Hello,
After exprole the horizon update my controller (MS Xbox controller, gen9) is not working properly in Forza horizon 5 (steam version) menus. Its impossible to navigate in menu since right stick, left stick, arrows, triggers and buttons are overresponding. Slightest touch in menu sends me couple of pages/cars etc. I have had this same problem couple of updates ago too, but it fixed itself after next update so I moved on.
​
Before you ask:
Driving in FH5 is fine, problem only exist in menu
No, there is no issue in any other game
Controller and game is up to date, controller works fine in "controller test" websites
I have already tried to change steam input settings, it was not effective
​
I have seen some people complaining aboıut the same problem but there were no solution. I believe this is some bug that developers aren't aware of yet, but maybe there is a solution that I couldn't find online. Either way I hope this helps to attract some attention to the problem.
​
Thanks in advance

https://www.lotro.com/update-notes/lotro-update-36-release-notes-en
​

Update 36 Release Notes

Here are the release notes for Update 36: Gondor Renewed, released on Wednesday, May 31st, 2023.

Of Special Note:

A New Story Begins in A Renewed King's Gondor!

After the defeat of Sauron, King Elessar and Queen Arwen seek to bring peace to their kingdom, but the danger is not gone and new foes seek to threaten Gondor. Adventure awaits in the new zone of King's Gondor East, set after the War of the Ring when fresh breezes have dispersed the fumes of the Dawnless Day and allowed the sun to shine again! Discover the beginning of a new Epic-style storyline, 'The Song of Waves and Wind,' and team up with Legolas, Gimli, and friends both old and new to investigate the continuing threat of the Heirs of Castamir!
The Song of Waves and Wind
A new story debuts with Gondor Renewed called "The Song of Waves and Wind"! For characters level 140. Start the first chapter by speaking to Glindor in Minas Tirith (Midsummer)! This new story is available to anyone who is VIP, purchases the "Gondor Renewed" quest pack, or who purchases quest packs associated with the story that are released in the future.
King's Gondor Awaits
Gone are the gloomy dark skies, replaced with bright and sunny fields and hills. Players familiar with the original Central and Eastern Gondor regions will be familiar with King's Gondor from a navigation standpoint, but there are new additions, and places players previously could not go are now open to allow for further exploration!
The Quest Pack "Gondor Renewed" unlocks more than 80 quests and Deeds for level 140 characters. Includes King's Gondor East and The Song of Waves and Wind. Free to VIPs!
How do I get to King's Gondor?
Go to Minas Tirith (After Battle) and head South through the Pelennor Fields. Where there once stood an impassable is no more! Questing begins in this area of the Pelennor Fields and in the under-construction version of The Harlond. From there, you can explore Gondor up to Linhir, where the gates are currently closed.​

Landscape Difficulty: The Paths of Valour!

We have reworked the Landscape Difficulty setting system introduced with Treebeard and are now opening it to the general game worlds as an option! Read full details about this new Landscape Difficulty option in the release notes below.​ A new Faction and new rewards are now available by playing these higher difficulties. Activate your difficulty and adjust it in the future by speaking with a Hardened Traveller, which can be found in major hubs and new player zones throughout Middle-earth:
​

• Outside of the Prancing Pony in Bree
• Near the Stable Masters outside of the 21st Hall
• Just inside of the exit of Post-Raid Archet
• Just outside of Mossward
• Along the road Northward out of Celondim
• Just outside the door to Thorin's Hall
• Down the road from the Hobbit starter area exit waypoint

There are titles available for activating a difficulty of 3 or higher and keeping it there from level 10 to level 50, and then to level 130 respectively. The title granted depends on the class you play, but can be used by any character on your account. Make sure to select your Landscape Difficulty prior to achieving level 10 to be eligible for these titles! In order to earn these titles, you must keep the difficulty system active for the entire leveling span from level 10 thru 50/130. Entering areas of the game world where it is temporarily suppressed will not invalidate your title attempt, however turning it down or off via the Hardened Traveller will.

More Delvings!

More Delvings are now available! The Annúminas instances Glinghant, Haudh Valandil, and the Great Barrows instances Sambrog, Thadûr and The Maze have been converted to be playable as Delvings! Find them in the Instance Finder (Control+J by default).​

News and Notes

Classes

​

• Several player stun-removal skills were inappropriately flagged as 'Immediate' causing them to occasionally cancel themselves and fail to free you from stuns. These skills are now correctly 'Fast' rather than 'Immediate' skills.
• High Elf, Beorning, and Stout Axe Dwarf racial recall skills can now be used while mounted on any steed.
• Beorning
  
  • The Beorning Trait "Battle Born" now correctly gives additional critical damage for off-hand weapons.
• Brawler
  
  • The Brawler mounted combat skill "Take Breath" will now properly update the incoming healing rating when active.
  • Innate Strength: Raw Power
    • Fixed description of the trait to state that it grants +2.5/+5/+7.5/+10%.
    • No change was made to the actual bonus granted by the trait, This is purely a tooltip change to have it reflect real values.
  • Tracery Innate Strength: Damage/Threat
    • Skill bonus has been modified [+10%->+5%], but is now added directly to the value of Innate Strength: Raw Power buff, which makes it considerably more effective than it was previously.
• Burglar
  
  • Aim skill now works with 'Throw Knife'.
• Captain
  
  • Fighting Withdrawal can now be used while rooted to free yourself.
  • The class deed "Fear the Darkness" should now properly advance even if "Courageous Convocation" is traited.
  • Captain skill "Defensive Strike" is now properly affected by the tracery "Single Target Attack Damage".
  • The buff from Inspire: Self-motivation should now correctly overwrite itself rather than failing to apply when you still have a few seconds of duration remaining from your previous skill use.
• Champion
  
  • Blood Rage and Continuous Blood Rage are now both correctly labeled Fast, rather than Immediate, skills. This prevents you from accidentally double-clicking the skill and putting it on cooldown without gaining the CC-removal effect.
  • Tracery Swift Strike: Damage & Power Cost
    • Renamed to Swift Strike/Blade: Damage & Power Restore
    • Tracery now increases the Power restored by Swift Strike rather than reducing the (now non-existent) Power cost. Magnitude changed from [-33%->+20%].
• Guardian
  
  • The Cardolan Essence of Retaliation effects' durations no longer benefit from the War-chant duration legacy.
• Lore-master
  
  • Clever Escape is now a Fast skill. This prevents you from accidentally double-clicking the skill and putting it on cooldown without gaining the CC-removal effect.
• Rune-keeper
  
  • The skill "Do Not Fall this Day" no longer breaks the target of the skill out of Stealth.
• Warden
  
  • "Forced March" will no longer be toggled off when you enter combat. It still only applies a bonus to your out of combat Run Speed.
  • Seared Flesh now appropriately benefits from bonuses to your Fire Damage.
  • Readied Blade's buff now provides Disarm Immunity for its duration.
  • The trait 'Movement Training' now correctly increases Mitigation ratings from the Conviction and Dance of War buffs.
  • Damage dealt by the trait 'Taking Advantage' increased.

