I've been trying to install the Lost Spires mod following the instructions exactly, by unzipping the folder directly to the Data folder. This placed both a Lost Spires esp file and a Lost Spires Readme esp file in Data folder. When I open the Oblivion launcher to activate the esp, only the LS readme esp is visible, not the LS esp itself. Why can't I see it in the Launcher file window, when it sits right there in the Data folder? I've tried both unzipping directly to the Data folder, and to a temp folder and copying the esp files over manually. Nothing makes any difference. What is wrong?

I'm using the OBSE loader to play the game, and have so far used the Oblivion Launcher - Data Files to activate new mods. My system is Windows Vista, and my Oblivion version is GOTY with the latest patch.

I don't have many mods in my data folder, (about 15) and only 7 of them are active. The active mods are:
Dremora companion,
Male Body ReplacerV4,
Belthans Butler Makeover,
Ring of console,
Quest award leveller,
Psycho's disrobe spell,
Kvatch Rebuilt.

I've been playing with these mods for a long time without any problems, and they aren't listed as conflicting with Lost Spires. Could they still somehow be the reason that the Lost Spires esp doesn't show up? Or is it something totally different?

Please, any of you experienced modders out there. Please help.

What is a ReadMe ESP? Are you launching the game through the obse_launcher.exe? You should get OBMM. That will also make it easier for you to post a load order, which is much more informative than a mod list, in most cases.

OBMM - http://tesivpositive.animolious.com/index.php?page=obmm
OMOD Installation - http://tesivpositive.animolious.com/index.php?page=omod_installation

Thanks for suggesting OBMM. I'll install it and try to make a list of the loading order.

I have no idea why the zip file of Lost Spires would contain two esp files, where one of them is named Lost Spires Readme esp. I've never seen any readme esp files before, so I've been reluctant to activate it. There are several other Readme files in various text formats in the zip file though, so I don't know if the esp file may have been mis-named. It would be kinda strange though, if such a popular and frequently downloaded mod should contain mis-named or unfunctional files. I'll try to activate the Readme esp file and see what happens.

Will get back to you with the results.

Did you download Lost Spire v14 from the main site?

I'm going to second Tomlong75210 on this one. Are you sure you downloaded the right Lost Spires archive? You can find it here: http://www.lostspires.com/pages/downloads.htm The Nexus, for example, only has patches, and only up to v11. The latest version on their site is v14.

You should have 4 files in that archive:

Readme.doc
Readme.txt
The Lost Spires.bsa
The Lost Spires.esp

I did download Lost Spires from their official site, but just to make sure I did it again just now, unzipped the files in a temp directory and copied the Lost Spires esp and bsa files into the Data folder, overwriting the previous files. At the same time I removed and deleted the Lost Spires Readme esp file that was sitting there. I also downloaded and installed OBMM.

When opening OBMM for the first time - although the Readme esp file was deleted before that - the list in OBMM still lists Lost Spires Readme esp as the only present esp file from that mod. Lost Spires esp isn't visible on this list. This is very weird, since in the Data folder, ONLY the Lost Spires esp exists. Why it presents a different name than what the actual file has, is beyond me.

Btw, my load order looks like this:

Oblivion esp
Kvatch Rebuilt.esm
Knights.esp
DLC Shivering Isles.esp
Psycho's disrobe spell.esp
Belthans Butler Makeover.esp
Male Body ReplacerV4.esp
Dremora companion.esp
Quest award leveller.esp
Ring of console. esp
Kvatch Rebuilt.esp

The Lost Spires Readme esp appears to want to place itself almost at the bottom, above Kvatch Rebuilt.esp.

I activated the Lost Spires Readme esp to see what would happen, and it actually started the quest... so it must somehow be the real esp file that has somehow taken on a fake name... weird.
However, the Lost Spires website says that the mod is with voiceovers, but the NPC's (at least at the start scenes) are silent. I don't know if that means the esp file is still wrong, or whether it's supposed to be like this.

ESPs cannot place themselves anywhere. I have downloaded v14 more times than I'd like, and I have not seen a ReadMe ESP. Please, use OBMM's View Load Order command to list your load order. In OBMM, is the LS ESP checked?

I'm not sure what you mean by the Load Order command, but in the OBMM window, to the left, is a list of all my mods - active and inactive. I found a menu at the bottom where they could be sorted by load order, and then they came out in the order I listed in my post above this one. Is there another button/command you mean? I couldn't find any description of a such function when searching through the help menu.... Is there a way to create a numbered load order list that can be copied and pasted?

In OBMM I cannot check the LS esp, since it isn't there. The only place I have a file by that name is in my Data folder, but it doesn't show neither in OBMM or inthe Oblivion Launcher. That's the core of my problem. Instead there is a file named LS Readme esp there, which appears to start the quest... but I don't know if it works right, since it has no sound... while the LS site claims the mod has voiceovers. (Whatever that means.)

I'm afraid I'm not following this either Did you download thelostspiresv14.zip from their web site? If so, then that should contain ReadMe.doc, ReadMe.txt, The Lost Spires.bsa and The Lost Spires.esp. You could copy all those to your data folder or create an OMOD in OBMM by adding the archive. Sorry to be so pedantic, but we can't figure out where you are getting these files from. I suggest at this point that you double-check the zip file and try the installation again if the zip file has the proper files. Version 14 only has voice-overs now, so there shouldn't be any other files. Perhaps you could even try http://www.lostspires.com/pages/downloads.htm it again...

Launch OBMM > Import/Export (sidebar) > View Load Order

I followed your instructions, and here is the direct copy/paste of the list I got:

Oblivion.esm
Kvatch Rebuilt.esm
Knights.esp
DLCShiveringIsles.esp
PsychosDisrobeSpell.esp
BelthansButlerMakeover.esp
MaleBodyReplacerV4.esp
DremoraCompanion.esp
Quest Award Leveller.esp
Quest Award Leveller - Knights of the Nine.esp
Ring of console.esp
The Lost Spires ReadMe.esp
Kvatch Rebuilt.esp

(I also have the Silent Voices plugin for OBSE active, to get time to read the subtexts.)

I have deleted, redownloaded and reinstalled the Lost Spires files version 14 from their website several times, and every time everything looks just fine in the zip files and the Data folder. All files have their correct names. But the moment I open OBMM or the Oblivion launcher window, the "The Lost Spires ReadMe.esp" name turns up. (And "The Lost Spires.esp" name doesn't show at all.) I have no idea where that name comes from or why it won't go away when I delete and reinstall everything. But apart from the name, the Readme esp file seems to work like the Lost Spires esp would, and the quest is running.

But - there are no voices - or voice-overs - as far as I've seen, so I don't know whether it's supposed to be like this, or if something is wrong with the file (besides the name). Either way, the quest seems to run smoothly so far, except for a few sudden freezes and crashes to desktop, but I can live with that for the duration of the quest.

Is the name of your downloaded archive exactly this: thelostspiresv14.zip

Yes it is. Downloaded directly from http://www.lostspires.com/

If you have the latest version, all the dialog is voiced. In fact, some of it is only voiced - they didn't bother typing it all in, so the subtitles will display as... (with an elipsis, indicating there's more) and the character will continue talking. This is really odd because I downloaded it fairly recently, so I don't think any of us can figure out what's going on. It sounds like you or us got punked I could post the zip file somewhere if you like - I know for sure it works 'cause I'm using it! On another note - aren't you running the unofficial patches? They are highly recommended - both the Unofficial Oblivion Patch and the Unofficial Official Mods Patch (for KotN). Don't think it will have any effect on the problem you're having at the moment though...