Failed to write to C:/games/MO/profiles/A/skyrimprefs.ini

[syzygy]

I screwed up and have gotten stuck trying to fix it.

 

Error: Failed to write to c:/games/MO/profiles/A/skyrimprefs.ini

This occurs in two profiles out of 3.

 

How I got here:

 

Everything was fine. No problems at all.

 

I tried to run TES5Edit (from MO) and got the message: "Fatal: Could not open registry key: SOFTWAREBethesda SoftworksSkyrim This can happen after Steam updates, run game's launcher to restore registry settings".

 

I started the launcher and realized that I had downloaded a Steam Mod so it would be loaded through MO, but forgot to unsubscribe to it. I force-closed the launcher, unsubscribed the mod through Steam and started the launcher to make sure it would be ok. Not quite- Options and Data were greyed out. I tried "Verify Integrity of Game Cache" and got the error "1 file failed to validate and will be reacquired". It didn't- each time I check the validate again, I get the same error. Reseach suggested "delete Steam/appcache/appinfo.vdf and restart Steam". Did that, when I ran the Launcher through Skryim, I could access those two options- that one time. However, I'm back to greyed out options when I run Launcher again. Launcher is always being run through MO.

 

Trying to fix it, I tried to go into skyrimprefs.ini- however, I can't save that file. If I go to the default profile (which I'm not using), I can save skyrimprefs.ini. If I go to the third profile, I can't save it. I can save skyrim.ini in all profiles. I also tried manually copying out the skyrimprefs.ini file and pasting in a new one. No change in errors.

 

So:

• I can play the game.
• Everything is up to date- skyrim, MO, Steam.
• I'm still getting the verify error, greyed out Options/Data, and can't save skyrimprefs.ini
• Still getting TES5Edit error.
• skyrimprefs.ini and skyrim.ini are attached as .txt

It looks like all these problems are being caused by one thing, but I can't figure out what that is. I've looked all over for a solution, but no luck. I hope that someone here can help me.

 

Thanks.

 

Hmmm... can I uninstall and reinstall Steam without affecting MO? Would that fix the Steam error- which might fix the rest?

skyrimprefs and skyrim ini.txt

Edited June 29, 2014 by syzygy

[DoubleYou]

1. Press Winkey+R

2. Type Regedit and click enter.

3. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Wow6432Node/Bethesda Softworks/skyrim if it exists and post a screenshot (PrintScreen, open in Paint, save as Jpeg, etc.)

 

It should have an "installed path" string directed toward your installation directory (something like c:gamessteamsteamappscommonskyrim).

[syzygy]

There isn't a Skyrim folder. There's an Oblivion one (for Oblivion, obvoiously).

 

Under the Bethesda folder, the only thing is:

Name: Default  Type REG_SZ Data: (value not set)

[DoubleYou]

1. Press Winkey+R

2. Type Regedit and click enter.

3. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Wow6432Node/Bethesda Softworks/

4. Right-click Bethesda Softworks

5. Select New --> Key

6. Name this key

skyrim

7. Right-click the key you just created: skyrim

8. Select New --> String Value

9. Name it

installed path

10. Double-click the installed path string value you just created

11. In the Value Data field, enter the path to skyrim. Should be something like:

C:Steamsteamappscommonskyrim

(be aware that you must have this absolutely correct and not even the slightest error. Also, make sure the backslash is at the end)

12. Select OK

13. Verify whether or not the problem is solved.

[syzygy]

After making the changes, the first time I went into Launcher, I could edit Options and Data, but if I tried it again, I couldn't.

 

Still having same errors with saving skyrimprefs.ini, starting TES5Edit, and verifying Steam.

 

After I run the Steam verifier (it says that there is one damaged file), the Skyrim entry in regedit is gone. I did this twice to verify.

[DoubleYou]

Why your computer no like skyrim? Try uninstalling and reinstalling (shouldn't negatively impact Mod Organizer as long as you don't launch it before it's done.

[syzygy]

I do not believe this.

 

I copied steamapps out, did an uninstall (which also deleted the Steam folder so I knew it was gone), copied steamapps back in and.... it's exactly the same as it was before. Same problems.

 

Any other ideas?

 

I guess the next step is to uninstall Skyrim, but I've spent hours and hours getting the ENB and tons of mods to work together. If MO keeps its own ini, that should be ok. Could I just copy the ENB files back after I reinstall? How about skse? Does that have to be reinstalled or can I just copy the files from the old Skyrim folder into the new one?