Crafting

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• The crafting ingredients "Tuft of Torahammas' Fur", "Great Hoary Aurochs Hide" and "Speckled Shell Fragment" can now all be stored in crafting carryalls.
• Beasts in the Ettenmoors that drop crafting hides will now correctly drop Gundabad Hides instead of Eorlingas Hides.
• Crafters can now make two new tiers of selectable craftable essence boxes.
• Gundabad Skarn Deposits have been renamed to Brilliant Skarn Deposits.
• Frost-rimed Black Ash Branches have been renamed to Heavy Wind-swept Black Ash Branches.

Items & Rewards

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• The Homestead Steed can now be correctly placed on a hitching post by hobbit, dwarf, and Stout-axe dwarf characters.
• Might-based selection boxes no longer reference or contain medium armour.
• Many medium Might-based armour pieces obtained from quests from levels 1-75 have been updated from medium to heavy armour.
• Enemies in Moria no longer drop obsolete Legendary Item rewards.
• The Distillation set now properly identifies itself as a Distillation set and not a Crock Pot.
• Incomparable Earrings received from the 3-stack instances from Return to Carn Dûm have had the names of their set bonuses changed to reflect the stats given by the items in their groups.
• The "Dwarf-make Helm" cosmetic has been renamed to "Dwarf-make Circlet".
• The Champion Legendary Item Tracery "Brutal Strikes Damage" now only appears in The Berserker barter profiles.
• The decorative band on the Sightseer's Straw Hat will now correctly display dye colors.
• The weapon Candelleth's Hammer is now categorized correctly in the Auction House.
• The Veteran of Helm's Deep Quartermaster now offers items for Beornings and Brawlers.
• The Homestead Steed can now be used in Zirakzigil as well as in Caras Galadhon and other appropriate areas in Lothlórien.

Landscape Difficulty

​

• We have reworked the Landscape Difficulty setting system introduced originally to Treebeard and made it available as an option to the general game worlds!
• We've added a new Faction and reward structure called The Paths of Valour that can be advanced by playing on higher difficulties.
• You can activate your difficulty setting by speaking with the Hardened Traveller that can be found in major hubs and new player zones who will offer you an array of quests representing the different difficulty levels.
  • Upon accepting and completing one of these quests, your challenges on the roads of Middle-earth will increase substantially.
  • The difficulty system turns itself off in group instances (3+), in the Ettenmoors, and any time the Delving system is activated. It will reactivate when you leave any of these areas.
• There are titles available for activating a difficulty of 3 or higher and keeping it there from level 10 to level 50, and then to level 130 respectively. The title granted depends on the class you play through with, but can be used by any character on your account.
  • In order to earn these titles, you must keep the difficulty system active for the entire leveling span from level 10 thru 50/130. Entering areas of the game world where it is temporarily suppressed will not invalidate your title attempt, however turning it down or off via the Hardened Traveller will.
  • Existing characters above level 10 will not be able to earn the titles themselves, but will be able to use those titles if they are earned by another character on your account.
• When playing at Fearless or higher, enemies of your own level or higher may drop Tokens of Heroism.
  • These can be turned in to complete weekly tasks from the Hardened Traveller, which will increase your reputation with the Paths of Valour faction.
  • At Fearless difficulty (3-6), these tokens can drop for up to 3 members in a Fellowship.
  • At Heroic difficulty (7+) they can drop for up to 6 members in a Fellowship.
  • The drop rate of these tokens increases somewhat with higher difficulties.
• The difficulty settings and effects are pretty much the same as they were on Treebeard, though we've changed up the names a bit, and added a few variations to the hotspot effects you can encounter under the Eye of Sauron.
• The Hardened Traveller has a menu of barter rewards that include a small set of Reputation accelerators for the faction and Morale/Power potions. More importantly, he also offers an array of 8 new Epic variations of familiar emotes which you will be able to find on the Collections panel.

General Landscape Changes:

​

• Court of Celeborn now has a map.
• Floating objects in the Allegiance Halls and in Mordor have been grounded.
• Incorrect textures in Minas Tirith has been resolved.

Localization

​

• Stablemaster map text has been updated for the German game client.

