Game corruption when setting base directory to a relative path

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The problem:

I have only tried MO2 with Skyrim, so this problem may or may not be limited to Skyrim.

When I convert the base directory setting to a relative path MO2 throws errors in the UI:

[2024-01-09 07:10:45.685 E] failed to open directory '\??\..\..\Windows\Series - Elder Scrolls\Elder Scrolls 5 - Skyrim\downloads': {PathNotFound}Thepath%hsdoesnotexist. (0xc000003a)

The actual value I specified is: ../../Windows/Series - Elder Scrolls/Elder Scrolls 5 - Skyrim and that value appears correctly in the ModOrganizer.ini file under [settings] section.

The more practical problem is that Skyrim becomes unplayable. The game will open properly to the main menu. If you then select a new game it will hang on the loading screen forever. I have narrowed the problem down to exactly this one relative path. The problem persists even after disabling all mods for the game. I can enable absolutely everything and keep everything else a relative path and the game will load perfectly fine only if this one base directory path is absolute.

To Reproduce:

Steps to reproduce the behavior manually in the ini file.

1. Close out of MO2.
2. Open the ModOrganizer.ini file in any editor.
3. Find the section [settings].
4. Change the value of base_directory from an absolute path to a relative path and save the change.
5. Open MO2.

Steps to reproduce in the UI.

1. Open MO2.
2. Click the settings icon, Screw driver crossed over a crescent wrench at the top of the application.
3. In the dialogue that opens click the Paths tab.
4. Change the value of Base Directory to be a relative path.
5. Click OK at the bottom of the dialogue.

Environment:

• Mod Organizer Version that exhibits the issue: 2.5.0
• Last Mod Organizer Version that did not exhibit the issue (if applicable):
• Desktop OS/version used to run Mod Organizer: Windows 10 (10.0.19045).

Details:

If necessary, describe the problem you have been experiencing with more details and pictures.

Link to Mod Organizer logs:

Right click on the log window at the bottom of MO2, set log level to debug, restart Mo2 and reproduce the problem.
To access the log files you can press the Open folder icon over the modlist and select "Open MO2 Logs folder".

USVFS:

https://gist.github.com/prettydiff/6608172c48d8efe6aa06428f3c6568c1

MO Interface:

https://gist.github.com/prettydiff/616e52e2398366852de1d91072c4258f

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I will note that I can convert absolutely everything else to relative paths and everything else works perfectly. It is only that one value I cannot convert.

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Also, how should I specify a Windows network share for the base_directory value, even if absolute? Using something like the following in the UI fails to load any of my mods: \\network\games\Skyrim. In the ModOrganizer.ini file that would become: \\\\network\\games\\Skyrim.