Modding tools not functioning

[jstubbles]

Hey guys, it's been a while!
I was wondering, have any of you had issues with the converter tool in the mod tools not working? I've tried untinstalling/reinstalling Nexus as well but that didn't help.

Basically, all of the mod tools function, except for converter. When I launch it, the windows cursor changes like it's loading, and "converter.exe" shows up in the windows task manager processes menu, but it never really launches. There's no GUI, no taskbar program to click on, nothing. I'm at a loss here :|

[The Old Dragon]

Hey there JStuubbles, long time, no see.

Although I've had errors with the other editors (such as the command shortcuts not working if I alt-tab out and back in), I've not had this happen, I'm afraid.

First thing that I can suggest would be to try an alternative mod tools pack on the basis that yours is somehow corrupted? DreamorCZ posted a download on ModDB here...

http://www.moddb.com/groups/the-nexii/downloads/nexus-mod-tools-plus

The only other time that I've seen something like that is when a program has crashed (or even failed to launch) but windows still thinks that it's running in the processes. So I've had to open up the task manager and track down the relevant .exe file and terminate it manually.

Other than that, I'm in the dark with you

[jstubbles]

Yeah, I've tried nuking the folder and installing that download version earlier, but it didn't work =\

It's really strange. It's acting like it loads, the cursor changes to the loading symbol for a few seconds, then nothing. But the process is running in task manager....

It worked fine before I reformatted, so I don't know what's going on. I'm still running the same OS. The only difference is that I'm using an SSD hardrive now but that shouldn't matter at all.

[Arparso]

Hm... tried creating a new blank mod folder, selecting that in the mod tools and starting the converter then? And made sure that it has proper read/write access to the mod folders, if Nexus might be installed in C:\Program Files\?

I'd also try reinstalling DirectX, preferably the version that came with Nexus, if there was DirectX included in the install. Maybe some old D3DX library now missing after your reformat, if you also reinstalled Windows?

Other than that, I don't have a clue.

[The Old Dragon]

Tried some of google's magic on the problem, only found one entry that sounded like what you've got, so far. The short version appears that it may be a conflict with the UAC... maybe worth chasing down if you haven't already.

Here's the thread, though...

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-windows_programs/program-doesnt-open-exe-shows-up-in-processes-tab/2f855f70-54cb-421e-923f-aa87cf1231fc

[jstubbles]

Arparso, I have Nexus on Steam, so it just installed whatever was there. I went online and tried to installed the oldest Dx runtimes from the Mircrosoft site, which were from 2006. But the converter still didn't work It shows up in processes but doesn't run.

Dragon, thanks for looking that up. I tried all three suggestions and none of them worked.

I guess I'm done modding for Nexus

[The Old Dragon]

Hmmm, if possible, do you have an older machine / OS that you can try installing Nexus on?

Other than that, is there anyone else you can ask to do the conversions for you? At least then you'd have the option of working on Nexus.

[jstubbles]

Nah, I don't have another machine to test it on.
I've tried everything I can think of, short of reformatting again. I've installed virtual env installs of Windows, which had the same result. Tried multiple DX installs, C++ runtimes and a bunch of other crap I found online. Nothing worked.

Strange thing is, when I run the model viewer and load a mesh, it uses the damn converter to convert the textures. So the converter IS working. I just can't get that damned UI to work and it's pissing me off!! I'm at a loss here. I would just load models into the viewer to convert textures, but it won't give me the options to tweak compression, create bump variants and such.

Also, Arparso was awesome enough to help me out quite lot today. He also tried virtual OS installs and clean installs of Nexus - he got the same results from the converter. It loads into the processes tab in Task Manager but that's it - it never showed up. So at least it's reproduceable.

When I have more time, maybe next weekend, I'll format again. If that doesn't fix it, I'm done with Nexus.

[jstubbles]

You'll love this, though. I still have my old windows 7 install hooked up on my old RAID array. So, I decided to boot up that install instead. Guess what? The converter WORKS.

WHAT.THE.HELL.

Could there possibly be a conflict with having those harddrives connected still? I don't see how. I uninstalled and reinstalled the game while running Windows on my SSD drive. I don't get it :|

They are both windows 7 installs. Only thing I can think of is that one of the windows updates did something. This version I'm on right now is the old one and needs 26 "important" updates and 42 "optional" updates. I think I installed everything on my other SSD install. I dont even know where to start troubleshooting this :|

[jstubbles]

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Sovled it
The harder the problem, the easier the solution, I tell ya. I spent the ENTIRE DAY trying to solve this issue, got nothing done. And what did it boil down to? The converter apparently gets graphics card driver conflicts. I installed an older driver that my other windows install was using (about 3 months old) then BAM - converter UI is working perfect again.

It's unfortunate I didn't get any work done today because I was troubleshooting it, but at least now it's working and I know how to fix it in the future. Thanks for all the help!

[GeoModder]

Good to hear the tools are functioning for you again. 
More BSG, or were you thinking of something else entirely? 

[The Old Dragon]

Nice work, I've also made a note of it on the wiki's bug page.

[jstubbles]

Nice work, I've also made a note of it on the wiki's bug page.

Still doing BSG. Screw NBC

Dragon - thanks!

[jstubbles]

So, this solution really isn't going to work.

I'd have to run year old drivers in order to run the converter tool. That's going to cause issues with other programs and games.

Do any of you know if it's possible to put together a newer converter tool? Can the current EXE be decompiled and re-worked at all?

This is a dealbreaker for the BSG mod

[Arparso]

The texture format is simple enough, so writing a new texture converter would be possible. The trickiest parts would be to include DXT compression and normal map generation (from those provided bump maps), but that should be manageable.

Models are a problem though. I've reverse-engineered most of the model format so I'm able to extract most useful info from a model file - like geometry, material information and probably even animations (haven't yet tried to extract animations, but I know the format they're stored in). However, I don't know EVERYTHING stored in these model files and there's quite some data I can't yet put my finger on for what it's used in Nexus. Because of that, creating a model converter will be difficult or even impossible unless someone figures out the missing pieces.

-----------------

On a side note: does the model viewer still work? I ask because the model viewer converts models and textures on the fly and stores them in a /temp/ subfolder in Nexus. That could be used as a temporary workaround: open your .lwo/.lws model in the model viewer and then grab the model from the /temp/ folder and copy it to the correct location.

... cumbersome if you want to convert lots of models / textures, but at least it's something.



PS: What graphics card do you use, anyway? Just asking, because it works fine here for my even with the latest drivers (using AMD HD7870).

[jstubbles]

I've got an Nvidia GTX770

Thanks for the tip on model viewer, I'll give that a shot later!