Missions and Delvings

​

• Delving Barter Vendors and Mission Givers have also been added to all our Skirmish Camps. We did this to make it easier to turn in delving quests no matter where players are. Delving Mission Givers have also been given that title as a role to make it easy to spot them.
• Created a Selectable Delving Extraordinary Box that only drops in instances at tiers 7+. While still rare, new instances have a significantly higher drop rate for this item.
• The Delving Tracery Archive Travel Skill no longer has any reputation requirements.
• Mission: Jorthkyn and the Hounds
  • The Mission now appropriately identifies that you need to kill 8 wargs along with the 8 Jorthkyn to advance the quest.
  • The Mission had some pesky low-level monsters that really wanted to get in on the fight. They have been reprimanded to stay in their lanes.
• Fixed an issue with the mission "Dangerous Deliveries" where the player would pick the pie up twice upon completing the induction to pick up the pie.
• The bridge in the mission Patrol the Township that was bereft of physics has found its physics and will now support your character as it should.
• Before the Shadow missions that referred to previous mission givers have been updated with references to current mission givers.
• The mission "The Nettinglade" had a single cocoon that decided it didn't want to sparkle. The spider responsible has been admonished and though it pledged to swallow all Light in the world, it relented and allowed it's cocoon to sparkle once again.
• Delving Reward Changes:
  • Delving Selectable Crafting Boxes that drop at tier 7 and above can now be disenchanted instead for 20 Delvings Writs. These boxes now have a six hour expiration timer on them. These changes do not affect existing Crafting Boxes.
  • Changed how many writs completing Delving quests give. Tier 1-3 now give 10 writs, Tier 4-6 give 20 writs, Tier 7-9 give 30 writs and Tier 10-12 give 40 writs.
  • Two new cosmetic pets added to Delving Barter.
  • Delving armour will now be disenchantable for more Delving Writs. Common armour will disenchant for 10 writs, rare armour will disenchant for 20 writs, incomparable armour for 30 writs.
  • Added Tier 1 and Tier 2 Essence Boxes to the Delving Barter for Writs, and removed Tier 0.
  • Added Morale and Power Potions to the Delving Barter for Writs. Morale and Power potions also drop as rewards from high tier instance Delving Chests.
• Delving Mission Givers in Skirmish Camps now give Weekly Delving Quests.
• Mission - Defilers in the Dale - Corrected a visual bug where the cauldron's contents and bubbles could become visibly offset after being destroyed.
• Rewards that drop from Delvings have been updated with new Delving-specific icons.

PvMP

​

• We have adjusted the distribution of Infamy/Renown while grouped. In the past, there was a modifier that increased the value of player kills when more than 6 kill contributors were involved. This resulted in the value of a single kill, while in a raid, to be valued over 2x what the kill should have been worth.
  • We have adjusted this modifier to make these values - in the absence of any other modifiers - equivalent to equal distribution of the infamy value of the kill.
  • We have adjusted the bonus modifier to infamy/renown gains when killing ranked players. This change rewards a higher contribution bonus for killing players of a higher rank.
• The War-spoils Carry-all icons have been updated and no longer display a bottle of liquid
• Lootboxes found by monster players now always drop 3 items from three specific tables:
  • Table 1 includes potions, barter lockboxes, and the potential for 500 commendations with weighting toward the barter box, and then equivalent draws for the remaining items.
  • Table 2 includes an equal chance for random perk items from a pool of 5 items.
  • The 3rd table has an equal chance to drop a single Audacity upgrade scroll, 2 Audacity upgrade scrolls, Lord's Symbols, Captain's Marks, 1k Commendations, 1.5k Commendations or a new Cosmetic Selection Box.
    • The Cosmetic Selection Box contains 2 new skins for each class. Previews are available on NPCs present near the Gramsfoot retreat circle.
    • The Selection Box also contains several new cosmetic weapons: Thrâng's Sword, a silvered scimitar, a spider-clan trident, an off-hand Gundabad mace, a Spider-clan staff, an Easterling Ghost Bow, and a new Dunharrow Shield.
    • The Box also contains a new cosmetic type that can be slotted into appearance Corruptions to change the style of your 'March!' skill emitted effects. These include: a white glow, fire trail, acid trail, and a "blue-foot" trail.
• The eggs around Grodris in the Isendeep Mine will now hatch if disturbed during the battle against the matron.
• Fixed an issue with the first and second marshal rewards not providing keys to the chest. The quests for First and Second marshal now correctly reward the key to the chest.
• Tokens of Valour will now go into the War-spoils Carry-all.
• Updated the new Monster Play tutorial to reference using skills on training dummy Kelsen, Jalessa, or Light training-dummy Orion. If you choose the other training dummies you are locked in combat for the full duration of the spawn - which is five minutes. This is bad. Please use the safety dummies. Use those initial skill training dummy Kelsen, Jalessa, or Light training-dummy Orion.
• First Marshal An and Tyrant Uzulthrang are back in action and ready to rush Tol Ascarnen when the opposition is in control. The rewards on the quests to use these two is increased significantly. Each has also been buffed appropriately.
• All values and costs for Lainedhal's Insignias were reduced. You can now purchase the old versions for nostalgia, but the tier 15 version is available to all rank 1 players and better for 2000 commendations and has a 1m cooldown just as the monster player brand.
• The Rank 9 mount available in monster play now has a full +68% movement bonus because it should have been upgraded along with all other mounts that are this hard to get.
• We adjusted the damage done by Spider Hatchlings to be more in line with creatures that are level 140.
• There was a bug introduced when we lowered the cost of monster play potions where we did not lower the amount purchasable from the barter NPC. This has been corrected and now you can only purchase in stacks of three.
• Mazauk and Old Goldhead have been refreshed and stand ready to help you capture Lugazag or Tirith Rhaw.
• Old U21 gear was using old Audacity values. This has been reduced to 1.
• Freepside Ettenmoors quests now award considerably more IXP when completed.
• The Freepside weekly quest, 'Battle Across the Ettenmoors' now gives slightly improved rewards.
• Many monster player skill power costs have been adjusted. In particular, several healing skills cost substantially more power.
• The base critical heal multiplier for most Creepside heals has been reduced from 1.5 to 1.2.
• Increased damage of ranger session play skills.
• Orc Defiler
  
  • Cooldowns reduced for Fertile Slime and Fungal Spores.
  • Fungal Spores initial heal potency reduced.
  • Enhanced Fungal Spores now rolls for a critical heal on each pulse, rather than following the critical outcome of the initial skill use.
  • Fertile Slime no longer has an initial heal.
  • Healing from Improved Blessing of Darkness now occurs every 1 second, rather than every 2 seconds.
  • Constant Pain now pulses healing every 2 seconds, and will restore some power to the defiler when it does.
• Orc Reaver
  
  • Blade Toss now only applies its slow and/or knockdown effects to targets facing away from you.
• Spider Weaver
  
  • Several spider animations should no longer slow down when you gain attack speed buffs.
  • Trapdoor Sanctuary now lasts 10 seconds; when traited, it will heal 5% of your max health each second.
• New Potions (of Bravery and Essence) are now correctly usable by the Free Peoples.
  
• Insignias now have a 3 minute cooldown and provide 15 seconds of combat state immunity (Tyrant Brands still have a 1 minute cooldown and only provide 5 seconds of immunity for now).
  
