NMM and virtual install

[Poet Olette]

Is anyone else having issues with NMM and its Virtual install stuff? NMM has become the most buggy thing i have ever used! Mods aren't installing, some fail to install but work afterwards, some dont install all the way, sometimes the game cant use mods from the virtual install ect.

 

This is a nightmare! This more of a rant I guess, as this is loverslab and the better place to post problems with NMM would be the nexus of course but I rather not as thats just asking for trouble.

 

Is anyone having these same issues? I hope so in a way, then i know im not crazy. First time this is happening to me and its getting to be a nightmare.

[allsunday]

I still use NMM but only because I can completely delete the virtual install folder with no problems not like Mod Organizer where it's necessary to keep. SSD space doesn't grow on trees. As far as I can tell, the virtual install folder only determines what files to remove from your actual Skyrim data folder... obviously for when you uninstall a mod.

 

It seems when you install a mod thru NMM, the files go into your Skyrim data folder and then a copy of them (or a virtual representation of them) is made in the virtual install folder. This is because NMM's virtual install folder keeps a record of what files are installed from what mod so that it knows when you're about to overwrite a mod that you may or may not want to overwrite... and asks you accordingly before doing so. The problem with this normally arises when people don't uninstall mods BACKWARDS in the order they were installed. Because no one keeps track of this and neither does NMM. So if you install mod A and then you install mod B but some files from mod B overwrote some files from mod A... but later you uninstall Mod A, you might get missing files from Mod B because Mod A erased them when it was getting uninstalled. This is just a theory and I could be completely wrong but this problem occurred to me a lot when I was using NMM for the first time, I couldn't understand why some files kept vanishing without a trace.

However, if you ever decide you want to delete your entire virtual install folder like I did... then it only makes sense if you install a new mod with NMM later on that it will completely and utterly overwrite anything and everything with the same file name... because it no longer has a virtual install folder telling it which files from previously installed mods that it's about to overwrite. Therefore, the catch for erasing your virtual install folder is that every new mod you download in the future must be examined for any files that might overwrite your pre-existing ones. Honestly, everyone should always examine a mod's files before installing it anyway. Also, nobody should be uninstalling so many mods during a play through, it'll definitely mess up your save game and cause CTDs or other permanent bugs. Simple enough, right?

 

That said, I'm almost 100% sure that your problem is that when you uninstall a mod, all of its actual files are not getting uninstalled when it's supposed to because NMM gets stupid when you start overwriting files. Which is why my real mod installer is Manually. Less third party software to work with, less problems.

 

How do you fix it? Open the problematic mods you have and ensure all files are still not lingering in your data folder. Not fun to do but it's the only way to fix it... Or just delete the game and NMM and then start over from square one.

[prinyo]

Deleting the VirtuallInstall folder does not free up space. There are no benefits from doing that, only troubles. 

A group of mods will consume the same SSD/HDD space in MO, the old NMM and the new NMM. 

 

NMM was officially abandoned in favor of the new upcoming mod manager so for now the only thing we can do it shout at the screen. 

 

[Poet Olette]

Damn. This wasn't about uninstalling mods or space for me. It was about how the mods i install using NMM have a slim chance of working. Sometimes they work, sometimes they work but are missing assets and sometimes they don't show up at all. And I've checked, all the stuff is in the virtual install folder. Also NMM has been doing some rather strange stuff lately too, uninstalling mods sometimes, not installing them at all, saying they are installed but leaving them disabled only for me to realize they aren't installed.

 

I've been having issues ever since this virtual install crap, but never this bad before. I would go back to a old version of NMM but sadly I was told downloads do not work so thats useless. I'm about to uninstall fallout 4 because its a mess and has stopped a lot of things from working and from me installing mods properly. What a piece of utter shit! Excuse my language but damn! I've been installing mods and using NMM for years so this isn't just a noob thing.

 

 

[Mercenary666]

A couple of things you need to check:

 

1. Is NMM's virtual install on the SAME drive letter as your game? If not, see #2

 

2. If NMM's virtual install in NOT on the same drive letter as your game, you MUST enable Multi HD Installation AND you MUST run NMM as Admin.

 

If none of the above applies to you, try UNINSTALLING (not disable) just ONE of the mods you're having problems with. Exit NMM and then launch NMM as ADMIN. Re-install the mod you just uninstalled and then check in-game if your issue is solved.

[Rooker]

I bought an SSD recently and reinstalled all my games to it. NMM had a hell of a time understanding what was going on and basically broke Skyrim. It refused to actually install new mods, apparently because it can't work with multiple hard drives, which seems like a really silly limitation to have in 2017. So then I uninstalled it and reinstalled it to the SSD and ended up breaking Fallout 4.

 

I finally just dumped out my data folders and reinstalled all the games (again!!) and reinstalled NMM and now the damn thing seems to be working right. Thank god I got FO4 sorted out just a few days before they released that stupid CC update that broke everything.

[VonHelton]

Here's what I do......

 

I manually install everything, then go into NMM & check mark everything. This saves it to my mods list.

 

:D :D :D