Unable to update mod on Steam Workshop - any ideas?

[jonjowett]

I'm finding it impossible to update a mod on the Steam Workshop.

When I click the "Update" button in-game, I'm immediately kicked out to the list of all mods. Nothing happens for about a minute, and then the Steam Overlay opens to the workshop page of that mod... but nothing's actually been uploaded. (There's only 1 "Change Note", from the original upload date.)

Spoiler: strange behaviour that's probably unrelated

One strange thing, that's possibly unrelated, is that CK2 forcibly updates the .mod file every time I click any "Update" button:

From:

name="ED: Tributaries"
path="mod/expanded_decisions_tributaries"

to:

    name="ED: Tributaries"
    path="mod/expanded_decisions_tributaries"
}

(IE: Add one indent and a trailing curly bracket.)

The reason this is "probably unrelated" is that it happens with every mod I attempt to upload and, as per the troubleshooting below, I can upload and update a test mod. This is not a blocking issue for other mods, so it's probably not the blocking issue for this one.

Troubleshooting steps tried so far:

• I made a virtually empty test mod, published it, and updated it - no issues.
• Nothing on the wiki seems relevant
• Set the visibility of the mod to hidden/unlisted before attempting to update - no effect
• Subscribe to the mod, unzip it, remove descriptor.mod, change the .mod back to "path" format, run the Validator, unsubscribe, run CK2, attempt to update - no effect
  • IE: Attempt to re-upload the exact same mod that was just downloaded from the Workshop
• Check the various logs for any likely-looking errors - can't see anything

My best guess at the moment is that there's something subtly wrong with this specific mod that's causing CK2 to silently fail during the upload process. (Mainly because, unlike many of the errors described on the wiki, the mod seems to be properly linked up and accessible from the in-game interface.) But I have no idea what this might be, and I'm out of ideas.

It is of course possible to perform the "nuclear option" of deleting the mod on the workshop then recreating it... but this seems a little pointless since there's nothing stopping the same thing from happening all over again.

Has anyone here experienced anything similar? Any ideas about things I could try?

 

[Aardvark Bellay]

The only idea i have that might also have prevented my own last attempt at updating (though i also have an issue with downloading) to be successful is the mods' folder and file being written differently than at time when you uploaded it beforehand.
Different words, different letters, signs, capitalization. Such things.

At least i recal that Steam might not identify the mod correctly with a different name.
Might be wrong. Just an idea.

 

[jonjowett]

The only idea i have that might also have prevented my own last attempt at updating (though i also have an issue with downloading) to be successful is the mods' folder and file being written differently than at time when you uploaded it beforehand.
Different words, different letters, signs, capitalization. Such things.

At least i recal that Steam might not identify the mod correctly with a different name.
Might be wrong. Just an idea.

As far as I can tell, Steam is identifying the mod correctly - Content > Mod > {click on mod name} (instead of clicking on "Manage") causes the steam browser to pop up on the correct workshop page.

Also, I double-checked the history on gitlab and the name hasn't changed.

 

[Aardvark Bellay]

As far as I can tell, Steam is identifying the mod correctly - Content > Mod > {click on mod name} (instead of clicking on "Manage") causes the steam browser to pop up on the correct workshop page.

Sure it works at that stage, but i thought there might be an issue later.
Maybe misremembered or maybe it had been an issue i the past and not anymore.

Also, I double-checked the history on gitlab and the name hasn't changed.

Good to know, if that means your earlier uploaded files had the same names.
Then i'm currently out if ideas.
Sadly there is usually not much feedback on Steam questions here.
Likely as it's a bit different for everyone and can be a mystery of sorts.

Back on old post quote

Subscribe to the mod, unzip it, remove descriptor.mod, change the .mod back to "path" format, run the Validator, unsubscribe, run CK2, attempt to update - no effect

I see you didn't mention if you resubscribed and tried to redownload the mod.
I suppose you did, but i'd thought to ask.
Maybe it still updated without leaving a note in the "Change Notes".

