FAQ.md

FAQ

Where Are Logs Stored?

Logs are written to the active instance's logs/ folder, beside its ModOrganizer.ini. The log panel can open that folder.

Does Removing an Instance Delete My Files?

Not by default. It removes the profile from the menu, and gives you the option to delete it if you want to.

Do I Need to Install 9 Million Different Dependencies?

No, the dependencies are handled by NaK! If there is something missing I will gladly add it to the list. This also includes WINEDLLOVERWRITES as well!

How Do I Set Up Fluorine Before Playing?

Open Settings > Compatibility, select a Proton version, choose the prefix location (or keep the default), and click Set up now. Wait for setup to finish installing the Windows components before launching a game or tool.

Do I Need to Configure FUSE Permissions?

FUSE mounts are accessible only to the mounting user by default; no change to /etc/fuse.conf is needed. To share an instance's mounts with other users (including root), enable Settings > Compatibility > Advanced > Allow other users to access FUSE mounts (allow_other). This takes effect on the next FUSE mount, enforces file permissions, and does not affect USVFS launches.

If user_allow_other is missing, enabling the checkbox offers to add it to /etc/fuse.conf through your desktop's administrator authentication dialog. Fluorine never receives your password. Existing configuration is preserved, and the checkbox stays off if authentication is cancelled or the change fails. No authentication is needed if the directive is already enabled.

The host permission remains enabled if you later turn the checkbox off or cancel Settings; each instance still controls whether its mounts use allow_other. If polkit or a desktop authentication agent is unavailable, or the system configuration is read-only, an administrator can enable user_allow_other manually in the host's /etc/fuse.conf.

Does First-Time FUSE Indexing Read Every Mod File?

Fluorine builds its mount index from file paths, sizes, permissions, and filesystem timestamps. New and changed files do not need a full content hash before mounting. BSA/BA2 member lists are read from the archive directories and cached using each archive's filesystem identity and timestamps.

Directory scanning still takes time, especially with many small files, but indexing no longer needs to read every gigabyte of mod contents. This is a file inventory, not an integrity check. Content verification remains in file promotion operations; overlapping files without verified hashes are not reported as identical.

Can I Enable Kernel FUSE Passthrough?

There is no passthrough option yet. Kernel passthrough could reduce overhead when games read files after mounting. It does not accelerate building the initial file index.

The Linux passthrough interface currently requires CAP_SYS_ADMIN. It also requires consistent passthrough opens and a shared backing file for each open inode. Fluorine's write handling can change a file's backing location to staging on its first write, so simply enabling passthrough for read-only handles would conflict with that behavior. Supporting it needs coordinated backing-file and copy-on-write handling, plus a privilege arrangement that keeps the desktop application unprivileged.

Does It Work with Existing Modlists?

Yes, it can parse Wine paths and read them out as Linux paths in the GUI. It will also save the paths as wine paths in case you move to MO2 via proton/wine.

To open an existing portable instance, run ./fluorine-manager --instance /path/to/instance/. The directory should contain its ModOrganizer.ini.

And all the buttons like associate with mod manager downloads button and MO2 OAuth also works.

Why Does Fluorine Install LOOT 0.29.1?

The managed Windows LOOT download is pinned to 0.29.1 for Proton compatibility. Newer LOOT releases changed their Wine runtime requirements; see issue #187. Fluorine verifies the download and prepares the replacement before replacing an existing installation. Cancelling a download keeps the previous installation.

Why Is Bethesda Plugin Manager Disabled?

Fluorine automatically disables the Bethesda Plugin Manager extension at startup because its replacement Plugins panel conflicts with the workspace. The built-in Plugins tab remains available, including in setups that previously enabled the extension. Settings > Plugins shows the reason it cannot be enabled.

This is a runtime compatibility block: the extension's files and saved settings are preserved. It does not disable your game's ESP, ESM, or ESL plugins.

Does UTF-8 Support Change My Game's Language?

Fluorine uses UTF-8 for Wine's Linux filenames so mods can contain names from multiple languages at once. Explicit launch locale settings take priority. Otherwise, Fluorine uses Steam's selected game language when available. For GOG and other installations without Steam language metadata, it reads the Bethesda-style [General] sLanguage setting from the INIs used by the selected profile. A matching game Custom.ini can override the main INI. Profile-specific INIs are used when enabled; otherwise, the game's normal INIs are read.

When applying a game language, Fluorine removes conflicting inherited locale categories from the child process. It leaves the desktop environment and game INIs unchanged. If neither source supplies a recognized language, it preserves the host's language and region while upgrading the encoding to UTF-8 (for example, ja_JP.SJIS becomes ja_JP.UTF-8). Empty, C, and POSIX defaults become C.UTF-8. Games with other language-configuration formats can use an explicit launch override.

To explicitly select a Wine locale for an executable, set HOST_LC_ALL=ja_JP.UTF-8 (or another language's UTF-8 locale) in its executable's wrapper options. This works without Steam and is Proton's locale override. It does not install game translations or fonts. Fluorine prepares this environment before launch and marks it with SteamEnv=1 so Steam does not reset it to ASCII; no locale preload helper or system-wide locale change is needed.