Finished fresh install of S.T.E.P:Extended, d3d9.dll causing freezing on all loading screens.

[Artemis360]

Hello,

 

I wasn't sure whether to post this here or in the ENB Support forum, but I thought maybe my problem extends past problems with ENBoost and more my installation in general. Hope my choice doesn't ruffle any feathers.

 

Two days ago I finished my first installation of S.T.E.P:Extended ever, following the guide very closely and made sure to make every .ini tweak along the way in the order presented by the guide... I was having no problems launching and playing the game as I tested it on a vanilla save each step of the way. Keep in mind, I already had plugins like ENBoost and SKSE already installed at this point... I got to about section 2.L before I stopped testing, as it began to feel redundant and decided to just complete the installation before my next test. This is when the problems began to occur.

 

I launch my game and load the vanilla save I've been using every time... it's loading as per usual until the spinning wheel mouse cursor appears and the game freezes (TESV.exe has stopped working, yadda yadda). I did some more testing... every single save that I loaded did this, and even worse the loading screen to start a new game even did it as well. I went backwards a few steps in S.T.E.P to figure out the problem... still freezing. I tried Crash Fixes, I tried SKSE Plugin Preloader, I searched all over these forums to no avail. I even completely uninstalled all S.T.E.P-related plugins/MO files and it was still crashing.

 

Then it dawned on me that there is one plugin not managed by MO... ENBoost. In a last ditch effort I renamed d3d9.dll to d3d9.dll.old so as to stop Skyrim from utilizing it and voila! All saves loading properly, even with S.T.E.P fully installed minus ENBoost. So now after searching the internet up and down about d3d9.dll caused crashes, I have (perhaps, hopefully mistakenly) come to the conclusion that no one else has experienced this exact problem. Or maybe I'm just daft. So now here I am, begging for a solution from the great minds of the S.T.E.P users and creators. I'll try to provide as much information as I can about my installation.

 

TL;DR? I think d3d9.dll/ENBoost is causing my game to freeze on all loading screens. Please help!

 

Here's my Skyrim.ini:

 

 

[Archive]

sResourceArchiveList=Skyrim - Misc.bsa, Skyrim - Shaders.bsa, Skyrim - Textures.bsa, Skyrim - 

 

Interface.bsa, Skyrim - Animations.bsa, Skyrim - Meshes.bsa, Skyrim - Sounds.bsa

sResourceArchiveList2=Skyrim - Voices.bsa, Skyrim - VoicesExtra.bsa

bInvalidateOlderFiles=0

SInvalidationFile=ArchiveInvalidation.txt

 

[Audio]

fMenuModeFadeInTime=1.0

fMenuModeFadeOutTime=3.0

fMusicDuckingSeconds=6.0

fMusicUnDuckingSeconds=8.0

 

[Camera]

fMouseWheelZoomSpeed=10

 

[Combat]

f1PArrowTiltUpAngle=0.7

f1PBoltTiltUpAngle=0.7

f3PArrowTiltUpAngle=0.7

fMagnetismLookingMult=0.0

fMagnetismStrafeHeadingMult=0.0

 

[Controls]

fMouseHeadingSensitivityMax=0.0625

fMouseHeadingXScale=0.0200

fMouseHeadingYScale=0.8500

 

[Decals]

bDecals=1

uMaxSkinDecalPerActor=60

uMaxSkinDecals=100

 

[Display]

bAllowScreenshot=0

fDecalLifetime=300

fLightLODMaxStartFade=8500

fLightLODRange=45000

fShadowLODMaxStartFade=1000

fSpecularLODMaxStartFade=2000

fSunShadowUpdateTime=0.25

fSunUpdateThreshold=1.5

iPresentInterval=1

 

[General]

bBackgroundLoadVMData=1

fFlickeringLightDistance=8192

sLanguage=ENGLISH

uExterior Cell Buffer=36

uGridsToLoad=5

sIntroSequence=

 

[GeneralWarnings]

SGeneralMasterMismatchWarning=One or more plugins could not find the correct versions of the master 

 

files they depend on. Errors may occur during load or game play. Check the "Warnings.txt" file for 

 

more information.