 

[jonjowett]

Good to know, if that means your earlier uploaded files had the same names.
Then i'm currently out if ideas.
Sadly there is usually not much feedback on Steam questions here.
Likely as it's a bit different for everyone and can be a mystery of sorts.

I know :-/ But thanks for trying!

I see you didn't mention if you resubscribed and tried to redownload the mod.
I suppose you did, but i'd thought to ask.
Maybe it still updated without leaving a note in the "Change Notes".

Unfortunately, I have done everything on the list several times. And the workshop shows the date on which the mod was last updated, which didn't change - it's not just the existence (or otherwise) of a change note.

I guess my next option is to look further into the various applications which seem to allow you to use the workshop for any arbitrary game. Maybe a general solution will work for me here...

 

[jonjowett]

I've been playing around with it some more, and found something interesting.

Every failure to update has a "Timeout" in Steam's cloud_log.txt; every successful update (for other workshop items) has an "OK".

Spoiler: example lines in cloud_log.txt

Location: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\logs\cloud_log.txt

[2023-01-28 22:05:08] [AppID 203770] Starting UpdatePublishedFile
[2023-01-28 22:05:08] [AppID 203770] Upload OK for file mod/expanded_decisions_tributaries_v2.zip
[2023-01-28 22:05:08] [AppID 203770] Upload OK for file mod/expanded_decisions_tributaries_v2.zip
[2023-01-28 22:05:08] [AppID 203770] YldWriteCacheDirectoryToFile - saved to 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam/userdata/{MYUSERID}/203770/remotecache.vdf'
[2023-01-28 22:05:08] [AppID 203770] UpdatePublishedFile complete, result OK
...
[2023-01-28 22:07:45] [AppID 203770] Starting UpdatePublishedFile
[2023-01-28 22:07:45] [AppID 203770] Upload OK for file mod/expanded_decisions_tributaries.zip
[2023-01-28 22:08:15] [AppID 203770] UpdatePublishedFile complete, result Timeout

cloud_log pointed me to a "remotecache.vdf" file, which can be opened in a text editor, and where every workshop mod that fails has "persiststate = 0" and every mod that succeeds has "persiststate = 1". Suspicious. Unfortunately, this file is redownloaded every time you run CK2 - simply editing it has no effect.

Spoiler: example of data in remotecache.vdf

Location: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\userdata\{MYUSERID}\203770\remotecache.vdf

	"mod/expanded_decisions_tributaries.zip"
	{
		"root"		"0"
		"size"		"18850"
		"localtime"		"1674942757"
		"time"		"1674942757"
		"remotetime"		"1674942757"
		"sha"		"99bd0c6571b8f2e4146a7f79d40e8071cdfdd6af"
		"syncstate"		"1"
		"persiststate"		"0"
		"platformstosync2"		"-1"
	}
...
	"mod/expanded_decisions_tributaries_v2.zip"
	{
		"root"		"0"
		"size"		"17935"
		"localtime"		"1674939513"
		"time"		"1674939513"
		"remotetime"		"1674939513"
		"sha"		"0000000000000000000000000000000000000000"
		"syncstate"		"1"
		"persiststate"		"1"
		"platformstosync2"		"-1"
	}

I couldn't find anything useful and recent via google, except that Steam Support might actually be responsive and help. So, I've opened a ticket. Fingers crossed!

 

[Aardvark Bellay]

I've been playing around with it some more, and found something interesting.
.....
I couldn't find anything useful and recent via google, except that Steam Support might actually be responsive and help. So, I've opened a ticket. Fingers crossed!

Interesting to read. Not that i can help with any of it or get an idea.
I had nothing to add to your last post, hence why i didn't respond in text.

Hopefully Steam support can suggest something.
I had occasionaly pretty good experiences wih it in comparison to some other tech supports, espeically once they realise they are talking with someone relatively reasonable and knowledgable. Curious to hear about the outcome.