• Alwuld the Item Trader now carries the updated Morale and Power potions.
  
• Potions of Essence now correctly restore different amounts of Power, according to their quality and rank requirements.
  

Quests, Deeds and Instances

​

• Tier 4 of Gwathrenost, the Witch-king's Citadel is available.
• All slayer deeds in the Wells of Langflood, will now properly reward players with LOTRO Points.
• Gwathrenost, the Witch-king's Citadel - The final Objective of 'The Storming of Gwathrenost' now functions similarly to 'Into the Hiddenhoard, allowing the Player the choice of whether or not to abandon the quest after completing it. The option to complete the quest via the Quest Actions panel was causing some players to mistakenly erase their progress in a given reset cycle, so this has been removed.
• Azanulbizar - Quest: Death in the Dale - The quest guide for this quest has been corrected to highlight the proper area.
• Azanulbizar - Quest: Elusive Prey - The quest guide now properly highlights the general locations of all the Rare foes in Azanulbizar.
• Sagroth - The Sewer Water debuff that can be applied to players during the Gárvadach encounter now carries the resistance type "disease" instead of "corruption".
• Several fading or overlapping combat music bugs have been fixed in the Race of Man and hobbit tutorials, the Archet raid, and the Trouble at Tuckborough skirmish.

Miscellaneous

​

• The Allegiance panel can now be resized an additional horizontal distance.
• Certain Brawler Belt Buckles were appearing under the Lore-master class in searches in the Auction House. That has been fixed.
• Upgraded the compiler used to compile the 32 bit game client to make it compatible with upgraded OpenAL.
• Clydesdale mounts can now be used in Thorin's Hall and the Hall Under the Mountain
• The Assistant Stable-master at Elrond's Stables in Rivendell douses the horse less frequently.
• Facepaint rewards acquired from Hobnanigans now correctly shows on Human avatars.
• The Draught Horse cosmetic pets received in the Homesteads and Harvests Coffers have been renamed to "Miniature" Draught horses.
• Matching full size Draught horse cosmetic pet tomes have been granted (account-wide) to everyone that purchased the Homesteads and Harvests Coffers.
• The Homestead Steed mount scale has been increased to match the expected size of a draught horse. Many animation issues have been resolved for the Homestead Steed mount as well.
• Updated the icon for the Stoorvales/Clegur Milestone and for the Clegur travel skills.
• Several Run Speed buffs and debuffs were overwriting effects of greater potency. Player-applied Run Speed Effects should now only overwrite effects of the same kind (out of combat speed buff, in combat speed buff, or debuff) and the most potent effect should always be the one which is actively applied.

Known Issues:

​

• In French and German the Tokens of Heroism may display as Tokens of Valour.
• The Stable-master panel in Collections has not been updated to include King's Gondor.
• The Deeds "Boar-slayer of Lower Lebennin" and "Boar-slayer of Lower Lebennin (Advanced)" are not bestowing/advancing properly.

