SKSE plugins not working due to read/write permissions

[nikwriter]

I've built an identical mod build on two computers, so that my partner can play through the game with me using the same mods.

I followed STEP and can verify this issue exists with STEP alone, even if I disable the other non-STEP mods I'm using, which is why I've posted it in this forum instead of the General Skyrim one.

On both computers, the game, mod organizer, and skse are being installed, modded, and run on Admin accounts. The location of the game directory is "C:/Games/Steam" (not Program Files) and the location of Mod Organizer is "C:/Modding/Tools/Mod Organizer". All .exe's are being "run as administrator" in properties and by an admin user. SKSE is properly installed (I can type "getSKSEversion" in the game console).

However, on one computer, none of the configuration menus I am setting up in MCM are actually saved. If I reboot the game they don't exist. If I check the SKSE Output mod files (such as Cathedral Weathers or MoreHUD), they have not been created. On the other computer they are fine, so we can ignore that computer going forward. On the problem computer/install, it seems that SKSE plugins in general are not working correctly.

I installed another mod I do want to use in the playthrough (mentioning here just for testing purposes - Frostfall) which requires a "quit to launch this mod" from MCM function. It actually gives an error saying Frostfall cannot launch due to Read/Write permissions for the "SKSE/Plugins/" folder. This leads me to believe that the other issues described above (such as even STEP mods not having their config's saved) is connected to a read/write problem.

Last observation - on a whim, I tried manually copying the contents of the "SKSE output" mod /Plugins/ folder from the working computer to the problem computer (don't worry, I put them into the MO SKSE output mod folder, not the game folder directly). When I did this, most of the mod's MCM's menus are showing the configured settings, not the unconfigured ones from before. So it seems to be reading from it correctly, but not able to write to it. While this could help me manually force configurations, it doesn't solve the problem because some SKSE plugins function by actively read/writing during gameplay as variables change in the game.

Is the problem with %appdata% or something?

Can anyone help me with this? I spent HOURS with the STEP guide to build it all twice - it's crushing to feel like that time might have been lost.

Edited November 18 by nikwriter
Added question about the appdata folder

[nikwriter]

Admins, you can delete this (I can't find a way to delete a post). After further testing, most mods do seem to be saving correctly. It may be a problem with a specific mod (but it's very strange that it's replicate-able on only 1 of my 2 identical mod builds). Anyways, this is not the right place for a post if it's about a specific mod so please delete this thread.

[z929669]

It's fine to keep this topic in case someone else has a similar issue.

Regardless, this is sounding like an OS-level permissions issue likely related to the user profile. If files and directories are copied from one PC to the other in replicating the setup, that could cause problems if they are associated with the user profile or the Steam game directory.

My advice is to create the build on each computer independently as the user of each profile and the two Steam accounts.

Recreate everything independently as the respective PC user, including application/tool installations.

[nikwriter]

I figured out the real cause - sorry I didn't notice the thread was still open.

This was actually due to Campfire (which is required for Frostfall) overwriting the up-to-date PapyrusUtil DLL file with its own out of date one. If I'd read the install instructions closely enough (and/or noticed the "conflict" icon in MO2) I'd have solved much quicker. For anyone else, you can solve by just "hiding" the relevant file in Campfire's mod explorer in MO2, similar to you'd do with similar STEP installations.

Super weird that it was interpreted by Frostfall as a read/write issue, when in fact all my efforts at managing user access and stuff amounted to nothing. It was just a clashing/out-dated script.

Edited November 30 by nikwriter