Help: BF4 moved using Steam mover and now can't install or play

[Monty007]

Need some help:

 

Last night I went to move my BF4 folder from my 2TB platter drive to my 256GB SSD.  I looked online and Steam mover came up as a good recommendation.  It was supposed to create symbolic links to keep everything the same but to move the data to where I want it to.  It moved it but gave me an error (generic) in the end.  Now I go into Origin and try to repair/install - keeps going in a loop.  I deleted everything on both drives that had anything to do with BF4 and download from scratch.  Still going in a loop of showing install.  I tried repair, I tried deleting everything and downloading from scratch.  I think it has something to do with the symbolic links that steammover created when it did this.  It keeps saying Install, I click it and it sayd completed.  Then shows install again.  And on and on it goes....

 

I'm hoping someone has some guidance for me.  I have a pretty big Origin library.  I only want BF4 on the SSD and the rest to stay on the platter drive.  I'm tired of getting the very last and worst loadouts in BF4.

 

Thanks in advance!!

[qwertywarrior]

edit

nvm

[Scionyde]

I'm assuming all Steam Mover does is handle all the mklink stuff for you automatically? Deleting everything BF4-related on both drives should've removed the symbolic link, so you shouldn't have any issues, to my knowledge. Double check that you've removed everything, and maybe uninstall Steam Mover? *shrug* In the future, maybe you should just do all the mklink stuff yourself, it's pretty quick and painless.

[werto165]

steam mover works on steam games .......

Just copy the game into C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\

[LogicalDrm]

Easiest way to move stuff is to copypaste folders. Works with both Origin and Steam. May require to repair/verify cache.

[schwat]

Yeah, deleting the folders in both location should remove the symbolic link. Perhaps you can try changing the origin install directory to a different folder on your mechanical drive in origin's options & then trying to install battlefield 4. If that works you can move the install back to your normal directory & change the settings back. 

 

I also use steam mover to move BF4 to my SSD but what I do first is create a backup copy on my mechanical drive. Sometimes you run into errors when moving 40GB worth of crap & typically if that happens when using Steam Mover stuff gets corrupted. After having to re-download the whole game once I learned my lesson.

 

Another thing maybe try opening steam mover & see if steam mover still shows the junction point like in this pic:

 

 

If so try to move it back & you should get an error since the files aren't there but it should also delete the symlink.

[Monty007]

thanks for the quick responses guys.  Schwat, I tried it and it doesn't find it at all.  Logic, I agree - just do it the old fashioned way.  Werto, I'll try and move it to that directory - I know that is the origin default.  When I initially had this issue and ran out of space on the SSD I copied it all to the platter drive and clicked repair in Origin and pointed to the new directory and it fixed it almost instantly.  I'm wondering if it creating the problem because I'm trying to have BF4 in one place and everything else on another drive.

[Lord Gaben]

Try deleting the links steam made or manually move bf4 into the installation location of games for origin

[Monty007]

So I have an update. Last night I tried everything that was suggested. I even went as far as uninstalling Origin completely. Downloaded everything again ( which really sucked) and had the same problem. I then moved everything back to my platter drive and it worked. It doesn't make any sense and is really disappointing but at least I can play again.

If anyone else has another suggestion I'm all ears.

Thanks!

[schwat]

You try copying the folder to your SSD & creating symbolic links manually? Odd that you're having issues with steam mover though. 

 

This page shows several ways to go about creating symbolic links. Either using a utility or through command prompt: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/16226/complete-guide-to-symbolic-links-symlinks-on-windows-or-linux/

[Monty007]

You try copying the folder to your SSD & creating symbolic links manually? Odd that you're having issues with steam mover though. 

 

This page shows several ways to go about creating symbolic links. Either using a utility or through command prompt: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/16226/complete-guide-to-symbolic-links-symlinks-on-windows-or-linux/

Thanks!  I'll try that.  So do I have to link each file in the folder?  Seems like I might have to.

 

I appreciate all of you trying to help me.

[schwat]

Thanks!  I'll try that.  So do I have to link each file in the folder?  Seems like I might have to.

 

I appreciate all of you trying to help me.

 

 

No need to link all the individual files, just the top level folder. Basically think of a symlink as a forwarding address. Like you want to physically move houses but still get mail at your new location without having to tell EVERYBODY your new address. 

 

 

This is how I would do it:

 

1) Create a new folder on your SSD that you will use for your game. For this example lets call it C:\Game

 

2) Create a copy of your Battlefield 4 folder on your mechanical drive. Place this somewhere safe, it's just for backup incase something goes wrong. Lets say your default location is D:\Origin Games\Battlefield 4. Make a new folder D:\Backup & copy the whole BF4 folder there so you end up with D:\Backup\Battlefield 4.

 

3) Copy the "Battlefield 4" folder from your origin directory to your new folder on your SSD. Using the folder examples you would be moving the folder "Battlefield 4" from D:\Origin Games to C:\Game so that you end up with C:\Game\Battlefield 4

 

4) Delete the folder from your origin install directory (D:\Origin Games\Battlefield 4). You should still have 2 copies of BF4 at this point. The one you copied to your SSD (C:\Game\Battlefield 4) & the backup you made (D:\Backup\Battlefield 4). You should NOT have a Battlefield 4 folder in your Origin Games directory now. This is important because the folder will be created when creating the link.

 

5) Use a utility or command prompt (run as admin) to create a symbolic link that points from where your BF4 folder in origin used to be (D:\Origin Games\Battlefield 4) to BF4 folder on your SSD (C:\Game\Battlefield 4)

 

Using the folders I used in this example this is how you would format the command in command prompt:

 

mklink /J "D:\Origin Games\Battlefield 4" "C:\Game\Battlefield 4"

 

The way the syntax works is you put the folder to be created first & then the actual folder you're linking to second. You need quotation marks if there are spaces in the file path.

 

What this command will do is create a new folder D:\Origin Games\Battlefield 4 & link it to the actual game you have stored in C:\Game\Battlefield 4. When you go to D:\Origin Games you should see Battlefield 4 folder that looks like this: 

 

 

 

That little arrow indicates it is linked. If you click that folder and it's not empty then it worked. Should look like this:

 

 

Even though my actual install lives here:

 

 

 

Edit: Sorry for the giant wall of text. Let me know if you have any questions.

[Monty007]

Thanks Schwat. Will try tonight. Have encountered another problem. It BF4 is trying to install the expansion pack and seems to download it but never updates the game. Just hangs at the screen saying updating with 24,492 MB of 25,525MB. It is the China rising expansion. The repair function is not available in the submenu