When MO2 first launches:

The following steps occur in this order when ModOrganizer.exe is launched:

1. LOG ..\Nolvus Ascension\MO2\logs\mo_interface.log is generated.

• This log shows the command line used to launch MO2. You can use this to verify that the right MO2 is open (the one in the Nolvus folder structure).
• This file also shows MO2’s data path - not to be confused with Skyrim’s data folder - and should be the \Nolvus Ascension\MO2 folder.

2. LOG ..\Nolvus Ascension\MO2\nxmhandler.log is updated.

• This log is updated if MO2 is configured to be the handler for Nexus download links. A new line is added to this log every time MO2 is run.
• Not usually useful for troubleshooting, but can show the number of times MO2 has been run since it was installed (count the number of lines in the log).

3. LOG ..\Nolvus Ascension\MO2\logs\usvfs*.log is generated for the session.

• Filename will have a date & time stamp. Example: usvfs-2024-01-28_18-40-42.log
• At first this log only contains initialization information for the Virtual File System (VFS) library. The VFS itself is not yet loaded for the game; when it is, the log will be updated.

4. The last active MO2 instance (not to be confused with Nolvus instance) is loaded. There should only be one instance, called “Portable.” If MO2 cannot find this instance, it prompts for one to be created or a new one to be selected.

• See MO2 is white / no Nolvus mods listed below.
• NOTE: Sometimes, especially if a user has had a previous copy of MO2 installed, the last active instance will be their global instance which does not exist anymore. This generates a “select another instance” error which users often do not report. If they generate a new instance, a generic load order with no mods and MO2 light mode (white background) will be created.

5. The last active profile for the instance is loaded. The profile name for the “Portable” instance is “Nolvus Ascension. The folder for this profile is:..\Nolvus Ascension\MODS\profiles\Nolvus Ascension\

6. MO2 loads four text files from the instance folder:

• a. MO2 reads from plugins.txt if it exists; generates it if not
  • i. This file shows all ESP, ESM, or ESL plugins loaded into the data folder, except for the base game and CC files.
  • ii. Plugins with an asterisk * are activated and will load when the game starts. Those without an asterisk are in the data folder but inactive (unchecked in the right-side panel of MO2).
• b. MO2 reads from loadorder.txt if it exists; generates it if not.
  • i. This file lists only the active plugins in the right-side panel of MO2, and does include the base game and CC files.
  • ii. This can be considered an accurate representation of the actual plugin load order that will be used when running the game.
• c. MO2 generates modlist.txt.
  • i. This file is a list of all installed mods (left-side panel of MO2) including base game and CC files.
  • ii. Mods with a + are active; mods with a - are inactive.NOTE: An inactive mod means its plugin(s) (ESP/ESM/ESL) and any resource files (BSA/DDS/NIF/INI, etc.) are NOT being loaded.
  • iii. This can be considered an accurate representation of the actual mod load order (and file override priority) that will be used when loading the game - but they are listed from the bottom up.
• d. MO2 generates archives.txt.
  • i. his file is a list of all BSA files that are referenced based on the installed mods whose resources will be used when loading the game.
• e. NOTE: Any time a mod or plugin is installed, uninstalled, checked (enabled), or unchecked (disabled), these text files are immediately updated.

When clicking RUN in MO2

The following steps occur in this order when clicking Run in MO2:

• 1. MO2 attempts to load the Virtual File System (VFS).
  • a. This runs usvfs_proxy_x86.exe and uses usvfs_x86.dll and usvfs_x64.dll. All of these files are in the \Nolvus Ascension\MO2 folder.
  • b. Any or all of these files can be considered malicious by certain AVs.
  • c. LOG: ..\Nolvus Ascension\MO2\logs\usvfs-*.log is updated (Example: usvfs-2024-01-28_18-40-42.log).
    • i. Out of memory in tree errors appear in this log but are a NORMAL part of operation.
    • ii. If you review this log, check toward the bottom for “proxy run successful” to see if the VFS actually launched.
    • iii. You can also check for multiple lines at the bottom which indicate success: usvfs dll 0.5.6.0 initialized on process #####
• 2. MO2 runs the selected executable.
• 3. If Nolvus was selected, it looks for NolvusLauncher.exe in the ..\Nolvus\Instances\Nolvus Ascension\MO2 folder. (If the file is missing or the path is wrong, an error will be shown.)
• 4. NolvusLauncher.exe will then run SKSE.
  • a. This runs SKSE64_loader.exe from the STOCK GAME folder.
  • b. This file is occasionally considered malicious by certain AVs, but this is less common.
• 5. SKSE64_loader runs and attempts to launch SkyrimSE.exe
  • a. This loads skse64_steam_loader.dll from the STOCK GAME folder.
  • b. This next loads skse64_1_5_97.dll from the STOCK GAME folder.
  • c. If Steam is not running, this step will often cause vanilla Skyrim SE Launcher to appear instead of the modded game.
  • d. LOG: skse64_steam_loader.log is generated. Not usually useful for troubleshooting
  • e. LOG: skse64_loader.log is generated in the Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition\SKSE folder. This log shows the paths to skse.ini and SkyrimSE.exe it is trying to load, which should both be under the STOCK GAME folder structure
    • i. NOTE: This is a good log for troubleshooting issues where MO2 immediately unlocks itself. This is generally due to anti-virus interference but can also be a permissions issue with SKSE64_loader.exe, as indicated by this message at the end of the log file:
• 6. SkyrimSE.exe is then launched, loaded by SKSE which registers its “plugin listener” and starts loading plugins.
  • a. LOG: skse64.log is generated. This shows all of the SKSE Plugins (generally .dll files) that SKSE loads as soon as the game starts. (For example, the Skyrim Upscaler is one of the earlier plugins to load, which is why an upscaler crash often happens so soon on startup).
    • i. This log is not usually useful for troubleshooting, but feel free to open yours and get an idea of how many SKSE plugins there are and which ones they are.
    • ii. NOTE: As SKSE loads its plugins, the screen may not have even turned black yet (to indicate Skyrim starting), or it may have just turned black.
• 7. ReShade begins to load from dxgi.dll in the STOCK GAME folder.
  • a. LOG: ReShade.log is generated. After some initial parameters, this will show a line such as: [25972] | INFO | Running on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090.
  • b. You can look for this line to confirm what GPU someone is using if they don’t know, though there are other ways to do this.
  • c. Otherwise, this log is not usually useful for troubleshooting.
• 8. As SKSE continues to load plugins, MANY additional .log files are generated with various pieces of information.
  • a. These include DynDOLOD, ENBHelperSE, hdtSMP64, MCO, Papyrus Extender, JContainers64, and many more.
  • b. All of these log files can be found in the [MyDocuments]\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition\SKSE folder, though they are not usually useful for general troubleshooting.
• 9. Steam begins to load the Game Overlay Renderer (which controls what you see when pressing shift + tab in game).
  • LOG: GameOverlayRenderer.log in the \Program Files (x86)\Steam folder. Not usually useful for troubleshooting.
• 10. Shortly after all of the above, the screen should go black. At this point the GPU drivers are engaged. Resolution is applied. The game begins to load data files and resources, while ENB begins loading/caching as needed. Within a few seconds, the “snowy” main screen should load.
  • a. LOG: Papyrus.0.log will be generated only if the user has Papyrus logging enabled in Skyrim.ini (very uncommon). The log can be found in [My Documents]\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition\Logs\Script.
  • b. After creating a new game or loading an existing one, the papyrus log continues to be generated as all the mods load their settings and perform their tasks. This log continues to be updated until the player quits the game.

MO2 symbols and meanings:

NOTE: None of these are errors except for the missing masters (red triangle) icon. Some users interpret the lightning bolts as errors; to be fair, MO2 does call this column “conflicts,” but they are not errors.

Description

This may be reported as “Vanilla Skyrim is launching when I run Nolvus.” The key symptoms of this error are MO2 being in light mode (white background) and no Nolvus mods are showing - only the core game and CC files.

Known Cause(s):

• The wrong MO2 instance was selected or a new generic one was created when MO2 couldn’t find the previous instance it was looking for.
• Sometimes the correct instance (“Portable”) appears to be selected but the instance paths are wrong (cause for which is still unknown).
• In rare cases, a user may have tried installing MO2 themselves, or even removing the MO2 that comes with Nolvus and trying to reinstall it. This removes the plugins.txt and modlist.txt files so even Apply Order will not help, and the list will need to be reinstalled.

Troubleshooting

• 1. Click the Instance Manager button in MO2, or go to: File -> Manage Instances…
• 2. Select Portable
• 3. Click Switch to this instance
• 4. If the steps above do not work, go back into the Instance Manager screen and confirm the paths are correct.
• 5. NOTE: The paths cannot be changed from the above screen. If any of these paths need to be adjusted, close the Instance Manager and go to Tools -> Settings -> Paths tab and modify them there:

Description

After clicking run, MO2 may show “Not Responding” in the title bar and a blank error message.