 

[Grass]

bAllowCreateGrass=1

bAllowLoadGrass=0

bDrawShaderGrass=1

fGrassFadeRange=10000

fGrassWindMagnitudeMax=125

fGrassWindMagnitudeMin=5

iGrassCellRadius=2

iMaxGrassTypesPerTexure=7

iMinGrassSize=40

 

[interface]

bShowTutorials=0

 

[LightingShader]

fDecalLODFadeEnd=1.1

fDecalLODFadeStart=1

fEnvmapLODFadeEnd=1.1

fEnvmapLODFadeStart=1

 

[LOD]

fDistanceMultiplier=1.00

 

[MapMenu]

fMapWorldYawRange=400

fMapWorldMinPitch=0

fMapWorldMaxPitch=90

 

[Papyrus]

bEnableLogging=1

bEnableTrace=1

bLoadDebugInformation=1

fPostLoadUpdateTimeMS=500.0

 

[Trees]

bEnableTreeAnimations=1

bEnableTrees=1

fUpdateBudget=1.5

 

[Water]

bReflectLODLand=1

bReflectLODObjects=1

bReflectLODTrees=1

bReflectSky=0

 

SkyrimPrefs.ini:

 

 

[Archive]

sResourceArchiveList=Skyrim - Misc.bsa, Skyrim - Shaders.bsa, Skyrim - Textures.bsa, Skyrim - 

 

Interface.bsa, Skyrim - Animations.bsa, Skyrim - Meshes.bsa, Skyrim - Sounds.bsa

sResourceArchiveList2=Skyrim - Voices.bsa, Skyrim - VoicesExtra.bsa

bInvalidateOlderFiles=0

SInvalidationFile=ArchiveInvalidation.txt

 

[Audio]

fMenuModeFadeInTime=1.0

fMenuModeFadeOutTime=3.0

fMusicDuckingSeconds=6.0

fMusicUnDuckingSeconds=8.0

 

[Camera]

fMouseWheelZoomSpeed=10

 

[Combat]

f1PArrowTiltUpAngle=0.7

f1PBoltTiltUpAngle=0.7

f3PArrowTiltUpAngle=0.7

fMagnetismLookingMult=0.0

fMagnetismStrafeHeadingMult=0.0

 

[Controls]

fMouseHeadingSensitivityMax=0.0625

fMouseHeadingXScale=0.0200

fMouseHeadingYScale=0.8500

 

[Decals]

bDecals=1

uMaxSkinDecalPerActor=60

uMaxSkinDecals=100

 

[Display]

bAllowScreenshot=0

fDecalLifetime=300

fLightLODMaxStartFade=8500

fLightLODRange=45000

fShadowLODMaxStartFade=1000

fSpecularLODMaxStartFade=2000

fSunShadowUpdateTime=0.25

fSunUpdateThreshold=1.5

iPresentInterval=1

 

[General]

bBackgroundLoadVMData=1

fFlickeringLightDistance=8192

sLanguage=ENGLISH

uExterior Cell Buffer=36

uGridsToLoad=5

sIntroSequence=

 

[GeneralWarnings]

SGeneralMasterMismatchWarning=One or more plugins could not find the correct versions of the master 

 

files they depend on. Errors may occur during load or game play. Check the "Warnings.txt" file for 

 

more information.

 

[Grass]

bAllowCreateGrass=1

bAllowLoadGrass=0

bDrawShaderGrass=1

fGrassFadeRange=10000

fGrassWindMagnitudeMax=125

fGrassWindMagnitudeMin=5

iGrassCellRadius=2

iMaxGrassTypesPerTexure=7

iMinGrassSize=40

 

[interface]

bShowTutorials=0

 

[LightingShader]

fDecalLODFadeEnd=1.1

fDecalLODFadeStart=1

fEnvmapLODFadeEnd=1.1

fEnvmapLODFadeStart=1

 

[LOD]

fDistanceMultiplier=1.00

 

[MapMenu]

fMapWorldYawRange=400

fMapWorldMinPitch=0

fMapWorldMaxPitch=90

 

