Forum Discussion

AwesomeHulkc4's avatar
AwesomeHulkc4
Rising Traveler
11 days ago
Solved

Directory Junctions for Mods folder no longer functioning after recent update

Product: The Sims 4 Platform: PC / Windows 11 Reproducible: Yes, 100% of the time since the latest patch.

 

Description: Prior to the most recent update, I utilized a Directory Junction (mklink /J) to host my 105GB Mods library on an external drive (E:) while linking it to the game directory on my system drive (C:). This is a standard practice for players managing limited internal storage.

 

Since the update, the game no longer recognizes the linked folder. Upon launching, the "Viewed Custom Content" list is entirely empty. If the link is removed and a physical folder is created on the C: drive with the same mods, they load correctly. This indicates the game's file-system crawler is now ignoring symbolic links or failing to parse the directory depth through a junction.

 

Impact: My system drive has less than 150GB of total space. Forcing a 105GB mod folder onto the C: drive leaves less than 45GB for Windows operations, page files, and game cache, significantly degrading system performance and making smooth gameplay impossible. This issue likely affects a large portion of the community who rely on external storage for high-capacity CC libraries.

 

Requested Action: Please investigate why the game engine is no longer following directory junctions for the Mods and User Data folders. Restoring compatibility for these links is essential for players with standard internal storage configurations.

mods
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    10 days ago

    AwesomeHulkc4​  So that we're talking about the same thing, please let me know whether a symbolic link to a Sims 4 folder works when it's here:

    C:\Users\your username\Documents\Electronic Arts

    or here:

    C:\Users\your username\OneDrive\Documents\Electronic Arts

    Please also let me know what you mean when you say this:

    AwesomeHulkc4 wrote:

    Even when the link is active, the game appears to 'bypass' it and generate a fresh, physical directory on the C: drive.

    If the symlink isn't where the game creates the new folder, then that's where the symlink needs to be.  If the two ARE in the same location, that is extremely weird behavior—Windows shouldn't be allowing it.  In that case, please let me know where this is happening.

    I'm not sure why you'd get an Access Denied message when entering a command to create a symlink in either location unless OneDrive was being weird about permissions.  And creating one should never cause a LiveKernelEvent of any kind.  I do see the errors in your dxdiags, but they're kind of obtuse and not useful without a crash dump.  However, creating a symlink is simply creating a very small file, so I can't see how it would trigger either of these errors without an underlying system issue.  Unless... is it possible there was some leftover process still running from moving the Sims 4 folder elsewhere?  Restarting your computer after moving the folder and before trying to create the symlink should fix that.

4 Replies

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    11 days ago

    AwesomeHulkc4​  Does the game work if you create a junction/symbolic link for the entire Sims 4 user folder?  Linking only the Mods folder has always been unreliable, but I haven't seen anything to indicate that the entire user folder can't be redirected elsewhere.

  • AwesomeHulkc4's avatar
    AwesomeHulkc4
    Rising Traveler
    10 days ago

    Thank you for the suggestion. I have considered linking the entire user folder; however, my testing indicates that the root of the problem involves how the game now parses directory depth and handles OneDrive-managed paths since the update.

     

    Even when the link is active, the game appears to 'bypass' it and generate a fresh, physical directory on the C: drive. Furthermore, I've noticed that the update has significantly tightened the allowed 'levels' for mod loading. Because a junction or symlink technically adds a layer to the file path, my script mods (which must be at Level 1) are being pushed to Level 2 in the eyes of the game engine, causing them to fail even if the link technically 'points' to the right place.

     

    With 105GB of content, moving the entire user folder via a symlink often triggers 'Access Denied' or 'LiveKernelEvent' errors in my DxDiag, especially with OneDrive active. At this stage, only a physical folder directly on the C: drive seems to be recognized by the game’s startup crawler. Is there any known change to the game's file-system permissions in this patch that would explain why it is now prioritizing local physical directories over established Windows junctions?

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    10 days ago

    AwesomeHulkc4​  So that we're talking about the same thing, please let me know whether a symbolic link to a Sims 4 folder works when it's here:

    C:\Users\your username\Documents\Electronic Arts

    or here:

    C:\Users\your username\OneDrive\Documents\Electronic Arts

    Please also let me know what you mean when you say this:

    AwesomeHulkc4 wrote:

    Even when the link is active, the game appears to 'bypass' it and generate a fresh, physical directory on the C: drive.

    If the symlink isn't where the game creates the new folder, then that's where the symlink needs to be.  If the two ARE in the same location, that is extremely weird behavior—Windows shouldn't be allowing it.  In that case, please let me know where this is happening.

    I'm not sure why you'd get an Access Denied message when entering a command to create a symlink in either location unless OneDrive was being weird about permissions.  And creating one should never cause a LiveKernelEvent of any kind.  I do see the errors in your dxdiags, but they're kind of obtuse and not useful without a crash dump.  However, creating a symlink is simply creating a very small file, so I can't see how it would trigger either of these errors without an underlying system issue.  Unless... is it possible there was some leftover process still running from moving the Sims 4 folder elsewhere?  Restarting your computer after moving the folder and before trying to create the symlink should fix that.

  • AwesomeHulkc4's avatar
    AwesomeHulkc4
    Rising Traveler
    10 days ago

    puzzlezaddict​ 

    Thank you for the guidance earlier. I’ve tested further and can confirm that creating a symbolic link for the entire Electronic Arts folder (rather than just the Mods subfolder) works correctly. Linking only the Mods folder was indeed unreliable, but redirecting the full user folder resolves the issue.

    The “Access Denied” and “LiveKernelEvent” errors I mentioned previously were not caused by The Sims 4 itself, but by conflicts with OneDrive. My first two DxDiag reports showed those errors because my Documents folder was still managed under OneDrive. After uninstalling OneDrive and restoring my Documents path to the default C:\Users\Admin\Documents, the errors disappeared and the game now recognizes the redirected folder without generating a duplicate on the C: drive. My latest DxDiag (attached as DxDiag3.txt) reflects this improved stability.

    So in short: the issue is resolved by linking the full Electronic Arts folder in the proper location, and by removing OneDrive from the equation. I appreciate the feedback that helped me narrow this down and get everything working smoothly again.

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