How to find what mod gives me CTD?

Post » Thu Sep 19, 2013 5:50 am

Yes, I know, I can try removing mods one by one, but it takes a lot of time. I also enabled the logs, but the folder is empty and the game doesn't create any log file.
Playing without mods, except the official DLCs, the game works fine and I haven't CTD.
I also tried removing 3 mods that boss report as dirty, but nothing change.
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Sabrina garzotto
 
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Post » Thu Sep 19, 2013 2:44 pm

The game DOES create a log file if you enable Papyrus logging. It absolutely cannot fail to do so.

You have either done it wrong or you are looking in the wrong place.

But you won't see a log of anything causing a CTD. The game tends to crash before it can be written to the log. But that does not stop the preceding log issues to be written.

~.~

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D IV
 
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Post » Thu Sep 19, 2013 10:16 am

You can try disabling half to narrow it down a bit. Just make sure when you disable a mod that you also disable any mod that depend on it (compatibility patches and such), otherwise you just cause new problems.

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Karine laverre
 
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Post » Thu Sep 19, 2013 4:15 pm

When disabling mods for testing, do not save over an existing slot. Very bad things can happen.

It is even best to have a Test Save, one that was made with no mods at all, to test out mod mixes. If you don't have one, there are quite a few on the Nexus to grab for testing purposes.

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Siobhan Wallis-McRobert
 
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Post » Thu Sep 19, 2013 1:28 am

I always save on a new slot, but what is a test save?

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John N
 
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Post » Thu Sep 19, 2013 9:52 am

Mod issues can get baked into a save, any mod with a script can do this. Also, scripty mods add things to saves which is fine, as long as you never remove the mod. So, you can't rule out a corrupted save or a save that has issues vs a mod mix issue vs a mod mix that just has an issue with your save unless you have a control. Plus, you can't test a mod mix by removing mods and then load a save that is expecting that mod, as that can cause crashage.

So, I call it a Test Save, but really it is nothing more than a character that is created in the Vanilla Game with no mods at all. This way, you can load that save, see what the mod mix does. If it is stable, then you have to look at your save as a possible culprit. Also, this keeps you from baking in issues to a character you care about when testing a new mod or mod mix. Since you can't really remove scripted mods from a save, this keeps you from getting stuck with a mod that you don't want. Of course, you never want to save over this slot either.

Last time I checked, there were over a 1000 character saves at the nexus, a lot of them made on a Vanilla game, so there is no need to make one if you don't already have one.

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David Chambers
 
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Post » Thu Sep 19, 2013 2:15 am

I don't think that the real problem is some script and/or old mods in the save. If I diable all mods, I haven't CTD.

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Kortknee Bell
 
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Post » Thu Sep 19, 2013 4:49 pm

Well, then I wish you the best of luck in figuring out which of your mods is causing the problem.

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Kelsey Anna Farley
 
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Post » Thu Sep 19, 2013 10:50 am

The most work-intensive way to find a problematic mod (and the method to use when all else fails) is:

  1. Move half your mods into a new directory named "Untested 1".
  2. Reconfigure (run Bash, BOSS, etc.) and play the game for a while (try different locations, etc.).
  3. If there are no problems, move the current mods into a directory named "Good Mods".
  4. If there are problems, move half your current mods into a new directory named "Untested 2".
  5. Repeat from step 2 with the new set of mods.
  6. After you've finished the set and moved out bad mods, you may want to move all your good mods into the "Good Mods" directory, and retest, one by one, any remaining untested mods, following Steps 2 - 5.
  7. The result will be one or more mods that are known to cause problems, and another set of mods that work fine. Now you can move all the good mods back into the Skyrim/Data directory, and just remove the bad ones. With luck, you can now continue with your current game.

Also, you should test with a new "Vanilla" save if you have scripted mods**, otherwise you'll get strange quirks and unpredictable side effects.

**Some scripted mods are theoretically safe to disable, if they have a stop command. But you're still introducing some riskiness into the testing, because of the nature of the game.

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darnell waddington
 
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Post » Thu Sep 19, 2013 5:53 am

By the way,

Make sure you've added these lines to Skyrim.ini in

C:\Users\Username\Documents\My Games\Skyrim

[Papyrus]
bEnableLogging=1
bEnableTrace=1
bLoadDebugInformation=1

The log files are created in

C:\Users\Username\Documents\My Games\Skyrim\Logs\Script

~.~

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Austin Suggs
 
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Post » Thu Sep 19, 2013 11:04 am

Yes, but that folder is empty.

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lydia nekongo
 
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Post » Thu Sep 19, 2013 7:47 am

Can't be. If you run the launcher and exit immediately, a papyrus log gets written.

Make sure you have the codes correct and in the right place and in the correct file and folder.

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Chavala
 
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Post » Thu Sep 19, 2013 2:20 pm

Did the CTD happened in any specific place? What were you doing when it occurred? Are you using lots of visual enhancement mods? ENB? Have you use Skyrim Performance Monitor (SPM) to see what's going on when it CTD? SPM helped me solved a CTD problem with my GTX 680.

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Chris Jones
 
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Post » Thu Sep 19, 2013 4:08 am

One thing that never hurts to try is updating your drivers. I believe that some issues with the earlier games and mods were fixed by doing so, but I'm not entirely certain. I don't know nearly enough about how Skyrim works to suggest anything else though.

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Roberta Obrien
 
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