Difficult to Understand

[ray0071]

If I could make a suggestion it would be to make the guide easier to understand.  

Example:  2.B Clean the Update ESM - I got stuck on it because what the instruction were stating was not what I was encountering with Mod Organizer.  

 

When someone knowledgeable creates a guide, they can tend to skip over details which they assume others know.  For those who rely heavily on the guide, this is a huge problem.  

 

To be clear - I appreciate the work everyone has put into this project.  Huge respect to all of you.  My comments are just my own personal views/feedback.

 

RayT

 

[TechAngel85]

Thanks for the feedback. We're aware that some users are experiencing differences in that step but the cause hasn't really been determined.

[DoubleYou]

I was the one who wrote that guide. I have just finished rewriting it since it was later learned that people with faster disc drives get different results. I have copied and pasted the updated steps below and hope that this solves your problem.

 

2.B. Clean the Update ESM

 

To remove errors in the Bethesda master files, STEP recommends that they be cleaned with TES5Edit. This ensures maximum stability and compatibility within the Skyrim modding experience. At this time, Update.esm will be cleaned in the following manner (the DLC should be cleaned later according to instructions on their corresponding "mod" pages):

1. Make a backup of Update.esm from /data directory by copying it to the desktop (or somewhere else handy).
2. Run TES5Edit through Mod Organizer.
3. Right-click the list of plugins and choose [select None].
4. Double-click Update.esm.
5. Wait for the Background Loader: finished in the right panel, and then right-click [update.esm] and select [Apply Filter For Cleaning].
6. Wait for the [Filtering done] Processed Records: message in the right panel, and then right-click [update.esm] and select [Remove "Identical to Master" records]. If the Warning! prompt pops up, click [Yes, I'm absolutely sure].
7. Wait for the [Removing "Identical to Master" records done] Processed Records: message, and then right-click [update.esm] and select [undelete and Disable References].
8. Wait for the [undeleting and Disabling References done] Processed Records: message, and then click the [X] at upper right of the program window to exit the program.
9. At the prompt, checkmark Update.esm and Backup Plugins and click [OK].

At this point there are two possible outcomes, dependent upon how fast your disc drive is:

• In the first case (typically slower drives such as HDDs), the Update.esm is now no longer in the data directory.
• In the second case (typically faster drives such as SSDs), a cleaned Update.esm is now in the data directory (compare the filesize to your backup of Update.esm to verify that it has been cleaned--it should be smaller).

In the first case, you should now do the following:

1. Restore the backed up Update.esm from step 1 to the data directory.
2. In Mod Organizer, at the bottom of the left pane modlist is the Overwrite mod, now labeled red because files have been written to it. Double-click to open it.
3. In Overwrite you will find two items: a TES5Edit Backups folder and Update.esm. Since you already restored your own backed up Update.esm to the data directory, right-click and delete the TES5Edit Backups folder and click Close.
4. Right-click Overwrite and select Create Mod..., name it Cleaned Update ESM, and click OK.
5. Drag and drop the new Cleaned Update ESM mod to the top of the left pane modlist.

In the second case, you are done! You can safely delete the backup as you shall not need it (if you wish to restore the original uncleaned Update.esm later, you can simply verify Steam cache and redownload it).

[ray0071]

Impressive response time!  

Thanks very much!

How do I buy you people a beer? :)

Tried donating money but got this message in Paypal:  You cannot complete this action on the card you have selected. Please select another card.(I use Mastercard)

Edited July 27, 2015 by ray0071

[DoubleYou]

Hmmm... don't know how to fix Paypal problems... sometimes they can be quite unpersuasive. Still can't change my email account on it after over a dozen tries. You'd think that such a large site would have a functioning email changing system!

 

Best chance is to try again... or try another card.

[TechAngel85]

I hate PayPal. Much rather use another service. I definitely don't have an account with them!

[ray0071]

Question:  I never made a backup of update.esm, and there is none in my data folder.  I pretty much mangled this process, and am wondering is there a way I can undo anything I might have done wrong and start over?

 

One step which I still find confusing:

 

8. Wait for the [undeleting and Disabling References done] Processed Records: message, and then click the [X] at upper right of the program window to exit the program.

 

9. At the prompt, checkmark Update.esm and Backup Plugins and click [OK].

 

When I click 'x', TES5Edit closes completely.  Leaving only MO open.  The only place there is an update.esm visible in MO is under plugins.  There is no option to checkmark update.  The Update.esm along with Skyrim.esm are both shaded gray and neither have a box besides them to check.  

 

---

On a side note - I tried to donate again but was unsuccessful.  I only use Mastercard, so not what other options there are?

 

Error Message

You cannot complete this action on the card you have selected. Please select another card.

 

Edited July 27, 2015 by ray0071

[DoubleYou]

 

Question:  I never made a backup of update.esm, and there is none in my data folder.  I pretty much mangled this process, and am wondering is there a way I can undo anything I might have done wrong and start over?

 

One step which I still find confusing:

 

When I click 'x', TES5Edit closes completely.  Leaving only MO open.  The only place there is an update.esm visible in MO is under plugins.  There is no option to checkmark update.  The Update.esm along with Skyrim.esm are both shaded gray and neither have a box besides them to check.  

 

---

On a side note - I tried to donate again but was unsuccessful.  I only use Mastercard, so not what other options there are?

 

Error Message

You cannot complete this action on the card you have selected. Please select another card.

 

Verify cache to redownload the Update.esm. Then try again. There are many possibilities for what you experienced, but doing that should take care of it.

[ray0071]

Verified integrity of Game Cache in Steam, but keep getting this message:

 

1 file failed to validate and will be reacquired.

[Nozzer66]

That always happens. Not sure what file it is, likely one of the inis/ As long as you have your update.esm back you should be OK still.

[ray0071]

9. At the prompt, checkmark Update.esm and Backup Plugins and click [OK].

 

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but what prompt?  When I close TES5Edit, SMO is open, and there is grayed out Update.esm under plugins, but i can't do anything with it.  

 

Not sure what I am doing wrong.  The update.esm and the backup one are the same size which would indicate I wasn't successful.  I now deleted the 'cleaned' updated file and going to try everything over again.

 

Really frustrated here.

Edited August 8, 2015 by ray0071

[ray0071]

So deleting the Cleaned Updated ESM enabled that prompt window to appear.  Good.

 

I then dragged and dropped that file to the top of the modlist.  So far so good I think.

What about toggling it?  It is currently unchecked.

 

Thanks

[DoubleYou]

Yes, you need to enable it.

[ray0071]

Regarding PapyrusUtil-Modders & Stable uGridsToLoad.

Do I install them the same way I did SKSE by using Mod Manager?

 

TO be sure is this what I do:

 

1. Put the zip files into Mod Manager Download folder.

2. Open MM, click install new mod from archive.  

3. Select file, open, and then after it installs.  Enable it and move it to the top of the mod list?

 

Sorry if my questions seem stupid.  I am really struggling with this - not sure why.

[ray0071]

Found some information online where someone else had the same questions - it helped me through the process a bit.

I installed both extenders but with Stable uGridsToLoad the date is highlighted red - is that something I should be concerned about?

 

Thanks

[ray0071]

Actually forget my question.  I am finding the installation process far too tedious.

I don't have the time or energy for this.  In my line of work, I go through so much data, pages and pages of spreadsheets - and just don't have the patience for what STEP requires.

 

I can see spending up to 3-6 hours, but in my view STEP requires far more.

Good gaming to the rest of you - if you managed to install STEP kudos to you.

Edited August 8, 2015 by ray0071