FLOWERY HAS WOKEN UP, AND THIS TIME I SHALL PLAY THE GAME WHILE TYPING IT ON REDDIT TO SEE HOW DIFFERENTLY IT GOES! NYEH HEH HEH!
I ONCE AGAIN HAVE TO READ THE STORY ABOUT HUMANS AND MONSTERS, BUT I LEARN HOW TO SKIP IT ABOUT HALFWAY THROUGH, SO THAT'S NICE! I GO TO THE MENU, AND I SEE TORIEL READING A BOOK TO THE CATCHY MUSIC! I CLICK SETTINGS TO SEE WHAT THERE IS, BUT I CAN ONLY CHANGE THE LANGUAGE! SO I GO BACK AND CLICK CONTINUE INSTEAD!
I AM IN SNOWDIN FOREST, WITH FRISK GREETING ME WITH THEIR USUAL STARE! I WALK OVER TO THE BOX AND SEE THE TOUGH GLOVE, WHICH I DO NOT NEED! BUT SOMEONE PROBABLY LEFT IT THERE, SO I SHALL LEAVE IT IN THE BOX! I THEN ENTER THE NEXT ROOM AND FIND ME TALKING ABOUT HOW UNDYNE'S TRAINING WAS GOING VERY WELL, BUT GOT CUT OFF BY ME!
SANS AND I START SPINNING, AND I GET FOOLED BY SANS, THINKING THE HUMAN IS A ROCK! THEN SANS UN-FOOLS ME AND I TELL ME I WILL BE CAPTURED AND DELIVERED TO THE CAPITAL, AND I WILL BE SUPER SUPER POPULAR BECAUSE OF IT, AND SANS AND I RUN AWAY! SO I WALK FORWARD AND OBSERVE THE COOL SENTRY STATION, BUT GET ATTACKED BY A SNOWDRAKE! FLOWERY SUGGESTS I SPARE, SO I DO, AND SNOWDRAKE TELLS A HORRIBLE PUN! I GET HIT, AND THEN, RELUCTANTLY, I DECIDE TO LAUGH. AND THEN I FEEL BAD FOR RELUCTANTLY LAUGHING, AND I AM SORRY ABOUT YOUR FATHER DOUBTING YOU, SNOWDRAKE! THE NARRATOR TELLS A BAD PUN AND I SPARE SNOWY AND WIN THE BATTLE! THEN I INTERACT WITH THE COOL SENTRY STATION, WHICH IS VERY COOL AND WELL-CRAFTED! THEN I ENTER THE NEXT ROOM!
I IMMEDIATELY NOTICE THIS IS DOGGO'S AREA, AND I SHOULD BE VERY VERY SNEAKY, BUT UNFORTUNATELY, DOGGO SPOTS ME ANYWAY!! THEN DOGGO FIGHTS ME! I'M VERY EXCITED TO SEE HOW A ROYAL GUARDSMAN FIGHTS THAT ISN'T UNDYNE! BUT MY EXCITEMENT IS IMMEDIATELY SHATTERED WHEN I LEARN DOGGO'S ONLY ATTACK IS A BLUE SWORD. BUT, IT'S JUST THE FIRST ATTACK, AND HE CAN'T SEE VERY WELL, SO I FORGIVE HIM! I PET DOGGO, AND HE STARTS FREAKING OUT!! AND THEN HE USES THE SAME ATTACK. STILL, I CAN'T BLAME HIM! I SPARE DOGGO, AND LOOK AT THE SMOKED DOG TREATS! ALSO, I REALIZE I HAVE 64G! I CAN'T WAIT TO FIND THE NICE CREAM MAN AND BUY SOME NICE CREAM!
I ENTER THE NEXT ROOM, AND SEE SANS, WHO ISN'T DOING ANYTHING. I TALK TO HIM AND HE TELLS THE HUMAN ABOUT MY BLUE ATTACK!!! I SUPPOSE IT'S OKAY, SINCE DOGGO ALREADY RUINED THE SURPRISE, BUT COME ON, SANS! I WALK AWAY FROM SANS AND PREPARE TO SLIDE ON THE ICE, BUT GET ATTACKED BY ICE CAP! I COMPLIMENT THEM, BUT THAT DOESN'T DO ANYTHING, AND I GET HIT! I TRY COMPLIMENTING YET AGAIN, BUT STILL, NOTHING. FLOWERY SAYS I SHOULD USE STEAL, BUT I WANT TO TRY TO IGNORE THEM INSTEAD! ICE CAP LOOKS ANNOYED, BUT THEIR NAME ISN'T YELLOW! I IGNORE AGAIN, AND IT WORKS! BUT I ALSO GET HIT. I SPARE ICE CAP AND CONTINUE ON MY ADVENTURE ON THE ICE!
I GO UP AND FIND THE SNOWMAN, AND I TAKE A PIECE OF IT SO I CAN SHOW IT THE WORLD! I THEN GO BACK DOWN AND GO RIGHT, TO SEE SANS AND I STARING AT EACH OTHER ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE INVISIBLE ELECTRICITY MAZE! I WALK FORWARD AND MORE SUSPICIOUSLY ACCURATE DIALOGUE PLAYS, BUT AT LEAST IT ISN'T INACCURATE, I GUESS! I WALK FORWARD ONCE MORE, AND SOMEHOW GAME ME GETS SHOCKED!! HOW SAD, AND ALSO CONFUSING, BECAUSE I WENT IN THE CORRECT PATH. NO MATTER, FOR OTHER ME HAS RAN ACROSS THE MAZE AND GIVEN ME THE ORB! I THEN SOLVE THE PUZZLE WITH EASE, AS I HAVE MEMORIZED THE PATH! GAME ME ASKS HOW I DID THAT SO EASILY, BUT I CAN'T ANSWER THAT QUESTION. I TALK TO SANS AFTER GAME ME RUNS AWAY, AND HE SPEAKS ABOUT MY SUPER COOL BATTLE BODY! AND THEN I ENTER THE NEXT ROOM!
AND THE NICE CREAM MAN SHOWS HIMSELF, AND I BUY TWO NICE CREAMS, WHICH I DON'T NEED TO INSPECT, BECAUSE I ALREADY KNOW HOW MUCH THEY HEAL! I PLAY THE BALL GAME, AND GET THE GREEN FLAG! THEN I TALK TO SANS, WHO IS SELLING FRIED SNOW. I THINK I'LL PASS ON THAT ONE, BROTHER. THEN I GO RIGHT, AND FIND THE DOG MARRIAGE ROOM, AND THEN I GO DOWN AND GO TO THE NEXT ROOM, AND FIND SANS' "PUZZLE", WHICH IS VERY LAZY! I WALK PAST THE WORD SEARCH AND SANS AND I ARGUE ABOUT CROSSWORD AND JUNIOR JUMBLE! FLOWERY SAYS I SHOULD SAY CROSSWORD, BUT I SAY THE CORRECT ANSWER, WHICH IS JUNIOR JUMBLE, AND SANS THANKS ME FOR SAYING THAT JUST TO MAKE ME HAPPY, WHICH ISN'T TRUE! JUNIOR JUMBLE IS HARDER!! I THEN ENTER THE NEXT ROOM
