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About this mod
The Skyrim SE forums here on the Nexus are chock full of people asking for help with their CTDs (Crash-To-Desktops) and freezes. I decided after posting in a half dozen of these threads, that it would be better to just publish a guide on how to diagnose and fix CTDs.
- Permissions and credits
CRAP - Crashes Ruin A Playthrough:
A Guide on CTDs and How to Fix Them
The Skyrim SE forums here on the Nexus are chock full of people asking for help with their CTDs (Crash-To-Desktops) and freezes. I decided after posting in a half dozen of these threads, that it would be better to just publish a guide on how to diagnose and fix CTDs.
This guide is mostly comprised of excerpts from my various forum posts. There isn't really anything to download, but I might put together a text document for anyone who want access to this offline.
Well, I want to keep this short and sweet, so let's just dive in.
CTD Before the Main Menu Can Mean:
CTD When Certain Sound Files Play Can Mean:
CTD In Combat Can Mean:
CTD In a Particular Area Can Mean:
CTD At Random Times Could Mean:
CTD When Interacting With Object or NPC Could Mean:
How to Use Log Files to Diagnose a CTD:
Things to Do Once You've Found Your Problem Mod:
Some Recent Examples of CTD Issues I Fixed in My Own Game:
Good luck!
Mel
A Guide on CTDs and How to Fix Them
The Skyrim SE forums here on the Nexus are chock full of people asking for help with their CTDs (Crash-To-Desktops) and freezes. I decided after posting in a half dozen of these threads, that it would be better to just publish a guide on how to diagnose and fix CTDs.
This guide is mostly comprised of excerpts from my various forum posts. There isn't really anything to download, but I might put together a text document for anyone who want access to this offline.
Well, I want to keep this short and sweet, so let's just dive in.
CTD Before the Main Menu Can Mean:
- Your load order is messed up. Use LOOT to sort it.
- A mod is missing a required master file. If you are using Mod Organizer 2, plugins with missing master files or dependencies are flagged with a red warning icon. You may need to install other required mods to fix this problem.
- You have a corrupt SKSE .DLL file installed, or a .DLL for another version of SKSE.
- You have multiple .DLLs from mods that are not playing nicely together. For example, I have heard that some HRTF .DLL sound mods do not play nicely with others like the .NET Framework mod's .DLLs.
- Assets for a main menu replacer mod are corrupt.
CTD When Certain Sound Files Play Can Mean:
- A mod adds corrupt sound files to your game.
- An HRTFsound mod is not working nicely.
- You have a sound driver/playback bit rate issue. (This was a problem on some versions of Windows with Oldrim. I haven't had any problems on SE though.)
CTD In Combat Can Mean:
- Animations aren't set up properly. If you have combat animation mods that require a framework like FNIS, make sure you have installed the animation mod correctly; for FNIS this means running the FNIS For Users .EXE with the proper options.
- Corrupt texture problem. The most notable example of this would be spider venom textures. In Oldrim there were some issues with the particle textures that would cause crashing whenever a spider would "spit" at you. Make sure any Oldrim mods you use have been ported properly; some texture mods do not play well with Skyrim SE.
CTD In a Particular Area Can Mean:
- An NPC in the area has messed up headparts. Reinstall the problem mod, or generate FaceGen files for the mod in the CK.
- You may have a corrupt mesh installed. This can happen when Oldrim mods aren't ported properly to SE. You'll have to use trial and error (disabling groups) of mods in your mod organizer, or isolate (rename/remove temporarily) mesh folders from your data folder. A missing mesh won't generally cause a CTD (it will display as a red and white exclamation point in game).
- You may have a corrupt texture installed. This can also happen when Oldrim mods aren't ported properly to SE. Use the same procedure as above to isolate/identify the problem mod. A completely missing texture won't generally cause a CTD (it will cause things in game to display with shiny purple textures).
- A mod deleted or made changes to a NavMesh in the area, causing a crash when NPCs try to utilize it. I loved a variant of the Immersive Patrols mod, but it caused persistent crashing in certain areas of the Rift, so I had to disable it. Use trial and error to isolate/identify problem mod.
CTD At Random Times Could Mean:
- Memory issues - too many script heavy or VRAM heavy mods. Doesn't happen too often for me on Skyrim SE though; instead I find that the Infinite Load Screen issue occurs instead of CTD in the case of memory usage issues. You really should be using SSE Engine Fixes and SSE Fixes to help with memory issues. If you use both, make sure the INIs are set up to play nicely together.
- A timed scripted event is causing a crash. This happened to me one time in Morrowind; a mod that ran a script on a timer crashed the game whenever the script was run. I figured out the problem based on the crash happening at the exact same time in the playthrough regardless of place.
