Skyrim fails to load main menu, process must be manually killed

[generalmx]

Problem: When launched by MO, Skyrim fails to load the main menu and has no sound; afterwards, TESV.exe (which is eating up a core) must be manually killed.

 

Thankfully I'm using Mod Organizer so I can easily tell this is a problem somewhere in my 400+ mod list (mostly textures), but I'm not sure exactly where, since I keep finding cool little mods and adding them while working on other parts. So right now what I'm doing is cloning my current profile in MO, and unchecking mods one-by-one until it works again; but this takes a while since I need to uncheck, sort, rebuild Bashed Patch, etc. I've at least made sure it's not S.T.E.P. Extended, and narrowed it down to something I did around the time I switched from ACE to SPERG.

 

What I'm curious is if there's an easier or more intuitive way, like if using Payprus logging or something could give me some insight into which mod is causing the probable endless loop.

Edited August 8, 2014 by generalmx

[Aiyen]

Merge your texture mods into a giant "My texture mods" folder and get your list cut down to size. Make sure to install gameplay altering mods last. Stuff like frostfall, combat mods etc... 

 

Make sure that your game works without all of those before continuing. 

[generalmx]

Like I said, S.T.E.P. Extended works fine (I easily verified this with MO), it's just one of the things I added after S.T.E.P. that's a problem. So that should leave me with about 20 different mods (excluding patches to these mods) that I need to sort through. What I found weird was how long Skyrim took to startup on a SSD (roughly 15s) and then hanging in a seemingly endless loop, instead of crashing or freezing. Using ProcMon, I was able to see that all the mods were in fact loaded, and the process was still receiving input, it just wasn't doing anything with it. Next I'm going to try starting up Skyrim without mods and look at ProcMon again to get a picture of what it looks like when it starts up normally. I actually doubt this will give me any useful information to solving the problem, but who knows?

[CovertSlinky]

@Aiyen, or anyone who might know I suppose. Could you describe a bit more specifically on how to create a large all in one texture folder? I am thinking that I would Just create a folder dubbed as such that would populate in the mods section (MO left pane), and then create a subfolder's that mimic the data folder of skyrim for there proper placement, no? After reading that, it sounds like a really swell idea that I am interested in.

Edited August 8, 2014 by CovertSlinky

[Aiyen]

When you install a texture only mod you simply make a new mod called.... "My Texture Mega Combo"... I know creative name n all! 

Then whenever you install a new texture mod you simply install it to that folder and pick merge every time. Just make sure you never pick replace :P 

 

You can also manually create the folder in the MO mods folder and then manually move over every single texture only mod to that. 

 

Ofc. it have its benefits and drawbacks.... but I know I do it for some mods... like all those statues before the full version was out. 

Also tend to have a "My custom textures" folder where all my own created stuff go into etc. 

[CovertSlinky]

Ok, think I get it now, tyvm! I have alot of texture only mods that are mostly isolated in the middle of my install order that I think this could help relieve the clutter I have, and also, leads to another question of sorts I guess, this would/might help reduce the amount of time it takes MO to read and populate the mod list when I launch or refresh it, no? Not when I load into skyrim, but when I load up MO itself.

 

Side note, that name is creative enough for me :)

Edited August 8, 2014 by CovertSlinky

[Aiyen]

Perhaps it would.. I never tested that. And yeah.... if you are certain that something is going to stay on your list then a rename and reorganizing of the stuff is always a good thing. Makes it easier to find stuff later. 

[phazer11]

I always keep them as separate. That way if I wish to tick one off and play without that set of textures I can. You can't do that if you combine them into one mod.

[DoubleYou]

I prefer them separate too. I really don't see the advantage to mixing them all together.

[generalmx]

The advantage is likely in serious space-saving, I'm guessing; I'm about ready to do some space-saving stuff because Skyrim is on a 120GB SSD with Windows, which keeps running out of space (as Skyrim itself takes up ~25GB now).

 

Anyway, I figured it out through simple trial-and-error process of elimination: it was my merging of the "NPC Protected Redux" patches (using Merge Plugins v1.65, the newest) which caused Skyrim to hang.

[CovertSlinky]

Oh, well glad to hear you solved it, congrats, and happy modding :)

 

Yeah, my only interest was space saving, on the MO mod list, make it easier to navigate around in it, and possibly speed up load time for MO, maybe. But I have not done this yet, still deciding if I really want to do it, and if I do, what texture mods I have that I plan on keeping for probably...ever, and should be put in it.

[DoubleYou]

Boy, that script has really caused issues as of late! I'm going to have to look into it to see why it's doing this.

[Lesslight]

The same problem occurs if you load The Dance of Death before Dragon Combat Overhaul. I do not know what could be the reason. Who knows what's in common.