oblivion: clean vanilla install freezes when starting new game

[macfoo]

I'm at my wit's end!

 

I had been installing mods following the mythic dawn guide.  Build was stable and beautiful until I did some last minute fiddling with open cities / better cities (messed up terrain around anvil/lighthouse).  Installed and uninstalled both a couple times, tried different versions, etc, and then finally decided it wasnt worth it and stripped it all out and then when I tried to launch was first time game froze when trying to start new game.  Tried a couple more times, troubleshooted what I could, same result.

 

I figured thats what I get for messing with those big unwieldy mods and I screwed my build and fine, back to square one.

 

Uninstalled everything, deleted everyhthing I could think of, followed the uninstall guides, etc, and re-downloaded from Steam.

 

Launched clean vanilla from Steam, and the games froze when I selected to start new game.  %^&%#$^#$

 

Since, I have reinstalled the game several times, followed every uninstall guide I could find, tried completing the operations in different orders, uninstalled all related programs (wrye, etc), ccleaned the crap out of everything, manually scoured every nook and cranny of every folder on every drive, sacrificed the neighbor's ferret to Based God, ran things as an admininstrator, reorganized my desktop, whimpered in the corner, installed Oblivion in and out of program files, and cried many tears.

 

I've searched and searched the old internet machine, and while various iterations of the freezing issue seem rather numerous, none of the fixes work for or apply to me.  Most seemed to fix by deleting mods or using the discs to reinstall (discs? what is this 1997?), but I have scrubbed every trace of every mod related anything, and I can't remember the last time I even saw a game disc.

 

I'm out of ideas.  Anybody?

 

i5 3.2, 8gb, gtx 970, windows 10.

[hishutup]

 

--hishutup: do you mean like go to nvidia and redownload the drivers for my graphics card?

 

Precisely. 

[macfoo]

no dice.

 

i was even feeling a little hopeful that this would do the trick, updated java while i was at it, but nothing.  same problem.

 

i have half a mind to reformat my entire computer (I feel like Bill Murray in Caddyshack at this point), but I'm afraid I will do that and it still won't work at which point I would have to be committed.

 

does this matter? in launcher, default data files looks like this:  https://postimg.org/image/fd8eabvch/

 

I have tried launching with every possible configuration of those selected/unselected, no difference.

 

also, here is what my task manager shows when it locks up: https://postimg.org/image/6vw7ow53l/

 

(probably unrelated: if I am on a 64 bit system, why is everything labeled as 32 bit since I upgraded to W10?)

Edited August 27, 2015 by macfoo

[GrantSP]

Umm... why is Oblivion.esm not checked?

[macfoo]

don't know.  noticed that on maybe my 3rd reinstall.  every time i reinstall, first time i run the launcher, this is default.  i can't figure what would cause that to happen, and i dont think i ever before looked at the data files pane on a fresh install, so no clue what it should look like.

[GrantSP]

Enable it. The game won't run without it.

[macfoo]

oh yeah i know, do it every time.

[hishutup]

hmm, I think we're all missing something.

Can you post the inis, I dont care that they're vanilla, I just have a feeling.

Enable it. The game won't run without it.

I think all the older games do this, it loads regardless.

[SynthetikHD]

I've gone through the guide 4-5 times now while working on it with a clean install of Oblivion each time and Obliviion.esm is always unchecked the first time in the launcher and Wrye Bash, it either checks itself or will load even if unchecked.

 

 

(probably unrelated: if I am on a 64 bit system, why is everything labeled as 32 bit since I upgraded to W10?)

Many programs still aren't 64-bit yet sadly, you can have a 64-bit OS and still run 32-bit programs.

 

Though you seem to have a lot of programs running in the background, I would turn off UAC, any firewalls, anti-viruses, and programs like CCleaner that could be messing with the Oblivion files or any gaming applications. Literally just turn off everything you can and see if it runs, probably restart though before you turn everything off.

 

Also before you said you tried messing with the compatibility modes, try making sure you haven't left the .exe accidentally in Windows 95 mode or anything and make sure it's off.

[macfoo]

only thing i have touched on this ini is the intro movies.

 

https://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=04393631631803325156

[SynthetikHD]

I think what hishutup is going to recommend is changing the following lines as such:

[Archive]
SInvalidationFile=

SArchiveList=ArchiveInvalidationInvalidated!.bsa, Oblivion - Meshes.bsa, Oblivion - Textures - Compressed.bsa, Oblivion - Sounds.bsa, Oblivion - Voices1.bsa, Oblivion - Voices2.bsa, Oblivion - Misc.bsa

 

Also try the things I said.

[macfoo]

Synthetik--

 

tried everything you suggested - you can guess the result by now =(

 

except, not sure what you mean by compatability mode, don't remember saying that?

 

so, I have continued to purge my pc of everything I can think of (good bye, win10 apps!), cleaned, repaired, disabled, etc.

 

now, I have again deleted everything oblivion related to prepare to try a new install, but, before I reinstall, is there anything any of you are curious to see on my pc?  anything you can think of outside oblivion that might toggle this program when I start to download it?

 

I do have skyrim + mod manager + LOOT still, all for my skyrim build.  I did, earlier install a 2nd copy of mod manager, before I ever found the mythic dawn guide, and had started to try to mod oblivion that way, before realizing wrye was a better way to go and following MD, and I have deleted everything related to that I can find and think of.

 

I won't reinstall until I get some feedback here, and then when I do reinstall, I can try to show you everything untouched before I try to run oblivion for the first time.

[SynthetikHD]

Oh, thought you said you tried running as administrator and putting the .exe into compatibility mode, guess not.

 

I would follow the beginning of the guide exactly, making sure you do the "If You Have Modded Oblivion Before.." section before you reinstall. Then try launching after you finish the Oblivion Launcher Options section.

[hishutup]

I think what hishutup is going to recommend is changing the following lines as such:

[Archive]

SInvalidationFile=

SArchiveList=ArchiveInvalidationInvalidated!.bsa, Oblivion - Meshes.bsa, Oblivion - Textures - Compressed.bsa, Oblivion - Sounds.bsa, Oblivion - Voices1.bsa, Oblivion - Voices2.bsa, Oblivion - Misc.bsa

 

Also try the things I said.

Not necessarily, one this is did notice is that SArchiveList doesnt exist.

Lets try this ini

[macfoo]

yeah i noticed it was missing too when i added synthetiks edits. 

 

i am gonna start install now, try to launch fresh install with your ini 1st thing in the morning.

 

if this helps: the 1st time i tried to install the guide, i did the archive invalidation steps, but then i ran into problems with the install when i got to QTP.  don't remember the issue but it wasnt loading right.  read around in various forums and some people said that step wasnt needed any more, so I deleted everything, reinstalled, and on my 2ng go I did not bother with archive invalidation, and I did not unpack each mod to project either, and everything went fast and smooth until the very end when i started messing with better/open cities.

 

lol i feel like i'm in an episode of house and who knows what random thing i'm not telling you is the stupid little piece needed to solve the puzzle.

[macfoo]

tried launching fresh reinstall with hishutup's ini...

 

...you can guess the result by now.

 

thanks for your effort, especially synthetik and hishutup -- I really appreciate it.  but I don't want you to continue wasting brainpower on a lost cause.  i might just bite the bullet and reformat my entire pc, probably just play something else for a while and try to get this bad taste out of my mouth.

 

ugh.