uninstall" and "Remove" were synonymous. And the assumption that really tripped me up, and actually makes me think that I wasted a lot of people's time, is that when I saw the mod folders, and subfolders still in my Modules folder, I only did a cursory examination of them, and just assumed that since the folder tree was still there, that the mod was not removed/uninstalled. When in fact, Vortex was removing the working contents of said folders, if I had only looked into it deeper without just jumping to the conclusion that since the folders were still there, that the mod was still there too.

 

So, I took a misunderstanding of the difference between the option to Uninstall, and the option to Remove. as being one in the same, and then coupled that assumption with a minor housekeeping issue of Vortex not removing empty directories, into some assumed issue that my mods were not being fully removed when I did either an Uninstall or Remove operation. I had false assumptions leading to further false assumptions. What a tangled web of $$## that I started, when in the end, it was just a simple housekeeping issue. I'm really embarrassed that I made a big deal out of what was basically nothing.

 

It still kind of tickles me when I read the explanation on the "Clean up empty directories" in the Workarounds tab of Settings. It says "By default Vortex will only remove empty directories during deployment if the game or related tools would otherwise not work correctly. Usually empty directories cause no harm and cleaning them up takes some extra time during deployment...." All I can say about that, is Tannin is laser focused on wringing every bit of speed out of Vortex, LOL. I mean, who knew that the time it would take to delete a directory would even be noticed by mere humans? hahha So, by default Vortex leaves those empty subdirectories because deleting them would cost us a fraction of a second. I don't know why, but I find that extremely amusing, now that I've freaked out over finding those same left over subdirectories still lurking in my modules folder after the mod's removal. My desire for Vortex to be tidy and neat, clashed with Tannin's desire for Vortex to be lighting fast. hahaha :laugh: