You cannot save right now

[Lord Ariakas]

hi guys, I am not sure what the hell is this , modding for years and never seen anything like this. The game tells me "you cannot save right now" when I try to save. (message appears in top left corner) When I load up the game I can save, sometimes I play for 30 -50 min and able to make new saves, but inevitably all of a sudden the dreaded message appears and I have to restart (and lose everything since my last save) so it is very intermittent, but frequent. Cannot be permissions or hard drive space problem (I have loads) because sometimes I can save sometimes not. 

 

If I restart the game I will be able to save again.

 

Anybody has any idea what this could be? 

[Carabosse]

There are some in game things that will block saves. Being in a menu. Is it possible you have a mod that is making it appear as though you are still in a menu? Never heard of that happening though. Also doesn't being in combat prevent saves? At least in some difficulties. You could have a combatalarm stuck on you or a companion.

[Lord Ariakas]

hmm interesting, this is what I thought too, normally this happens when you are in a middle of a jump or something, but I am not. For example I go into a cell where there are no enemies, change my character via racemenu or just arrange stuff in my inventory and suddenly "you cannot save right now". No enemies, I am not in air, no combat music...I do not understand. I am playing on survival, but have flashy's advanced needs, so console is enabled, I try to save via console (save command) or smoking (survival smoke mod which saves the game after you finished with the cigarette) in both cases saves are blocked,) I am using win 10 btw, I don't know if that helps.

[Lord Ariakas]

Edit: Ok problem solved. Hud caps mod breaks the saves. After removing it save function returned to normal. Thanks for the help.

[IceBlazeWinters]

On 4/8/2020 at 12:51 AM, Lord Ariakas said:

Edit: Ok problem solved. Hud caps mod breaks the saves. After removing it save function returned to normal. Thanks for the help.

what do you mean by hud caps?

 

i have a very bad recurring problem where i can not save my game, the saves are grayed out, or it just straight up says: you can't save right now.

[izzyknows]

33 minutes ago, IceBlazeWinters said:

what do you mean by hud caps?

 

i have a very bad recurring problem where i can not save my game, the saves are grayed out, or it just straight up says: you can't save right now.

HUDCaps.. known to break saving.

[IceBlazeWinters]

2 hours ago, izzyknows said:

HUDCaps.. known to break saving.

yeah, i don't have that mod at all. and i have nothing but save problems:

 

this is my problem:

saves are grayed out
game saves but doesn't register
you cannot save right now

 

my fallout 4 is located on my g drive
windows defender controlled folder access has never been turned on
game is modded
steam cloud is turned off
no workshop active
no combat active
no jumping
no open pip-boy/pip-pad

 

because of the save problem, i'm unable to play the game past sanctuary, red rocket, concord.

 

i don't know if red rocket has anything to do with the save problem, but it usually happens around that area, either before going to codsworth, or after dealing with sturges in sanctuary.

 

can't test if it happens in other areas due to not wanting to do large amounts of playing, only to lose it all.

 

fallout 4 load order.txt

Edited October 25, 2021 by IceBlazeWinters

[Sgt. Marge]

@IceBlazeWinters

- make sure you don't have steam cloud saving enabled / steam cloud full

- try using Start Me Up to skip the intro

- make sure you aren't inadvertently getting switched to "survival" mode in the difficulty settings

- disable mods in groups of 10

- test different areas using the alternate start mod linked above

 

Unless someone comes through and is able to spot the issue, it might be necessary to trouble shoot it a group of mods at a time.

Edited October 25, 2021 by Marg597
I hit the button too soon lol

[IceBlazeWinters]

1 hour ago, Marg597 said:

@IceBlazeWinters

- make sure you don't have steam cloud saving enabled / steam cloud full

- try using Start Me Up to skip the intro

- make sure you aren't inadvertently getting switched to "survival" mode in the difficulty settings

- disable mods in groups of 10

- test different areas using the alternate start mod linked above

 

Unless someone comes through and is able to spot the issue, it might be necessary to trouble shoot it a group of mods at a time.

i already said that steam cloud is turned off.

 

and i can not use any kind of alternate start mods, because they all conflict with the nora companion mod.

[Sgt. Marge]

2 hours ago, IceBlazeWinters said:

i already said that steam cloud is turned off.

 

and i can not use any kind of alternate start mods, because they all conflict with the nora companion mod.

 

There's a report in the Start Me Up thread where someone is using both the Nora companion mod and Start Me Up.  But either way, the main reason I suggested it, is that it makes testing various locations much easier. 

 

Your Fallout install may be on your G drive, but what folder are the saves being stored?

 

If you start the game and spawn in and wait a minute and save the game, are you able to load that game?

 

Another suggestion, if you don't want to use alternate start.  Disable most everything except for the bare essentials like looksmenu (or just make a completely unmodded run outside), and get yourself to sanctuary, make a save, then exit.  Then make a copy of that save file and store it in another folder.  That way you have a clean start outside and passed the vault and you can use that to begin, with your mods enabled.  There are people that say it's best to not enable your mods until you get out of the vault, because of the way the some of the mods initialize before that. 

 

With that said, the only other recommendation is to test your mods to see which one is causing the problem (unless it's something that Windows is doing, like if your saves are going to a folder on your C drive that windows is protecting, or your antivirus is preventing the save from writing, etc.)

 

Other than that, maybe someone can take a look at your mod list and notice something else.  I've only been playing Fallout 4 for a few months so I don't know the mods as well as I do for Skyrim.

 

Edit:

 

Other suggestions to try:  Start the game as administrator, add the game exe and process to exceptions (yes, the instructions below use the skyrim exe as an example but it's the same principle, you would want to add the f4se loader exe and the game exe as a file and process exception)

 

Edited October 26, 2021 by Marg597

[IceBlazeWinters]

i'm able to save after loading a new save after restarting the game, but it bugs out pretty damn quick.

