Audio Overhaul for Skyrim 2 not working.

[NomenNescio]

I just switched to MO the other day and all my mods seem to be working fine with the exception of the Audio Overhaul for Skyrim 2. I tried installing to a completely clean install of skyrim with no other mods, and it still didn't work so it's not a conflicts issue, I checked the data tap and the sound files appear under Sound - fix, the latter of which I believe to be made by the mod.

 

I cannot for the life of me figure out what the problem is, have anyone else encountered similar problems?

[hishutup]

Can you move the sounds folder into a nod folder in mo and then launch skse through mo

[GrantSP]

@keithinhanoi

 

When, and under which circumstances, should your hidden 'goat sound' be heard? I'm confused now.

 

I can clearly see they are different files with differing filesizes, they do sound the same to me though as the AOS files. I'm assuming this is from that rogue audio layer being removed.

[keithinhanoi]

I think you're using the files in the third test. Those are re-saved AOS bow shoot sounds, and should sound exactly the same to you if AOS has been working.

 

The second test was the one with the goat sound(s), but note I've since removed the linked file.

 

The point of the goat sound test was to check whether loose .wav audio files that are known to work would play in game for NomenNescio.

 

So, I extracted the goat sounds from Skyrim - Sounds.bsa, renamed them to the file names of the three bow shoot sounds, and packed them into a "mod" archive with the sounds located in the correct folder structure to be loose file replacements for the vanilla sounds if installed in MO.

 

In reality, I only renamed one of them correctly, and the other two had an extra character in the name. Nevertheless, NomenNescio reported that he heard a goat sound about 1/3 of the times, which is exactly what would be expected because only one of the files was named correctly.

 

In sum, the fact that the loose .wav goat sound file played for NomenNescio shows that the problem with no sounds is specific to AOS' sounds, and loose .wav sound files taken from Skyrim - Sounds.bsa will play normally, as expected.

 

Confirmation of the goat sound test being heard in game also rules out loose files being "overwritten" by BSA assets in MO's virtual file system, and rules out the problem being associated with all loose files.

 

Then, the last test of putting the three AOS bow shoot sounds that I re-saved without the timecode data into the "real" Skyrim / data directory and running Skyrim directly without MO confirms that there's some interaction specific to MO and AOS' sounds that causes them not to be played.

 

Here's a quick "matrix" of the tests so far:

Vanilla BSA sounds       -> Skyrim launched normally -> Sounds play
AOS loose sounds         -> Skyrim launched normally -> Sounds play
Resaved AOS loose sounds -> Skyrim launched normally -> Sounds play
Vanilla BSA sounds       -> Skyrim launched in MO    -> Sounds play
Vanilla loose sounds     -> Skyrim launched in MO    -> Sounds play
AOS loose sounds         -> Skyrim launched in MO    -> Sounds do NOT play
Resaved AOS loose sounds -> Skyrim launched in MO    -> Sounds do NOT play

[GrantSP]

Ok, this is going to be a really out-of-left-field request.

 

Could you post the exact locations of your Skyrim, Mod Organizer and the 'mods' folder of MO, as well as the name you assigned the AOS mod in MO.

 

e.g. On my system it is this:

Skyrim

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\skyrim\

Mod Organizer

C:\Program Files (x86)\Mod Organizer\

AOS mod in the 'mods' folder

C:\Program Files (x86)\Mod Organizer\mods\Audio Overhaul for Skyrim 2\

I'm just going on a hunch that the combined length of that path to these wav files may somehow exceed a limit. It is a long shot based on nothing but what can we lose?

[hishutup]

hmm, keithinhanoi maybe convert the AOS sound to something else and then convert back.... 

maybe there is something mismatched in the file that most computers ignore... like variable bitrate...

[keithinhanoi]

Ok, this is going to be a really out-of-left-field request.

 

<snip>

 

I'm just going on a hunch that the combined length of that path to these wav files may somehow exceed a limit. It is a long shot based on nothing but what can we lose?

Not out-of-left-field at all, it's the kind of outside-the-box thinking that may actually solve this!

 

From this Microsoft Developer Network information page:

 

 

Maximum Path Length Limitation

In the Windows API (with some exceptions discussed in the following paragraphs), the maximum length for a path is MAX_PATH, which is defined as 260 characters. A local path is structured in the following order: drive letter, colon, backslash, name components separated by backslashes, and a terminating null character. For example, the maximum path on drive D is "D:\some 256-character path string<NUL>" where "<NUL>" represents the invisible terminating null character for the current system codepage. (The characters < > are used here for visual clarity and cannot be part of a valid path string.)

it goes on to explain there are other API versions that allow for longer path lengths, but if Mod Organizer's virtual directory uses the API as described above, then it would also have the 260 character limit.

 

I tried a quick search to verify whether MO is or isn't limited by this path length when accessing files, and couldn't find anything.

 

Totally worth a try checking into, though.

[NomenNescio]

@hishutup: I don't know what a nod folder is.

 

@GrantSP: My paths are as follows:

 

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Skyrim

 

D:\Programs\Mod Organizer

 

D:\Programs\Mod Organizer\mods\Audio Overhaul for Skyrim 2

[GrantSP]

Thanks, I doubt it's a path-length limit issue then.

 

hmm... wracking brain...

[hishutup]

@hishutup: I don't know what a nod folder is.

 

I keep hitting "n" instead of "m" on my phone or it is autocorrecting it... I dont know but I do mean the mod folder.

[NomenNescio]

@hishutup: That helps a bit but I still don't understand your suggestion

[GrantSP]

In deference to @hishutup, I think the steps you have already taken have covered anything that suggestion will highlight.

[NomenNescio]

Well, could it have to do with the fact I have Skyrim on one drive and MO on another?

[hishutup]

In deference to @hishutup, I think the steps you have already taken have covered anything that suggestion will highlight.

It was before Keiths followup

[GrantSP]

It was before Keiths followup

I mean no sleight against your suggestion, just as you say though, that avenue was examined.

 

 

 

Well, could it have to do with the fact I have Skyrim on one drive and MO on another?

I doubt it. Unless you have some strange setup where that other drive is a NAS or something that requires greater permission than MO grants.

 

Do you have any other audio type mods installed? If not could you find one, install it and check if that one works?

That way we can eliminate the MO VFS as interfering if that mod works and then it must be the format of those AOS wav files.

 

Also if you could find the installed codecs that your machine is using.

Here's a blog that provides 3 ways to do that. Then we might see if codec issues are at play. (The software from NirSoft is very good, I personally use a few of his tools and recommend them.)

Edited December 16, 2014 by GrantSP

[NomenNescio]

@GrantSP: I don't have anyhting like that in my setup, as for the audio mod this is interesting. I've been using for almost as long as AOS the Sounds of Skyrim mod, but it's effects are rather subtle, so I hadn't noticed it not working, but now I've tested it and sure enough, it doesn't work either.

 

I'll look into the codecs thing over the course of tomorrow.