[Papyrus]

bEnableLogging=1

bEnableTrace=1

bLoadDebugInformation=1

fPostLoadUpdateTimeMS=500.0

 

[Trees]

bEnableTreeAnimations=1

bEnableTrees=1

fUpdateBudget=1.5

 

[Water]

bReflectLODLand=1

bReflectLODObjects=1

bReflectLODTrees=1

bReflectSky=0

 

 

enblocal.ini:

 

 

 

 

[PROXY]

EnableProxyLibrary=false

InitProxyFunctions=true

ProxyLibrary=other_d3d9.dll

 

[GLOBAL]

UsePatchSpeedhackWithoutGraphics=true

UseDefferedRendering=false

IgnoreCreationKit=true

 

[PERFORMANCE]

SpeedHack=true

EnableOcclusionCulling=true

 

[MEMORY]

ExpandSystemMemoryX64=false

ReduceSystemMemoryUsage=true

DisableDriverMemoryManager=false

DisablePreloadToVRAM=false

EnableUnsafeMemoryHacks=false

ReservedMemorySizeMb=128

VideoMemorySizeMb=11702

EnableCompression=false

AutodetectVideoMemorySize=false

 

[THREADS]

DataSyncMode=0

PriorityMode=0

EnableUnsafeFixes=false

 

[MULTIHEAD]

ForceVideoAdapterIndex=false

VideoAdapterIndex=0

 

[WINDOW]

ForceBorderless=true

ForceBorderlessFullscreen=true

 

[ENGINE]

ForceAnisotropicFiltering=true

MaxAnisotropy=16

ForceLodBias=false

LodBias=0.0

AddDisplaySuperSamplingResolutions=false

EnableVSync=true

VSyncSkipNumFrames=0

 

[LIMITER]

WaitBusyRenderer=false

EnableFPSLimit=false

FPSLimit=10.0

 

[iNPUT]

//shift

KeyCombination=16

//f12

KeyUseEffect=123

//home

KeyFPSLimit=36

//num /       106

KeyShowFPS=106

//print screen

KeyScreenshot=44

//enter

KeyEditor=13

//f4

KeyFreeVRAM=115

//B

KeyBruteForce=66

 

[ADAPTIVEQUALITY]

Enable=false

Quality=1

DesiredFPS=20.0

 

[ANTIALIASING]

EnableEdgeAA=false

EnableTemporalAA=false

EnableSubPixelAA=false

 

[FIX]

FixGameBugs=true

FixParallaxBugs=true

FixParallaxTerrain=false

FixAliasedTextures=true

IgnoreInventory=true

FixTintGamma=true

RemoveBlur=false

FixSubSurfaceScattering=true

FixSkyReflection=true

FixCursorVisibility=true

FixLag=false

 

[LONGEXPOSURE]

EnableLongExposureMode=false

Time=1.0

BlendMax=0.0

 

 

Even a Memory Blocks Log (oddly short, but what do I know):

 

logging of blocks enabled

logging max values only

Timer disabled

Block1 Block2

512MB 256MB

85 8

85 8

 

 

 

 Any help that can be provided is greatly appreciated. I recognize the amount of effort that has gone into S.T.E.P and commend all the authors involved. Thanks!

Edited August 17, 2016 by Artemis360

[TechAngel85]

Did you install the DirectX 9 Runtimes?

[Artemis360]

Yes I did, twice actually. Nothing...

[Nebulous112]

Did you install them, or just extract them? The first EXE extracts the files to a folder of your choosing. Then, you need to go inside that folder and run DXSetup.exe.

[Greg]

Did you install the June 2010 DirectX Runtime? This one is rerquired by endboost.

[Artemis360]

Yes and yes. I ran the one that was in my main Skyrim folder (I'm not sure what I downloaded that automatically put it there...) and then I also downloaded and extracted it again, to a different folder that I created, and installed it once more. Still nothing.

[Artemis360]

UPDATE: So I guess I had some residual ENB files left in my Skyrim folder that was causing some problems. I used a .bat file to uninstall everything ENB related in my Skyrim folder and freshly installed ENBoost and configured the .ini file appropriately. All is working now! Sorry for wasting everyone's time... thanks for the help anyway!