AND WHEN I ENTER THE ROOM, I SEE MY SPAGHETTI TRAP! UNFORTUNATELY, GAME ME DIDN'T CONSIDER TO KEEP IT WARM AND IT'S FROZEN!! OH NO! I GET FILLED WITH DETERMINATION FROM THE KNOWLEDGE THAT THE MOUSE MAY ONE DAY FIND OUT A WAY TO HEAT UP MY SPAGHETTI, AND SAVE THE GAME! AND I ALSO INTERACT WITH THE MOUSE YET AGAIN! AND THEN I ENTER THE NEXT ROOM!
I ENTER THE NEXT ROOM, AND I ALREADY KNOW WHERE THE SWITCH IS, AND I FLIP IT IMMEDIATELY! BUT GET STOPPED BY LESSER DOG! I PET LESSER DOG, AND FLAWLESSLY DODGE THEIR ATTACK! FLOWERY WANTS ME TO SPARE NOW, BUT I PET THEM AGAIN! AND AGAIN! AND AGAIN! AND AGAIN! UNTIL FLOWERY FORCES ME TO SPARE THEM. I GO DOWN TO THE NEXT ROOM, BUT GET STOPPED BY DOGAMY AND DOGARESSA! I TRY TO PET DOGAMY, BUT THEY REFUSE TO LET ME, BECAUSE I SMELL TOO HUMAN-LIKE! SO I ROLL AROUND A BUNCH AND NOW I SMELL LIKE A WEIRD DOG! THEN THE DOGS SNIFF ME AGAIN, AND NOW I'M A DOG TO THEM! BUT I STILL CANNOT SPARE THEM! SO, I TRY TO PET THEM, AND THEY LET ME, AND I WIN THE BATTLE, AND CONTINUE TO THE NEXT AREA!
I ENTER THE X-O PUZZLE ROOM, AND SOLVE IT WITH EASE! THIS FEELS LIKE CHEATING, AS I ALREADY KNOW THE SOLUTION TO ALL THE PUZZLES IN SNOWDIN, BUT ALAS! I CANNOT UN-KNOWLEDGE MYSELF! I WALK FORWARD, AND GAME ME SPOTS ME, AND ASKS HOW I AVOIDED THE SPAGHETTI TRAP! I CAN'T TELL HIM THAT IT FROZE, SO I JUST SAY I LEFT IT! BUT FRISK DOESN'T SAY IT FROZE! SO I'VE FOOLED MYSELF BY TRYING TO NOT FOOL MYSELF!! CURSES! BUT PAPYRUS AND PAPYRUS TRAVERSE TO THE NEXT AREA, AND FIND THE PAPYRUS-SHAPED X-O PUZZLE, BUT I REFUSE TO CHEAT WITH THE SWITCH BEHIND THE TREE! SO I TRY TO SOLVE IT, AND WITH MY INCREDIBLE PUZZLE SKILLS, I SOLVE IT ON MY FIRST TRY! AND THEN I TALK TO SANS, WHO CONGRATULATES ME ON MY INCREDIBLE PUZZLE SKILLS, AND THEN MAKES IT SOUND LAZY, AND I ENTER THE NEXT ROOM!
I WALK ONTO THE BRIDGE OF THE COLOR TILE PUZZLE, AND GAME ME EXPLAINS THE RULES, WHICH I ALREADY KNOW! BUT FRISK DOESN'T, SO YET AGAIN, I AM GRATEFUL! BUT THEN, I CAN ONLY WATCH IN HORROR AS THE TILE PUZZLE MAKES THE RED AND PINK PATH AND COMPLETELY REMOVES THE CHALLENGE! I WALK ACROSS AND TALK TO SANS, WHO TELLS ME MY FOOD WILL BE EDIBLE SOON! WHICH IS VERY INSULTING, BUT ALSO FLATTERING?? AND I ENTER THE NEXT ROOM!
AND I SEE SNOWDOGS OF LESSER DOG WITH REALLY LONG NECKS AND HEADS THAT HAVE ALL FALLEN OFF. I GET FILLED WITH DETERMINATION FROM THE KNOWLEDGE THAT LESSER DOG WILL NEVER GIVE UP ON TRYING TO MAKE THE PERFECT SNOWDOG, AND SAVE THE GAME! I TALK TO THE PERSON WHO'S NAME I TOTALLY REMEMBER, AND THEY TELL ME ABOUT THE SADDENING FATE OF LESSER DOG, AND I ENTER THE NEXT ROOM!
I FIND THE ICE X-O PUZZLE, BUT I GO DOWN TO VISIT MY SNOWPAPYRUS, AND SANS' LUMP OF SNOW. THEN I SAY GOODBYE TO THEM, AND SOLVE THE ICE PUZZLE WITH EASE! BUT THEN FRISK HAS A SNOWDOG OF THE RAMBUNCTIOUS RODENT ON THEIR HEAD, WHICH DISAPPEARS IMMEDIATELY! I GO DOWN TO SEE SANS DOING HIS SHORTCUT SHENANIGANS, AND GET ATTACKED BY GYFTROT, SO I TRY TO GIVE THEM A GIFT, BUT THEY REFUSE IT, SO I HELP UNDECORATE IT! I DO THAT AGAIN, AND GET HIT! BUT I UNDECORATE IT ONE MORE TIME, AND THEN THEY ARE HAPPY AGAIN! BUT BEFORE I LEAVE, I GIVE THEM A GIFT, A GIFT OF 35G! THEN I SPARE THEM AND LEAVE TO THE NEXT AREA!
I FIND A BUNCH OF SNOW POFFS, BUT I KNOW ONE OF THEM HAS G INSIDE IT, AND I WANT SOMEONE WHO NEEDS IT TO FIND IT! I INSPECT THE TINY DOGHOUSE, AND WALK FORWARD TO MEET GREATER DOG! I TRY TO PET THEM, BUT THEY'RE TOO FAR AWAY, SO I CALL THEM OVER AND THEN PET THEM! AND THEN IT'S AWAKE AND VERY EXCITED! FORTUNATELY, I AVOID ANY ATTACKS THROWN MY WAY, AND THEN I PLAY WITH IT! AND I PET IT SOME MORE, GET HIT ONCE, BUT EVENTUALLY I WIN THE BATTLE! GREATER DOG KISSES ME GOODBYE AND WALKS AWAY, AND SO DO I! TO THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR WITH ME!
