Occasional Loadscreen Hangups Preceeding CTDs

[Muladhara86]

Hi there, I'm a longtime STEP follower, first-time poster.  I used Neovalen's Legendary guide to a "T" (with the exception of some inconsequential omissions), then I added a whole bunch of mods I liked.  As you may have already guessed, that didn't go very well.  

 

I've been working on troubleshooting this for months now (off and on).  I managed to hammer out a lot of instability and I made a lot of sacrifices, but in the end I am still getting CTD's.  I might be able to go 4-6 hours without seeing one.  They usually happen under the following circumstances:

 

 - If I auto-load after dying.  I never use auto-saves, and nothing has been uninstalled on this save.

 - If I go underwater.  I am using RWT & SkyFalls+SkyMills, and it seems to have happened around ETaC locations.

 - After a loading screen.  My loadscreens almost always freeze up, and sometimes give me a "TESV.exe is not responding. . ." message, but those don't necessarily guarantee a CTD.

 

Recently I loaded up my "Vanilla" profile with fresh .ini's to make myself some clean saves to test from the ground up with.  This may have licked the first two problems, but the load screen freezing is just as frequent.  I'm trying to think of what it is, but I'm sure I cleaned the Bethesda .ESM's properly.  I unpacked their .BSA's though (I have those packed up).

 

Maybe it might just be my system.  I'm running Windows 7 x64 on an Intel Core 2 Duo e8400 w/ an ATI Radeon HD 7750 and 4GB DD3 RAM.  In all tests I used SKSE and ENBoost.

Edited June 12, 2014 by Muladhara86

[RoboticWater]

Just glancing at your specs, I think I might see your problem. Your computer probably can't handle all the high-res meshes/textures. Try just disabling all your HD texture packs, SMIM, etc. and see if that fixes your first two problems. Also, your dual core processor might have trouble handling all the script mods that Skyrim Revisited adds (Footprints, Wet and Cold, Minty Lightning, etc.).

 

As for your third problem. I would try starting a new game with your Vanilla profile. "Clean saves" aren't always so clean. In fact, uninstalling mods with scripts attached to them often leaves behind unattached scripts which (I think) can bog down your game (hence why Save Scalpel exists).

 

So to make sure that your problem is entirely mod-related, start a totally new game with Vanilla Skyrim and see if you still get load screen freezes. If you still freeze up, then you're likely looking at a hardware issue.

 

Either way, I would recommend investing in some better hardware. Most games today (especially a modded Skyrim) require 8GB of ram and a 4 core processor minimum.

[Muladhara86]

Right, I guess those omissions weren't so inconsequential; I left out all texture packs.  When I get back on the desktop I'll post my mod list.

 

Also, when I say that my save is clean, I mean to say that I've been restarting my character nearly every time I make a change to my load order to keep things clean (if I add something small I may not restart).All the same, my gut tells me you're right aboutmy rig being underpowered.  Too bad I'm on a fixed income. . . 

Edited June 12, 2014 by Muladhara86

[Muladhara86]

So pretty much just ignore this thread.  Good ol' troubleshooting legwork (fingerwork?) sorted it out.

[DocClox]

I don't suppose you'd care to share the details?

 

I'm also running with a somewhat elderly CPU and mobo and I'm always on the lookout for ways to ease the strain on my system :)

[Muladhara86]

Sure, let me pin down those details and I'll let you know.  It may be that I added ENBoost, but that's unlikely.  I suspect either OneTweak or 3D Loadscreens.  I've still got a lot of testing to do.  So far I've layered on UI changes, cosmetic changes, skill/perk changes, vampire changes, player abodes/worldspace edits, and creature additions/edits over a vanilla save without any crashing during stress testing.  My script load tends to stay under 100ms, and I get ~40 FPS outside, 60 FPS inside.  There are a couple more odds and ends, and I'm still looking to add to it, but this is what my LOOT mod order looks like this (a little weird):

 

 

 