CTD When Interacting With Object or NPC Could Mean:
- A script on that entity could be problematic.
How to Use Log Files to Diagnose a CTD:
- There is a common misconception that the game's Papyrus logs can be used to diagnose crashes. This may sometimes be true, but only if crashes relate to scripts; Papyrus logs relate to the internal script system of Skyrim SE and nothing else.
- You CAN, however, use log files to diagnose CTDs. Many mods, especially those that utilize .DLL files, have their own event and error logging systems. If you have SKSE and other mods that require it, like SSE Engine Fixes (which you probably should be running) those mods generate their own logs, which can be useful.
- The single most useful mod for diagnosing CTDs is actually meh321's .NET Framework mod. I have just discovered that this mod generates detailed CRASH logs and highlights many potential sources of CTDs right within those logs. I am using Mod Organizer 2, and for me these crash logs are generated in the Mod Organizer 2\overwrite\NetScriptFramework\crash folder because by default this is where newly generated files end up when running the game or utilities through MO2.
- Many other mods will put their log files in your Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition\SKSE folder if they depend on SKSE. SSE Engine Fixes, for example, puts its log here.
- Some mods put their log files right in your Skyrim Special Edition install folder, alongside the Skyrim SE .EXEs. Some will also put their log files in your Data\SKSE\Plugins folder. Check all these locations for logs if you are diagnosing a CTD.
- So, in the above I have already referred to many CTDs and their solutions, or how to get an idea of which mods are causing the problems. In this section we will discuss how to ABSOLUTELY isolate CTD issues to a mod or group of mods. This is a painful and possibly slow process depending on how many mods you have installed, but it's how it has to be done.
- This method is for reproducible CTDs: in other words, CTDs that always happen on certain events or in certain areas. Random CTDs are MUCH harder to track down, for those your best best to to try to find the problem with log files, or by isolating mods that you installed when you had a stable game.
- First, uncheck ALL your mods and make sure the game will run just will the base game and expansions. If it won't, mods are the least of your worries. Reinstall the game or verify files on Steam.
- If the base game runs, we know our CTD is related to mods (probably). Check HALF of your mods and try to run the game. Try to reproduce your CTD. If you can't, it means it is likely coming from the OTHER half (the unchecked mods) of your load order.
- Check half of your remaining UNCHECKED mods and try to run the game and reproduce your CTD again. Continue this process. If at any time you get your CTD, it means that one of the mods you just checked is the cause. Keep going until you can isolate your CTD to (usually) a single mod.
- Note that just because you isolate your CTD to a single mod, this does not mean that this mod is 100% certain to be the issue. It could be some kind of mod conflict with another mod in your load order. DON'T go running off to the mod author complaining that their mod is crap; it probably isn't their fault.
Things to Do Once You've Found Your Problem Mod:
- Once you have traced a CTD to a problem mod in your load order, the first thing you should do is check the mod's web page and dig around on google. Others may have had the exact same problem and already found a fix, patch, or workaround.
- Worst case scenario, if there is no fix, you can remove the mod if there are instructions for doing so in a safe manner on the mod page.
- If there are not instructions for the safe removal of a mod, try going to a point in your save list prior to installing the mod, if such a save exists. You've lost some game time, but hopefully things will be better going forward.
Some Recent Examples of CTD Issues I Fixed in My Own Game:
- I was having persistent crashes whenever I got close to Dawnstar. I did not have any Dawnstar-related mods installed, so I had to do the trial and error method of unchecking mods by groups. It turns out that a corrupt mesh in a Dark Brotherhood armor replacer mod was causing the crash, even though I hadn't even started the Dark Brotherhood quest line! Since the DB replacer mod I was using was only meshes and textures, I was able to uninstall it mid-playthrough with no problems. No more Dawnstar CTD.
- I was having crashes when playing the excellent Project AHO mod. There were two CTDs I was having; one happened right at the beginning of the mod when you get taken into the city. This was a skeleton incompatibility issue and replacing the custom skeleton meshes in Project AHO fixed it. The other CTD happened whenever I used the Dwemer swords added by the mod. Their meshes are problematic on some computers. I simply manually replaced the mesh files for these swords myself with meshes from another sword mod and the problem was solved.
- I was having some crashes while testing a certain follower mod. The main follower immediately summons another follower when you enter the cell; I was having an instant CTD about one second after entering the cell. Turns out the head parts were messed up on the second follower, so when she spawned... instant CTD.
- I was having some freezes when certain sounds would play. I have only one major sound mod, an HRTF sound enhancer mod which uses a .DLL. Turns out after reading around that this .DLL doesn't play nicely with certain other .DLLS. In this case, I had to choose which to keep.
Good luck!
Mel