I WALK ONTO THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR, AND SAY HELLO TO THE CAMERA UNDERNEATH IT! I SEE SANS AND GAME ME ONE LAST TIME BEFORE OUR EPIC BATTLE OF TROUSLED BONES, AND I LET THE HUMAN PASS WITHOUT THEM EXPERIENCING DEADLY TERROR, AS THIS CAPTURE METHOD HAS NO CLASS! I TALK TO SANS, AND HE TELLS ME MORE ABOUT MY BLUE ATTACKS (STILL UPSET AT HIM), AND I FIND SNOWDIN TOWN, AND GET HIT WITH NOSTALGIA TO THE EXTREME! I GET FILLED WITH DETERMINATION FROM THE SIGHT OF SUCH A FRIENDLY TOWN, AND SAVE THE GAME! THEN I ENTER THE SHOP! I'M GONNA NEED ALL THE PREPARATION I CAN GET IF I WANT TO BEAT GAME ME IN COMBAT! I BUY A MANLY BANDANA, AND A CINNAMON BUN! I EQUIP THE BANDANA, AND PUT MY BANDAGE AND RIBBON IN THE BOX, AND THEN I BUY ONE MORE CINNAMON BUN, BUT THEN I RUN OUT OF MONEY! THIS SHOULD BE ENOUGH, HOWEVER! WITH MY KNOWLEDGE ABOUT MY FIGHTING STYLE, I SHOULD BE OUT OF HARMS WAY IN NO TIME! I WALK THROUGH TOWN AND SAY HELLO TO EVERYONE, AND THEN I FINALLY WALK TO THE END OF SNOWDIN TOWN, AND I CALL TORIEL, WHO DOESN'T ANSWER. SHE HAS PROBABLY BEEN ROBBED BY THAT PESKY PUP! BUT THEN, I FINALLY DECIDE I AM READY FOR THE BATTLE OF A LIFETIME!
GAME ME THROWS ME INTO BATTLE AFTER A GREAT SPEECH ABOUT FRIENDSHIP AND POPULARITY, AND I DECIDE TO FLIRT WITH MYSELF! I TELL GAME ME I CAN MAKE SPAGHETTI, AND MEET MY OWN STANDARDS! GAME ME THROWS A BONE ATTACK ON THE FLOOR, BUT HE DIDN'T TURN ME BLUE YET! I SPARE GAME ME, AND I HANDLE THE FABLED BLUE ATTACK WITH EASE! AND I DODGE THE TRICK-BONE EASILY AS WELL, AND I HAVE OFFICIALLY BEEN FLOORED!
I SPARE MYSELF, AND GAME ME TALKS ABOUT THE FUTURE DATE (I DIDN'T KNOW I SAID THAT OUT LOUD) AND GAME ME DABS SOME BONE COLOGNE BEHIND HIS NON-EXISTANT EAR! I SPARE YET AGAIN, AND JUMP OVER THE BONES EASILY! GAME ME DABS MARINARA SAUCE BEHIND HIS NON-EXISTANT EAR, AND I SPARE YET AGAIN! GAME ME THREATENS TO USE HIS SPECIAL ATTACK, WHICH I AM HOPING THIS GAME IS GONNA BE INACCURATE YET AGAIN AND NOT HAVE THE BARKING BURGLAR STEAL MY SPECIAL ATTACK! GAME ME DABS MTT-BRAND BISHIE CREAM BEHIND HIS NON-EXISTANT EAR, AND I SPARE MYSELF YET AGAIN! GAME ME MONOLOGUES ABOUT HIS FUTURE POPULARITY, AND DABS MTT-BRAND ANIME POWDER BEHIND HIS NON-EXISTANT EAR! I SPARE ONCE AGAIN, AND GAME ME TALKS ABOUT BEING HEAD OF THE ROYAL GUARD, AND DABS MTT-BRAND CUTE JUICE BEHIND HIS NON-EXISTANT EAR! I SPARE AGAIN!
FLOWERY GETS BORED OF THIS CYCLE REPEATING, SO HE SUGGESTS THAT I TRY ACTING, AND SO I FLIRT ONCE MORE, BUT NOTHING HAPPENS! GAME ME SPEAKS PROUDLY ABOUT HIS STILL HELD TITLE OF BEING THE UNPARALLELED SPAGHETTORE, AND DABS MTT-BRAND ATTRACTION SLIME BEHIND HIS NON-EXISTANT EAR! I SPARE AGAIN, AND GAME ME TALKS ABOUT HOW UNDYNE WILL BE REALLY PROUD OF HIM! WHICH SHE IS! AND HE ALSO DABS MTT-BRAND BEAUTY YOGURT BEHIND HIS NON-EXSISTANT EAR, AND I SPARE YET AGAIN! GAME ME TALKS ABOUT ASGORE TRIMMING A HEDGE IN THE SHAPE OF MY SMILE, WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENS! AND GAME ME THEN REALIZES HE DOESN'T HAVE EARS, AND I REALIZE I HAVEN'T GOTTEN HIT A SINGLE TIME YET! WOWIE!
GAME ME TALKS ABOUT HOW SANS WON'T CHANGE MUCH, WHICH HE DID NOT! BUT THAT'S A GOOD THING! SANS IS VERY GREAT AS HE IS! GAME ME IS RATTLING HIS BONES, AND I SPARE YET AGAIN! GAME ME TALKS ABOUT THE SINCERITY OF HIS FANS, WHICH THEY ARE VERY SINCERE! GAME ME PLAYS IT VERY COOL WITHOUT TRYING IN THE SLIGHTEST, AND FLOWERY DEFINITELY AGREES THAT'S WHAT THE NARRATOR SAID! AND I SPARE ONCE MORE, AND GAME ME SAYS SOMEONE LIKE ME IS REALLY RARE! WHICH I AM HIM! AND THE AIR ALSO SMELLS LIKE BONES, AND I SPARE ONCE MORE! GAME ME TALKS ABOUT DATING, AND STARTS CACKLING! I SPARE AGAIN, AND FLOWERY HAS DIED OF BOREDOM, OH NO!! I BETTER FINISH THE BATTLE QUICKLY!
GAME ME TELLS ME TO GIVE UP, WHICH I WILL NOT DO! AND THEN HE THREATENS TO USE HIS SPECIAL ATTACK! AND THEN HE THREATENS TO USE IT ANOTHER THREE TIMES! AND THEN THE GAME IS SUPER ACCURATE YET AGAIN UNFORTUNATELY, AND I USE MY SUPER COOL REGULAR ATTACK! AND GAME ME SPARES ME, AND THE BATTLE IS OVER AND FLOWERY IS ALIVE AGAIN HOORAY! BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDUELED DESCRIPTIVE PLAYTHROUGH!
THE FOG FADES AWAY, AND THE GREAT PAPYRUS WALLOWS IN SORROW AND DEFEAT. "NYOO HOO HOO!" HE CRIES OUT, AS HE SHAMES HIMSELF OUT OF SADNESS! BUT WORRY NOT, DEAR PAPYRUS! FOR I, THE GREAT COOL HUMAN, AKA FRISK, HAVE DECIDED TO BE YOUR VERY COOL FRIEND! THE GREAT PAPYRUS CHEERS UP IMMEDIATELY, VERY GRATEFUL TO HAVE ANOTHER FRIEND! THE GREAT PAPYRUS GIVES DIRECTIONS TO THE SURFACE, AND TALKS ABOUT THE GREAT KING ASGORE! AND THEN HE FLIES BACK HOME SATISFIED WITH THE RESULTS OF THIS DUEL! BUT PAPYRUS' GREAT STORY DOESN'T END THERE, FOR FRISK WILL BE COMING BACK TO HIS HOUSE TO DATE HIM, NEXT TIME ON PAPYRUS AND FLOWERY PLAY UNDERTALE AND REGURGITATE THE KNOWLEDGE BACK TO YOU!!
-NYEHFULLY YOURS, PAPYRUS AND FLOWERY