USKP

UDGP

UHFP

UDBP

moreHud

ESRO 04

ERSO 03.4

Better Dynamic Snow

Ash Rocks

AMatterOfTime

The Eyes of Beauty - Babette

Convenient Horses - Unique Frost

BFS Effects

Moss Rocks + DB

ERSO 03

ERSO 03.3

ERSO 04.2

ERSO 06 (bashed & disabled .esp)

Expanded Towns & Cities - Complete

The Third Race Skill Overhaul - Block

Beards

ERSO 03.5

The Third Race Skill Overhaul - Alteration

RaceMenu

Brows

Proudspire Manor TNF

Radiant and Unique Potions Poisions and BOOZE

SkyUI

SkyTweak

Sulfur Rocks

The Third Race Skill Overhaul - Archery

The Third Race Skill Overhaul - Restoration

That's Racist

The Dance of Death

The Eyes of Beauty - Elves Edition

Vindrel Hall TNF

Weapons & Armor Fixes Remade

Audio Overhaul for Skyrim 2

ETaC - Dragon Bridge South

Traps Make Noise - More Dangerous Traps

The Third Race Skill Overhaul - Speech

AOS - Traps Are Dangerous Patch

The Third Race Skill Overhaul - Two Handed

The Third Race Skill Overhaul - One Handed

Clothing & Clutter Fixes

Actualize Apparel

AOS2 - Wet & Cold Patch

Skyforged  Weapons

Unique Uniques

Complete Crafting Overhaul Remade

Wet & Cold (only using Blizzard Winds and NPC Snow Blind)

AoS2 - Wet & Cold Patch

Realistic Ragdoll Force - Realistic

Hjerim TNF

Skyrim Immersive Creatures

Honeyside TNF

Skyrim Coin Replacer Redux

Harvest Overhaul Creatures

ERSO 02.1 (bashed & disabled)

Revenge of the Enemies

Ethereal Alven Overhaul

ERSO 09 - Vendor Trainer Quest-giver Protected

EEO- USP (2.0.4a) Patch

Endeath

Harvest Overhaul

Less Tedious Alchemy

ERSO - 02

Convenient Horses - Faster Sprint

SkyFalls + SkyMills + DG + DB

Realistic Water Two

AOS2 Realistic Water Two Patch

Breezehome TNF

The Third Race Skill Overhaul - Conjuration

Tel Nalta

Explorer Dungeon Pack

Solstheim - The Lost Levels

Wet & Cold - Holidays

ETaC - WC Holidays Patch

Wheeze's Dungeon Pack

Skyrim Immersive Creatures - DLC2

The Evil Mansion - Final Edition

Hidden Hideouts of Skyrim - Merged

ETaC - Lanterns of Skyrim Patch

Immersive Armors

Better Fast Travel - Ships & Carriages

Stealth Skills Rebalanced COMPLETE

Better Vampires

Predator Vision

The Third Race Skill Overhaul - Enchanting

Smithing Perks Overhaul Remade

The Third Race Skill Overhaul - Heavy Armor

The Third Race Skill Overhaul - Illusion

The Third Race Skill Overhaul - Light Armor

Complete Crafting Overhaul SIC Patch

High Level Enemies SIC Edition

Immersive Spells & Light

The Third Race Skill Overhaul - Destruction

Skyrim Sewers

Riverside Chack

Inconsequential NPCs

Inconsequential NPCs - EEO Patch

Realistic Water Two - Legendary

Fight Against the Thalmor II

Fight Against the Thalmor IV

Fight Against the Thalmor III

Point the Way

Unique Border Gates - All

Moonpath to Elswyr

Fight Against the Thalmor 1

ETaC - Complete BFT Patch

Hidden Hideouts of Skyrim City Edition - Merged

Skyrim Flora Overhaul - Dragonborn

The Eagle's Nest

ETaC - Complete Moonpath Patch

Aemer's Refuge - DG DB

Elysium Estate + DG HF DB

Skyrim Flora Overhaul

Rayek's End

Halls of Dovahndor

Magic of the Magna-Ge

Darkwater Den

Hold Border Danners

Haven Bag

Wooly Rhino

Grass on Steroids - Natural Edition - SFO

iHUD

Ice Floes

Realistic Water Two - DG Waves

The Field Lab 2

Gildergreen Regrown

ERSO 05

More Plants and Recipes - All Extra

Alternate Start - Live Another Life

Bashed Patch

 