Known Cause(s):

• Anti-virus and active file protection software can sometimes cause this freeze as it “aggressively” blocks the VFS from running.
• There may be other unconfirmed causes as well

Troubleshooting

• Add exceptions for the Nolvus folder, disable, or uninstall the interfering anti-virus software.
• Try launching MO2 as Admin
• Try un-hiding the SKSE menu option from the executables drop-down and use that to launch instead of “Nolvus”

Description

When clicking Run in Mod Organizer, the game does not launch. MO2 may show a brief loading bar and even Lock, but may immediately Unlock.

Known Cause(s):

• The first thing MO2 does after clicking Run is attempt to load the Virtual File System (VFS). Anti-virus or active file protection software is known to interfere with this.
• If the VFS is able to run, sometimes SKSE64_loader.exe is still unable to run, usually because of anti-virus interference or a permissions issue on the computer. One of the top culprits for this is Windows Controlled Folder Access being enabled.

Troubleshooting

• Confirm if Mod Organizer 2 is locked or not. (And make sure they are not clicking Unlock themselves.)
• If MO2 is locked:
  • Advise that launching Nolvus may take between 2-10 minutes depending on PC specs - and the first launch is always the longest..
  • If they are nervous or unsure, have them open Task Manager and confirm that their Skyrim client is running
  • If 10 minutes have passed or their Mod Organizer 2 has unlocked
• If MO2 is unlocked:
  • Verify if Mod Organizer 2 is immediately unlocking after pressing Run.
  • If MO2 is unlocking itself the primary cause of this is due to antivirus software.
  • Advise them to disable or add the entire Nolvus folder as an exclusion. Uninstalling may be required in certain cases - this is most common with particular antivirus like Webroot… shudder
  • If informed that they have no other antivirus (other than Windows Defender), advise them to add the entire Nolvus folder as an exclusion there
  • Next, ensure that Windows Controlled Folder Access is off: This is the second most likely reason for MO2 immediately unlocking itself.
    • Open Windows Security Control Panel
    • Select Virus & Threat Protection
    • Select Manage Ransomware Protection
    • Switch Controlled Folder Access = Off
  • Check the Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition\SKSE folder for skse64_loader.log. If it has this message at the bottom, it means something (Controlled Folder Access, Anti-Virus, or Windows permission issue) is preventing SKSE from running:
  • If the above does not work, they may need to install the .NET 5.0 SDK and Visual C++ Redistributables items from here.

Description

This error message from EngineFixes.dll appears when attempting to launch Nolvus from MO2. Pay special attention to the line number listed (187) as this entry is specific to that error

Known Cause(s):

• One potential solution is related to using OneDrive for personal folders in windows.
• Another potential cause may be errors or corruption in the SKSE logs folder
• A rarer potential cause may be errors or corruption in the files of the SSE Engine Fixes mod itself, even files that go missing for some reason.

Troubleshooting

• Go to the ..\Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition\SKSE folder and delete all of the log files within. (With Nolvus there may be 140+) Then open MO2 and try running Nolvus.
• In MO2, Open SSE Engine Fixes in section 1.2 BUG FIXES & TWEAKS. Check the Filetree tab and make sure all four files exist (screenshot below). If not, right-click the mod and choose reinstall.
• Try the OneDrive related steps
  • Open Windows Explorer and Right-click on the Documents folder (the one in quick access)
  • Select Properties and then Location
  • If you see the path is still OneDrive, try to restore default.
  • If that doesn't work, follow the steps in this article

Description

This error box will appear when attempting to run Nolvus from MO2, usually after MO2 has already reported errors with SKSE plugins when it opened.

Known Cause(s):

• This happens when MO2 is unable to load SKSE plugins, which is usually due to missing prerequisites (Visual C++ Redistributables and .NET 5.0 SDK).

Troubleshooting

• Make sure that the Nolvus Dashboard requirements (.NET 5.0 SDK and Visual C++ Redistributables) items from here are installed
• Important: After both are installed, reboot, then open Windows Update settings and Check for Updates. Install any pending updates, as some of them may apply to these prerequisites. (One of the leading causes of this error is having both prerequisites installed but not updating them).

Description

This error appears in MO2’s error notifications window when it starts up.

Known Cause(s):

• Same as above “Po3’s Tweaks is required for FormList Manipulator to work” - prerequisites of Visual C++ Redistributables and .NET 5.0 SDK are not installed or not updated by Windows.

Troubleshooting

• Same as above “Po3’s Tweaks is required…” error. Install both prerequisites, reboot, and run Windows Update to ensure they’re updated.

Description

This error appears in MO2’s

Known Cause(s):

• This happens if you try to launch skyrim from MO2 when a SkyrimSE.exe instance is already running.

Troubleshooting

• 1. Close it first (maybe kill the Skyrim process in the Task Manager)
• 2. Close MO2
• 3. Restart MO2
• 4. Restart the game from MO2