Trying to resolve BOSS warnings/errors

[nrot]

Hello,

 

(Apologies in advance, this post is a little long. I wanted to save time by not making several posts/threads for my issues, so most if not all are included here.)

 

Although despite reading descriptions/manuals and watching a few YT videos, I find I'm just not very adept at using the innards of Wrye Bash/NMM/BOSS and am getting increasingly more confused and frustrated the more I try to learn. I'm hoping a kind samaritan would be motivated to help me out in clearing my remaining complaints from BOSS for my mods so I can get back to playing Skyrim for the first time in over a year. BOSS reports 12 warnings, 8 of which pertain to the Better Sorting mod (which apparently is a requirement for another mod or two that I can't remember off the top of my head). The warnings for it are the following:

 

 

 

Headbomb's Better Sorting - Ammo.esp Active

Warning: Contains unexpected (or out of order) records. A compatibility patch fixed and cleaned with TES5Edit can be obtained here. (Compatibility Patch)

Headbomb's Better Sorting - Books.esp Active

Warning: Contains unexpected (or out of order) records. A compatibility patch fixed and cleaned with TES5Edit can be obtained here. (Compatibility Patch)

Headbomb's Better Sorting - Food (Normal Weight).esp Active

Warning: Contains unexpected (or out of order) records. A compatibility patch fixed and cleaned with TES5Edit can be obtained here. (Compatibility Patch)

Headbomb's Better Sorting - Ingredients.esp Active

Warning: Contains unexpected (or out of order) records. A compatibility patch fixed and cleaned with TES5Edit can be obtained here. (Compatibility Patch)

Headbomb's Better Sorting - Miscellaneous.esp Active

Warning: Contains unexpected (or out of order) records. A compatibility patch fixed and cleaned with TES5Edit can be obtained here. (Compatibility Patch)

Headbomb's Better Sorting - Potions (Normal Weight).esp Active

Warning: Contains unexpected (or out of order) records. A compatibility patch fixed and cleaned with TES5Edit can be obtained here. (Compatibility Patch)

Headbomb's Better Sorting - Soul Gems (Ranked).esp Active

Warning: Contains unexpected (or out of order) records. A compatibility patch fixed and cleaned with TES5Edit can be obtained here. (Compatibility Patch)

Headbomb's Better Sorting - Spells.esp Active

Warning: Contains unexpected (or out of order) records. A compatibility patch fixed and cleaned with TES5Edit can be obtained here. (Compatibility Patch)

 

 

 

The problem is, I follow the link(s) (the all seem to go to the same URL) to here: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/26230 and I have already downloaded and installed the compatibility patch (there is only one that I see that is relevant), rerun BOSS and the warnings don't go away. The patch appears in both NMM and WB has present and activated, so I really don't have any idea why BOSS still says there is a problem. I just started downloading everything a day or so ago, so I think it is all the latest version.

 

Wrye Bash version: 303 Standalone

Nexus Mod Manager version: 0.34.0

 

Another warning is for Skyrim Redone (Skyre) that there may be duplicates entries for crafting due to Complete Crafting Overhaul, but I have already downloaded and installed the compatibility patch for that as well. Is it to be expected that BOSS will always give these warnings, even if the needed patch is present? There is also a similar warning for Dovhakin Hideout mod needing a patch, but I already installed that one as well, so same problem.

 

I've read that adding 'tags' to mods is suggested (although I'm not sure what function they serve) and BOSS gives me several suggestions for tags to add in Wrye Bash, but every time I go to add them, they are already there (I assume the authors did this already). Is this expected? Does BOSS not check to see if they are already present? Also, I'm not sure if this is to be expected as well, but out of the several mods that BOSS complains have dirty edits, even the original Skyrim.esm and Dawnguard.esm are among them, is this legit? Is there a real issue with my master files, or should I just ignore this? Finally, (and this is probably a herp derp question) but my Wrye Bash shows zero items present under the 'installers' tab, while showing all my mods on the next tab. Would this be because I've downloaded all my mods using the NMM links, and therefore they aren't in the correct format for WB to recongize, or is there something I need to do to make them appear?

 

Thanks in advance to anyone who is able and willing to assist me in fixing these issues.

[HeyYou]

Boss will give the error messages whether you have the fixes in place or not. If you have the fixes already, don't worry about the errors.

[nrot]

HeyYou,

 

Thank you for absolving that concern of mine. Do you also have any insight about the suggested tags from BOSS, and/or presence of supposed 'dirty edits' in Skyrim.esm and Dawnguard.esm?

[HeyYou]

Boss will automagically assign the tags, no worries there.

 

The dirty edits should be cleaned with TESVEdit. You can download it from skyrim nexus, and on the description page (I think) is the procedure for cleaning mods. (if not in the description, will certainly be in the docs that come with it.) It's a lot like Wrye Bash, looks complicated, is very powerful, but, if you follow the directions, works great.

 

Dirty Edits can be something as simple as an "Identical to Master" record. Basically, its a record that was 'touched' unintentionally, and thus, the CK marked it as 'changed'. Can cause some issues, and should be dealt with.

[nrot]

I'll have to give TESVedit a try then. As far as Wrye Bash not showing my installers, is that a concern? Or is that to be expected when downloading using NMM links?

[HeyYou]

I'll have to give TESVedit a try then. As far as Wrye Bash not showing my installers, is that a concern? Or is that to be expected when downloading using NMM links?

 

WB will only show installers for mods that you actually used BAIN to install. :) So, perfectly normal.

[penguinopus]

I found this post because I was searching for a solution to this problem. No luck. But after some digging, I think I've found one all by myself. I'm using Mod Organizer, so my details may be different. But the crucial facts are these:

 

A) Headbomb's original Better Sorting mod can stay around even after you think you've uninstalled it, deleted it, performed an exorcism, and entered Witness Protection.

 

B) It can fight Sharlikan's patch and win.

 

So even if you've installed the patch over the original, or deleted the original and installed the "patch" (which is fully functional on its own and has everything it needs from the original already inside it), you can still end up with the original esp files that BOSS lectures you about.

 

I think the following steps can solve that problem. Worked for me, anyway.

 

1. Search your hard drive(s) for headbomb*.esp (just like that, with the asterisk. Now might be a good time to download Everything and let it index your hard drive. It'll probably be done before Windows is finished with its search. And then you can use Everything to run the search and watch how it spits back the results faster than you can blink.)

 

2. Delete them all. (If you think some of them are safely in a backup folder that Skyrim absolutely will not bother with, fine. That's your lookout. Just delete the ones that might be causing the trouble. Wimp.)

 

3. Reinstall ONLY the Sharlikan patch. There is no need to re-install the original.

 

4. Run BOSS and see if the problem disappears.

 

5. If anyone tries this, let me know either way. But if it doesn't work, I'm likely out of ideas.

 

I'm not sure why the original mod behaved this way. And to be fair, it wasn't quite the original mod. I tried to repair the original esp files with TES5Edit before going back and actually reading BOSS' warning message instead of assuming I knew what it said. (Dirty edits. It's ALWAYS dirty edits. Well, I know how to fix THAT....) :wallbash: