What does the PCB console command do and how do you use it?

Post » Sun Aug 14, 2016 7:49 pm

Edit - I should have probably put this under the Creation Kit topic. Moderators: please move it as you see fit - thank you!



Hello all,



Can you please point me to the online documentation for the PCB command or provide an explanation?



Examples that show how to use it correctly would be very helpful as well.



Many thanks!

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Ross
 
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Post » Sun Aug 14, 2016 6:50 pm

PCB stands for Purge Cell Buffer. described below. Personally I would never use this. If I thought my game was getting close to running out of memory, I would just reboot the game.


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Penny Wills
 
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Post » Mon Aug 15, 2016 3:28 am

Thank you, Turija - this was recommended as a potential fix for a bug.



Do I understand correctly that is applies to the cell you're currently in? For example, you enter a Hearthfire house, then enter the basemant. Entering PCB at that point applies to the memory associated with the basemant, right?

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Penny Flame
 
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Post » Sun Aug 14, 2016 2:14 pm

No, it purges all memory (RAM) of any cell that was previously loaded during a play session that you are not currently in, so all cells except the basemant get purged if you are in the basemant.



It is not any type of bug fix. It just purges RAM from cells you previously loaded but are no longer in in order to free memory up so you don't hit the 3.8 GB memory limit of a 32 bit app. ENBoost is a way better solution for handling this type of memory issue than using the PCB console command all the time to avoid hitting the memory cap.

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Adam Baumgartner
 
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Post » Sun Aug 14, 2016 8:34 pm

Yes, PCB is a debugging tool used to force cells that aren't currently active completely out of memory.



I'm now extremely curious about what bug someone thinks it would fix because I actually have found one use for it.



I use it with Forgotten City to work around a very minor issue with that mod's scripts, but can't think of any real problem it would solve. In the Forgotten Cities case I open the console and use PCB immediately after leaving the Lakehouse so that the Lakehouse cell is not loaded in memory when the mod's reset script runs. The very same result can be achieved by simply stopping and reloading the autosave that's made as you exit. Not doing either might result in the door you use to leave the Lakehouse being open and hard to activate the next time.

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Dean Ashcroft
 
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Post » Sun Aug 14, 2016 6:20 pm

The bug is an item that is stuck in storage. The storage is part of a player home mod. I can see it listed but when I try to take it out of storage, it remains there.



I didn't try the command to see if it would help, Essentially, doesn't booting your machine achieve the same thing? Obviously that's a heavy handed option but if booting hasn't fixed the issue, would PCB make a difference? I can test this easily enough...

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Kayleigh Williams
 
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Post » Mon Aug 15, 2016 1:39 am

If stopping and restarting the game didn't fix it then PCB won't do anything for you either. Sorry.

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IsAiah AkA figgy
 
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