unable to reinstall the game after 'unable to load' skin bug

S_Northman

As explained here, I had the unable to load skin error.

I tried the steps 1 to 4 of this help
https://help.elderscrollsonline.com/#en/answer/66127
Bug still there

Then I tried to desinstall the game in Steam (step 5 of the help), and to reinstall it directly

I downloaded the installer Install_ESO from my ESO account, to install the game outside Steam
This installer doesn't work, I have the same error unable to load skin immediately after starting the installer !!!

Then I tried to reinstall from Steam.
There I was able to download the files.t
But when I push on the 'Play' button to finish the installation, the 7z SETUP SFX starts and extract, but quits immediately just after, with the unable to load skin error

Finally I am unable to reinstall the game either in Steam or directly from ESO installer.

The complete description is here in French
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/fr/discussion/675702/erreur-unable-to-load-skin-impossible-de-reinstaller-le-jeu-et-impossible-de-faire-un-ticket#latest

I made the ticket 250406-002860

S_Northman

The description of the bug is here
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/674955/summary-unable-to-load-skin-error#latest

S_Northman

Finally, after about 60 retries, 7z was able to uncompress the Launcher file.
Then the installer was able to start and make something.
After that, again the load skin error
Then after again 20 or 30 tries, the launcher accepted to start, patched something, and I was able to enter the game.

The conclusion is that steps 1 to 5 of this help do not solve the issue 'unable to load skin'
https://help.elderscrollsonline.com/#en/answer/66127
Steam or not Steam neither is the issue.

Then I have now a correct installation as before, but the initial bug is still there.

There is really something about the way the launcher connect to the server, and randomly fail.

S_Northman

Update

No effect of these different actions: run the Launcher in administrator mode, make exceptions in windows defender or firewall, lower the performance of the PC, and so on.

1st answer of the support to my ticket 250406-002860
'do that https://help.elderscrollsonline.com/#en/answer/66127'
Although in my ticket I said I already tried all that.
None of the 1-4 steps corrects the bug, step 5 is very dangerous because there is a risk to be unable to reinstall the game.
Step 6 is not useful, this bug has nothing to to with Steam. Players not using Steam have the bug, and the bug is present when starting the Launcher from the game installation file without using Steam.

2nd answer of the support, more interesting
Support gave me a link to download a zip file including the Launcher
named ESO_Launcher_custombuild_0812.zip
I unzipped, put the files in my game installation file.
This version of the Launcher started correctly immediately at the first try without the error
Then the Launcher immediately updated itself
And after that, the updated version doesn't start correctly with the 'unable to load skin error' again
There is definitely something to look at in this update or the update processus.

With the same PC, there was no problem before some of the Launcher / game updates.

I'm waiting for a new answer from the support.

Waiting for that, there is this insane temporary fix to force the Launcher to start. Described in this topic (method 1)
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/670331/unable-to-load-skin-error-when-starting-eso-launcher#latest

Maybe ZOS shoud consider to go back to a previous version of the Launcher, waiting for understanding what happens for some players and finding a fix.

S_Northman

I found a similar issue for a set of games from Jarex, using a launcher as well. I don't play their games, but with Google I found many testimonies of players having the 'unable to load skin' issue with this launcher (onreddit for instance). The proposed fixes are very simliar to what is proposed for the ESO Launcher
https://www.jagex.com/fr/
https://windowsreport.com/jagex-launcher-host-unable-to-load-skin/
I tried all these fixes adapted to ESO, nope.

A the contrary I have several others games using Luanchers, as Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077, Conan Exiles, ... No problem with their launchers.

And for ESO, I find every day new testimonies by affected players.
https://www.reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/comments/1fsuuoc/problems_with_reinstalling/
https://www.reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/comments/1gev1w8/anyone_else_having_launch_issues_on_steam/
https://steamcommunity.com/app/306130/discussions/0/141136086939107014/?l=spanish&ctp=4
https://www.partitionwizard.com/partitionmagic/eso-launcher-not-working.html
https://www.keengamer.com/articles/features/troubleshooting/7-ways-to-fix-elder-scrolls-online-not-launching-on-windows-pcs/
and so many others ...

What I found new in these posts are fixesbased on C++ reinstallation, start windows in safe mode, network reset
Didn't try yet.

cryptiecopb14_ESO

I had a similar issue months ago and went into my BIOS and disabled the Intel Speedstep and Intel Speedshift ...

Never have had the "unable to load skin" issue since.

Try that.

S_Northman

Thanks

Saw that hint in some topics, for instance
https://steamcommunity.com/app/306130/discussions/0/4342113141665069864/
It has something to do with Intel core I9 techno.

I didn't do that yet because I'm not a pro in IT, and I'm afraid to enter the BIOS.
I will look for a tutorial

I have a question. Did that affect the global performance of your PC ?

And a remark. if it is really that the root cause, I can't understand why ZOS is not able to design a launcher code dealing with that techno.

And I have another suggestion to ZOS.
So many players are annoyed with this launcher issue, and can't start the game they paid for.
Why not to provide a rescue solution: at each update of the game, they could provide a link to download an exe with the patch for the game.
Bye bye launcher.

And another think I don't understand, it's why my PC with the same BIOS didn't have this issue before. It happened about 1 month ago after some ESO and W11 updates. And I don't have this issue with other games and launchers.

cryptiecopb14_ESO

S_Northman wrote: »

Thanks

Saw that hint in some topics, for instance
https://steamcommunity.com/app/306130/discussions/0/4342113141665069864/
It has something to do with Intel core I9 techno.

I didn't do that yet because I'm not a pro in IT, and I'm afraid to enter the BIOS.
I will look for a tutorial

I have a question. Did that affect the global performance of your PC ?

I've not noticed any issues performance wise.

Also, getting into BIOS is pretty easy ... just reboot the system and press F2 when the small menu
pops up on the screen.

You will need to cycle through some areas to find the speedstep and speedshift and it's a simple
turn it on/off setting.

Hope that helps

S_Northman

Thanks very much again

Inspired by that, I just found this trick.

I select 'high performance' instead of 'equilibrate' in the settings of W11 (system / power management)
I reboot the PC
Immediately after opening my session, I launch Steam, and press PLAY for ESO: the launcher starts at the 1st or 2nd try!
But after that, if I close the Launcher, I'm not able to start it again.

Tried the trick 3 times, it works.

Then it seems that this issue is indeed very related to power management and the charge of the CPU.
I guess that at the opening of the session, the CPU works a lot, and is not idle as it is the case after some times if you don't do anything.

I will try that more, and after that I will have a look at the BIOS settings.

I guess that the other trick (select the Launcher exe and press Enter and maintain it until the window apper) is the some principle: charging the CPU with multiple actions.
I saw also a player who starts a huge download to charge the PC, and then starts the launcher.

All these tricks seem based on charging the CPU before starting the Launcher, and then I has basically the same effect that disabling Speed test which lower the frequency.

I think the issue appeared for me when I updated W11 to 24H2. It would be interesting to have a look if this update did something on power management.

S_Northman

Bingo

Type this in google:
windows 24H2 change power management

and you will see!

I'm suspecting that the bug appeared for me after this W11 update

S_Northman

This trick seems definitively working


I select 'high performance' instead of 'equilibrate' in the settings of W11 (system / power management)
I reboot the PC
Immediately after opening my session, I launch Steam, and press PLAY for ESO: the launcher starts at the 1st or 2nd try!