 

Later:

A bit more info- when I load SkyrimLauncher outside MO, it starts and says it will set up the video stuff, then crashes.

Edited June 29, 2014 by syzygy

[DoubleYou]

Try this:

1. Remove all FILES (not saves) immediately in the documents/my games/skyrim directory (ini files and renderifo)

2. Launch TESV.exe, then close

3. Launch SkyrimLauncher.

 

See if that doesn't fix it.

[syzygy]

When I ran TESV (outside of MO), it recreated the skryim.ini and skyrimprefs.ini files in "My gamesSkyrim" and said that it was going to set up the video, then it crashed.

Edited June 29, 2014 by syzygy

[DoubleYou]

TESV doesn't set up video. SkyrimLauncher does. Did you miss my instructions?

[syzygy]

I guess I must have done it wrong. Sorry about that.

 

Ok, did it the right way. TESV brings up a "prepping" screen. That takes a while to load; meanwhile, mousing over the Steam icon shows that it is synchronizing. Then it goes straight into the launcher, says it's going to set up video options and crashes.

 

I did it again and this time it went straight into the launcher- same error and result.

Edited June 30, 2014 by syzygy

[DoubleYou]

Well, does it create a renderinfo.txt. If so, paste it here in spoilers. If not, what graphics card do you have?

[Vulgar1]

Hey syzygy, here's a tip, hold CTRL and left click all the ENB files and folders (SweetFX etc.). Once they are all selected right click on any one of the selected files and select 'Add to Archive' or '7Zip' from the drop down menu. Now you can create a .zip, .rar, or a .7zip file. Name the file 'ENB Setup' or whatever you want. Save, cut and paste, or drag and drop the file somewhere simple like your desktop. It shouldn't take long to archive it. You can do the same with the Mod Organizer folder, and the Wrye Bash folder however they will take longer to compress. Now you can uninstall and reinstall with no problem and just extract the files back into your Skyrim game folder once you have everything configured and working correctly. The only thing you might have to do after that is make minor changes to MO, to reflect any changes to file or folder paths you may have made if any.

 

EDIT: More advice: After you have created the backups of your ENB, MO, and WB files and folders, and have uninstalled Skyrim, try restarting you computer before reinstalling the game. You may also want to run a registry cleaner like Auslogics or Puran in order to completely remove any of the registry edits left over from the previous Skyrim installation before reinstalling.

Edited June 30, 2014 by Vulgar1

[syzygy]

There wasn't a renderinfo.txt file.

 

I took your advice, Vulgar- even though I was hoping to avoid it- and reinstalled Skyrim.

I had to reinstall SKSE, but the ENB copied back in fine.

 

Now I can get to the Launcher from outside MO and can access Data and Options. I can get into the game and it runs fine.

I can also access Launcher from inside MO. The game runs fine.

But I still can't edit .ini files in two profiles. Same 'failed to write' error.  As before, I can play the game.

 

Profile 1 is packed with mods.

Profile 2 only has the unofficial patches and Borderless Windows.

I can't save skryimprefs.ini in either. I can save skyrim.ini.

When I copied Profile 1 to a new profile, I get the same error and can't save to prefs.

Same thing happens when I copy Profile 2 to a new profile.

If I make a brand new profile, I don't get the error.

 

My next step is to make a new profile and activate all the mods from the original one, rearrange the priorities to match, and copy over the .inis.

 

This would be a heck of a lot easier if the .csv export contained the priority. It doesn't- unless I'm missing something.

 

BTW, I'm using 1.2.6- I'm not sure if I ever specified that. Aside from having to put the official patches in the right order, I haven't had any problems.

[syzygy]

Update:

 

I did what I said in the last post: new profile, copy it all over, etc. Everything works.

 

I let the Beta in MO do the load order- I figured it couldn't hurt anything. The game runs; so far (in the first 10 minutes) the only thing that I had to reorder were map options and customized favorites. I suspect there will be other problems- I had to go around and around and around to get the 200+ mods in the right order last time.

 

So in the end, I didn't find a solution, but I did find a work-around- which is good enough.

 

Thanks for all your help, everyone!

 

And thank goodness for MO- I can't imagine doing this by hand!

Edited June 30, 2014 by syzygy

[Nozzer66]

Wasn't that Skyrimprefs.ini was set to read-only, was it? Not trying to be a smartalec or anything, but have had that happen myself is all.

Edited June 30, 2014 by Nozzer66