FAQ: BSAs

Note! Tamriel_Data no longer uses BSA files; it is now shipped as an archive of loose files instead. Hence, the below does not apply any longer. If you are having issues with errors or missing meshes and textures, try re-installing the latest version of Tamriel_Data.

Frequently exclaimed statements

  • I installed Tamriel Rebuilt and I keep seeing exclamation marks everywhere!
  • I'm getting “actor has no animation class” errors!
  • I coc to Firewatch and my game crashes after a ton of error messages!
  • I'm getting crazy error messages about missing meshes and missing items.

Frequently provided solutions (outdated as of Tamriel_Data v10.1)

In short: Your BSAs are almost certainly not registered, so Morrowind can’t find them. If you do not know how to register BSAs, please see this video [Youtube], read this installation guide, or read through the Nexus page for Tamriel Data [Nexus Mods].

In detail: For all future steps, keep in mind that a Bethesda Softwork Archive file is merely an archive with an internal hash for each individual file. It can be created or unpacked with the correct tools [UESP] if everything else fails.

Check your basic setup

Tamriel Rebuilt requires you to register three new BSA files. After you completed all the installation steps for Tamriel Data, your Morrowind.ini should contain at least the following entries in its [Archives] section:

[Archives]
Archive 0=Tribunal.bsa
Archive 1=Bloodmoon.bsa
Archive 2=PC_Data.bsa
Archive 3=TR_Data.bsa
Archive 4=Sky_Data.bsa

Take note that the order in which the BSAs are placed does not matter. You merely need to tell Morrowind that resources it can use are available in these files.

If you have made sure these entries were made correctly, there are some further pitfalls you may be falling into:

You might be using OpenMW and forgot a step

OpenMW [OpenMW], the free software reimplementation of the original Morrowind engine, does not use Morrowind.ini directly. Instead, the Morrowind.ini file is used as a template to populate openmw.cfg, OpenMW’s actual configuration file.
In order to properly register BSAs with OpenMW, you need to either re-import your edited Morrowind.ini via the OpenMW Wizard or simply use the Archive files tab in the OpenMW launcher to tick all three needed BSAs:


The Archive Files tab should show three new BSA files added in addition to the vanilla ones. You need to tick them all.

You might have misnumbered your archives

The following is correct:

[Archives]
Archive 0=Tribunal.bsa
Archive 1=Bloodmoon.bsa
Archive 2=PC_Data.bsa
Archive 3=TR_Data.bsa
Archive 4=Sky_Data.bsa

The following is not correct, as it contains two entries with number 3, meaning one of them will not be read:  

[Archives]
Archive 0=Tribunal.bsa
Archive 1=Bloodmoon.bsa
Archive 2=PC_Data.bsa
Archive 3=TR_Data.bsa
Archive 3=Sky_Data.bsa

You might have Morrowind installed in C:\Program Files

Morrowind is an ancient game created long before the current file protection schemes were created. As such, it tries to read and write its Morrowind.ini in the folder you installed it into, which does not work properly in modern computers due to writing protection.

In this case, while you have a Morrowind.ini in your Morrowind folder, the Morrowind.ini that your game is actually reading is instead contained in your user's AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\Bethesda Softworks\Morrowind folder, which is hidden by default.  

Either edit this Morrowind.ini instead or move your Morrowind install folder outside of C:\Program Files.

Mod Organizer 2 might be overriding your manual edits

Some of the more recent mod managers, most notably Mod Organizer 2, revert all changes done to the Morrowind.ini file that were not done through their interface.

Mod Organizer 2 maintains mod "profiles", virtual file systems with a corresponding custom ini. It automatically discards everything that is not part of a mod profile by tricking Morrowind into loading its virtual file system instead of the one which is actually on your harddrive.

To properly register your BSAs, you will need to go through Mod Organizer 2's INI editor:


Open your INIs for editing, edit as usual, then confirm that it saved correctly.

You are falling victim to Game Pass' file permission restrictions

While games rented on Xbox Game Pass state that they are compatible with modding, users report that this is not the case when using Morrowind.exe for mods such as Tamriel Rebuilt, the Graphics Extender (MGE), or even the nowadays essential Code Patch (MCP).

It appears that the engine has limited file access rights and simply cannot read the BSAs. As such, Morrowind will spam the usual errors as if the BSA had not been registered properly.

Running Morrowind from an OpenMW installation with mods installed in a different folder [OpenMW docs] has been reported to work.

You have updated to Tamriel_Data version 9.0+ but have forgotten to re-register the BSAs

Starting in Tamriel_Data version 9.0, we needed to split our BSA files into three due to increasing file sizes, instead of the two in previous releases. Make sure you have de-registered the old PT_Data.bsa and registered the new PC_Data.bsa and Sky_Data.bsa