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Bobby Comet edited this page Sep 9, 2026 · 6 revisions

Kalium FAQ

General

What is Kalium?

A Linux desktop helper (PyQt6) that sets up Mod Organizer 2 under Steam/Proton, with NXM support, game detection, Collections plugin helpers, and Skyrim depot backpatching.

Is Kalium the same as NaK?

No. NaK was an archived Rust/Slint project. Kalium is a new MIT-licensed Python app by Bobby Comet, inspired by NaK.

Where do I download releases?

https://github.com/bobbycomet/Kalium/releases


Steam/MO2

MO2 installed but no non-Steam game appears

  1. Fully exit Steam (Steam → Exit), wait, restart Steam.
  2. Settings/CLI: repair-shortcut -p /path/to/MO2.
  3. Do not leave Steam running while the shortcut is written.

Install logs show Wine fixme: / regsvr32 for a long time

Expected during first prefix setup (XACT, .NET, etc.). Wait for Kalium to report success or failure.

SKSE/DLL mods don’t load; ESP-only mods work

  • Use SKSE from the game root (or Root Builder deploy).
  • MO2 executable: binary = skse64_loader.exe; Start in = MO2 instance folder (not the game folder, but you must have the dll and SKSE both in the game folder as well).
  • Install Address Library matching your game runtime.
  • Launch SKSE from MO2 via Steam.

How do I upgrade from NaK?

Open Kalium, navigate to MO2, click Setup Existing MO2, and select your existing NaK prefix directory. Kalium will migrate the environment without touching your mods or INI configs. Back up mods and INI files for safety

Error about antivirus/Error 87 when running a tool

Often MO2’s USVFS under Proton failing ACL checks, not real antivirus. External Flatpak LOOT cannot see MO2’s virtual load order; use MO2’s built-in sort/LOOT features.

NXM opens Kalium but says no active mod manager

Enable NXM in Settings for your instance (or finish MO2 setup so it auto-enables). In the browser, pick Kalium NXM Handler, not the main Kalium window. Sometimes you will have top run MO2 once to make sure it assigns the instance after it was first created.


Skyrim backpatch

Backpatch only created a backup

Backup = old files. New files come from Steam depots. If the depot SkyrimSE.exe is still 1.7.99.0, Steam did not download the historical build.

Which depots are supported?

Version Notes
1.5.97 Depots 489831 + 489832 + 489833
1.6.640/1.6.1130/1.6.1170 Depot 489833 (contains SkyrimSE.exe)

1.7.104 is not supported (no reliable console manifests).

My game will not launch after downpatching

This is usually because you have a mod that is a version mismatch. This happens especially with skse plugins.

How do I verify a depot before Apply?

strings "/path/to/depot_489833/SkyrimSE.exe" | grep -E '^1\.[56]\.'

You want the target version, not 1.7.99.0.

Games & versions supported in 1.1.0+

Game Version IDs
Skyrim SE 1.6.1170, 1.6.1130, 1.6.640, 1.5.97
Fallout 4 1.10.163 (pre–Next-Gen), 1.10.984, 1.11.191
Starfield 1.7.23, 1.7.33, 1.11.33, 1.12.30
Cyberpunk 2077 2.12 … 2.00, 1.63, 1.52
The Witcher 3 1.32, 1.31, 4.00–4.04, 1.32-goty

Browse dialog hides .steam

Current Kalium folder pickers show hidden directories. Update to a recent build if yours does not.

Why is my game not available in backpatch?

A game gets backpatch support when it fits the existing abstraction reliably. If supporting it requires changing the abstraction, I stop and design that properly first. Some games need more environment validation than others, and some introduce new edge cases. To make a whole subsystem for a single game just makes it work is a nightmare to keep adding and maintaining it. Check to see if there are already tools or mods that already backpatch your game.


How Accurate is the standalone LOOT when run in the environment?

LOOT compatibility:

LOOT integration is functional, not merely launch-compatible. Kalium installs portable LOOT and registers it as an MO2 custom executable. When launched from MO2, LOOT operates against the MO2/USVFS environment and writes the resulting load order to the active profile's profile/plugins.txt, which MO2 then uses for the active plugin order.

Kalium installs and registers portable LOOT 0.29.2 as an MO2 custom executable. LOOT operates against MO2's virtualized environment through Proton/USVFS, including sorting and persistence of the resulting load order. Testing against Windows installations shows highly comparable sorting behavior, with observed differences consistent with LOOT's normal ordering variability rather than a Linux-specific failure.


My Nexus: download froze / gave a warning but installed anyway

Download froze

If an MO2 Nexus download appears to freeze, especially with smaller files, this can be caused by an MO2 NXM handling issue.

Try the following:

  1. Right-click the download in MO2.
  2. Select Pause.
  3. Wait about 5 seconds.
  4. Right-click the download select Resume.

This will usually allow the download to continue. You may need to repeat the pause/resume cycle more than once.

This behavior occurs within MO2's NXM download handling. Kalium does not control or modify MO2's download system.

Download gave a warning, but installed anyway

Some mods may currently produce installation or runtime warnings when used with Skyrim 1.7.99 / 1.7.104 environments.

Known examples include:

  • Legacy of the Dragonborn (LOTD)
  • Skyland AIO

In affected cases, the mod may still install successfully despite the warning. Some installation issues appear to be related to MO2/NXM behavior rather than Kalium.

If an affected mod does not install or behaves incorrectly, re-downloading the mod from Nexus can resolve some installation problems.

Kalium does not modify downloaded mod archives, alter their contents, or replace MO2's mod-installation behavior. The mod is downloaded and installed through the normal MO2/NXM workflow.


Updates

How does version checking work?

Kalium checks the latest GitHub release:

https://api.github.com/repos/bobbycomet/Kalium/releases/latest

It looks for a release asset matching:

Kalium-*-x86_64.AppImage

For example:

Kalium-1.0.0-x86_64.AppImage

The release download follows the corresponding GitHub release path:

.../releases/download/v1.0.0/Kalium-1.0.0-x86_64.AppImage

Can Kalium update automatically?

Yes, but for automated updates, Griffin Updater is the recommended solution.

Griffin Updater handles updates through systemd and lets you configure its update timers. This provides scheduled, unattended updating without requiring Kalium to implement and maintain its own background update service.

Kalium's built-in version check is primarily for detecting available releases, while Griffin Updater is the better choice when you want updates to happen automatically.


AppImage

Logs say read-only filesystem

Logs go under ~/.local/share/kalium/logs/ (not inside the AppImage mount).

kalium command not found

Use the AppImage, or from source: python -m kalium.main after pip install -e ..

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