 

 

In addition to the above, I have some EPS-less mods as well.  The following is their order in the left pane of MO (which it's constantly having me rearrange nearly every time I run LOOT):

 

 

 

SKSE

Lanterns of Skyrim

Better Message Box Controls

Fuz Ro D'oh

Improved Dragon Gemstone Claws

World Map - Skyrim Hold Borders

Immersive Animations (Core)

360 Walk & Run Plus

EotW Mage Robes of Skyrim

EotW Mage Equipment Overhaul - Long Mage Robes

Superior Lore Friendly Hair - HD Textures

ApachiiSkyHair

ApachiiSkyHair - HD Textures

XCE

Skill Interface Retexture

XP32 Maximum Skeleton

Jewels of the Nord

Bandolier - Bags and Pouches

Correct PS3 Button Icons

SkyUI PS3 Buttons

Customized Categorized Favorites Menu

Faster GET UP STAND UP Animation - Vanilla Friendly

Faster Transform - To Werewolf & Vampire Lord

Better Dialogue Controls

EotW Mage Equipment Overhaul - College Mage Robes

Sleep Menu Extender

Female Vampires Have Fangs

 

 

 

I'm still in the process of re-enabling other mods, so if necessary I can update the list as I go along.

Edited June 12, 2014 by Muladhara86

[redirishlord]

FWIW I've been doing similar troubleshooting myself. I notice by using the script latency tool in Convenient Horses that my script lag was averaging near 100ms (apparently 50 is desired and 100+ is bad). When attempting to load an interior location (such as the Sleeping Giant Inn in an ETaC Riverwood) the reported lag would spike to 300+

 

Perhaps too many scripts are your downfall, seemed to be mine? Checking through the tool in CH's MCM is a cheaper fix than upgrading your pc ;-)  Assuming you can live without some of your scripted mods.

[Muladhara86]

One thing i found that helped was moving my disabled ESPs into their "optional" folder (double-click or right-click -> Information on the mod in the left pane, go to the "Optional ESPs" tab, highlight an .esp to be disabled and send it to the upper pane).  The thing is that Wrye Bash includes deactivated ESPs in the bashed patch, so I was getting flooded with error messages in my paparus logs.  That seemed to clear up the "dying upon reloading" I had reintroduced in my troubleshooting, though I don't think that was the original cause.

 

If you're working with different mod setups across multiple profiles, make sure to take note of which mods you flag as optional; this feature is global and there are no visual cues in MO that you are missing necessary ESPs in one profile that are optional in another.

 

Another thing that helped was not minimizing how often I alt-tabbed out of the game.  Also, Chrome tabs really eats up memory.  I think it might actually be the Flash advertisements run on most sites (Nexus, TESWiki, UESPWiki) but what do I know?

Edited June 13, 2014 by Muladhara86

[Muladhara86]

I wanted to update this post with my progress.  My Skyrim is stable (for now)!  I'm not exactly sure what the problem was though.  I disabled Wet & Cold Core + Ashes & Holidays, OneTweak, Cutting Room Floor, Disband the Thieves Guild, ERSO 02 & 02.1, Halls of Dovahndor, Improved Dragon Shouts, Moon & Star, and The Field Lab 2 (though I may reinstall this one).

 

Also, I had installed SKSE in the Mod Organizer, so it was virtualizing the Data/Scripts folder and overwriting what I had in my Steam/SteamApps/Common/Skyrim/Data/Scripts folder.  This may not have been a problem to begin with, but after I uninstalled SKSE v1.06.16  from my root Skyrim directory and installed v1.07.00 in it's place it caused all sorts of problems.  I've since rectified this by disabling the SKSE mod in the left pane of MO.