 

and my saves are being place in documents, which i just found out is in the c drive.

 

but controlled folder access has never been turned on in windows defender, and i uninstalled mcaffee almost 2 years ago. and i frequently update/restart/shutdown my desktop.

[Sgt. Marge]

46 minutes ago, IceBlazeWinters said:

i'm able to save after loading a new save after restarting the game, but it bugs out pretty damn quick.

 

and my saves are being place in documents, which i just found out is in the c drive.

 

but controlled folder access has never been turned on in windows defender, and i uninstalled mcaffee almost 2 years ago. and i frequently update/restart/shutdown my desktop.

 

 

Well if you haven't checked it recently, try checking it again.  Maybe a windows update turned it back on.

 

It's either a windows being lame problem or a mod doing weird stuff problem.  May as well completely rule out windows first (start game as admin / add exceptions / check file access etc).   But if you go through that and it still doesn't work right... I know it's a pain to disable a handful of mods at a time, it sucks, but sometimes that's the only way to figure stuff out if google search is failing to provide an immediate answer and the issue is apparently different than the resolution which started this thread. 

[IceBlazeWinters]

i only play the game as admin with f4se, and my cfa has never turned on since i've had my computer

[IceBlazeWinters]

so here's what i've done so far:

 

went into compatibility

set the f4.exe to run as admin

set f4launcher.exe to run as admin

set f4seloader.exe to run as admin

 

then i did this:

searched the net to disable onedrive

had to install group policy editor

set onedrive to never use as file storage

 

after doing all that, my damn game crashed while modding a shock collar remote trigger, so i didn't get to see if it'd save in the normal problem area.

[IceBlazeWinters]

just fucking great, my game is once again, not letting me save and disabling saving

[Sgt. Marge]

44 minutes ago, IceBlazeWinters said:

just fucking great, my game is once again, not letting me save and disabling saving

 

Have you tried turning off Windows "Real-time protection" (disabling this is temporary, Windows eventually turns it back on again after a short time) and then see if the save option shows up again?

 

What game difficulty mode are you using in the game setting?

[IceBlazeWinters]

3 hours ago, Marg597 said:

 

Have you tried turning off Windows "Real-time protection" (disabling this is temporary, Windows eventually turns it back on again after a short time) and then see if the save option shows up again?

 

What game difficulty mode are you using in the game setting?

very hard.

 

and it's doing it at red rocket truck stop outside of sanctuary, just like last time.

[Sgt. Marge]

13 minutes ago, IceBlazeWinters said:

very hard.

 

and it's doing it at red rocket truck stop outside of sanctuary, just like last time.

 

Ok, but did you try the first part of that?  What happens if you go back in with real time protection disabled, does it let you save?

 

It's very clear that in the past, as is the case with the original issue in this post, that a mod can cause this behavior.  So if you've gone through everything else, it might be time to start taking a look at your mods.  I'm only suggesting this again because I haven't seen you acknowledge that you checked this.  But if you haven't yet, here is a good game plan:

 

* During this process, keep track of which mods you are disabling in each step.  This is an important part of the process.  If you don't keep track it makes it very difficult to narrow it down.

 

- Disable half your mods, making sure to keep enabled any requirements for the remaining mods

- Test the game for a bit, past red rocket.  If you can continue to save, then start again by making a new save, but this time enable half the mods you just disabled, again checking to be sure you are consistant with those mods requirements.

- Test again, see if you can still save passed the area.

- Rinse and repeat until you narrow it down.

 

If you do the first step, but still can not save passed that area, then it is time to continue on.  Again, make a new save each time you test.  Keep disabling 50% of the mods until you get to a point where you can test and save.  Even try it a second time, to be sure.  Then you start enabling by 50% the last group you disabled.

 

I know this is a daunting process, and it might take 2 or 3 more hours of troubleshooting, but you could get lucky and find it on the first batch you disable.

[0utlaw]

Yeah I've just run into the same issue. Mine is intermittent, I've not been able to isolate which mod is causing it to break but the save blocking bug occurs so rarely maybe once every 2-3 hours of game time, and I lose everything from that point back to the last successful save, and then it goes away and pops up again 3 hours or so later.   Very strange.  Tried to manually force save with ` save "savegamename" but even that is blocked by the same error message "you cannot save right now".

[0utlaw]

OK back again, for my issue I've found what caused it.  Some clothing mods are running scripts which somehow block saves.  So everytime I had some armor on it blocked my save, as soon as I removed it then i was able to save again.  Completely insane, for me it was the HALO armor mods, for someone else it was another clothing mod.  Hopefully this helps. 

[IceBlazeWinters]

6 hours ago, 0utlaw said:

OK back again, for my issue I've found what caused it.  Some clothing mods are running scripts which somehow block saves.  So everytime I had some armor on it blocked my save, as soon as I removed it then i was able to save again.  Completely insane, for me it was the HALO armor mods, for someone else it was another clothing mod.  Hopefully this helps. 

by halo, i'm assuming you mean mjolnir armor.

 

only the unsc faction and the brotherhood, and the noble team mods have that armor.

 

as for me, i have no idea what causes my problems with saving.

[0utlaw]

28 minutes ago, IceBlazeWinters said:

by halo, i'm assuming you mean mjolnir armor.

 

only the unsc faction and the brotherhood, and the noble team mods have that armor.

 

as for me, i have no idea what causes my problems with saving.

 

Yep thats the one Mjolnir, specifically the helmet and only when I was wearing it.  Maybe try removing all weapons and clothing and see if you can save?  If you have any clothing or weapon related mods loaded... Best of luck to you.