I spent 2 weeks traveling through Japan - Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and I'm writing this for those who are thinking about visiting. To preface, I did travel with a friend but spent a lot of time on my own. I'll cover as much as possible.
Pre-Trip
I booked a flight with American Airlines / Delta Airlines for $590 round-trip three months before departing.
I flew out of Los Angeles to Tokyo (Haneda). The trip started on February 9 and ended on February 20. I booked my accommodation before arriving in Japan. I used Hostelworld and Agoda. More about the hostels and hotels I booked are below.
COVID Screening and Visa information for US Citizens only
During the time I visited, Japan still required visitors to be fully vaccinated and have a pre-screening for arrival. First I had to do a pre-screening for American Airlines on VeriFly (please do this a day before checking in at the airport if so). Then, save yourself time and use Visit Japan Web (http://vjw-lp.digital.go.jp/en/) and do the pre-screening requirements a couple of days before departure.
When you land in Tokyo, immediately after deplaning, swaths of airport personnel ask if you have the screener filled out and ready to go. If you don’t, they put you to the side and ask you to fill it out using the airport’s wifi. It takes time and you still have to go through customs after.
Visas for US citizens is a free, 3-month visa if I recall correctly. Bring your COVID vaccination card just in case they ask for it.
Tech/Phone
I took my iPhone 14 Pro (unlocked) and connected buying Ubigi 10gb data plan. Do this before flying to Japan. When you land, you can activate your data plan directly on your phone. I didn’t get pocket wifi as the Ubigi worked perfectly.
Download the Ubigi app. They give instructions but please follow them.
Apps that I used:
Google Maps: you can download offline maps.
Google Translate: Use this everywhere you go. You can use the camera feature and it can translate Japanese to English really great. It saved me a lot of hassle when ordering at restaurants.
Currency Converter
You might want to download a VPN if you want to use Netflix and such. Express VPN is one I’d recommend.
Money/Currency
I took my Charles Schwab debit card and a backup Chase credit card/Chase debit card. Surprisingly, a lot of stores in Japan are cash-heavy; especially small shops and restaurants. My budget for the trip was $2000 with flights included.
Hostels and hotels were around $20-35 USD. Food prices were about $7-$20 a meal. It can get really expensive if you eat at fine dining restaurants. That being said, I stuck to eating mostly at hole-in-the-wall establishments where no English was spoken. Believe me when I say that the best ramen I ever had was only $7 USD. More on what restaurants I recommend are down below. If you really want to save money, don’t buy alcohol.
A solid budget for me was $60-$80 per day without lodging expenses. Some days, I only spent $40 which was all food (I spare no expense for food), then some days I went over because I bought cool souvenirs for myself and some excursions were pricey. You can visit Japan for less but I didn’t want to money pinch myself because I was only there for 2 weeks.
Transportation
I love Japan for this reason. So here’s my take: If you are visiting Japan for exactly 14 days; get the JR Pass on Klook. You buy this a month before departing your home country. For me, Klook delivered it about a week after I bought it over Mail. You could buy either a 7, 14, or 21-day JR pass so I would recommend planning a trip that matches these exact number of days to get the most out of your money.
Now imagine you’re in Japan. It is your first day officially visiting…go to a JR Pass office at any major train station and ask them to redeem your pass. They will ask for the paper ticket that arrived in the mail to your home and they will ask for your passport. After they verify that it is you, they will give you a small ticket which will be your JR pass. DO NOT LOSE THIS! I believe they will not replace it. On how to use it, check out this video.
Now to navigate, I used a combination of Google Maps and Apple Maps to get around. Use whichever one is more comfortable for you. These 2 apps are really exceptional at mapping out the best routes and the times trains depart. Note: the JR Pass only works for JR rail lines! Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka all have their own subways and train lines with their own payment system. More on this…
So the best way to get around the city is using a Suica card. These are sold virtually at any train station. If you can't find it, ask a train station attendant and say “Suica?”. They point you in the right direction.
A Suica card can be refilled unlimited times and can be used for any rail lines (JR included, but not for Bullet Trains). It is used by tapping at the turnstiles to enter the rails and at any vending machine in Japan! Also at arcades! It is a total mindblower haha Also in Tokyo, some hostels or hotels have a 3-day subway pass for cheap.
Bullet Trains - You can use the Shinkansen bullet trains if you have the JR Pass. Make an important note: You can only ride the Hikari or Sakura trains with your JR Pass. The Nozomi and Mizuho are reserved seating and cost extra because they have fewer stops. If they catch you using these rail lines, they will ask you to get off the next stop or worse, fine you and report you. To see Mount Fuji from Tokyo to Kyoto/Osaka, sit on the right side of the train (right side of the direction it is going). Use Google Maps and Apple Maps to pinpoint when to look out the window.
Food
I usually ate sandwiches and pastries from 7-Eleven in the morning or whenever I needed to pack a lunch. It was a great way to save cash and the food was delicious. High-quality foods and snacks.
As I said earlier, I really spare no expense for good, big meals. I save money at 7-Eleven so I can go all out for lunch and dinner. My go-to meal was usually ramen because it was so damn good. I tried a lot of foods. I’ll try and remember which ones I ate: - Ramen - Okonomiyaki - Unagi - Katsu Curry - Taiyaki - Tempura - Japanese cheesecake - Macha ice cream - Macha waffles - Onigiri - And a lot of different ice creams, confectionary snacks - McDonald’s - please try lol they have interesting combinations
Pack List
I used a 40-liter Osprey backpack.
1 scarf
1 beanie
2 cotton t-shirts
2 thermal polyester long-sleeve shirts (Odor resistant)
2 pairs of joggers
1 pair of Nike thermal leggings
8 pairs of Nike Dri-Fit boxers (lost 1)
4 pairs of ankle socks
3 pairs of Darn Tough Merino wool blend socks (Highly recommend, Odor resistant)
1 parka
1 pair of Adidas Ultraboost shoes
1 Hershel toiletries bag
2 Forge cable combination locks
External battery pack (13000 mAh)
Bose QC-25 noise-canceling headphones
Over the course of the trip, I bought a much-needed 30L Patagonia day backpack
I don’t sweat heavily so I re-wore my shirts, the Merino wool blend socks, and joggers. I did my laundry maybe once or twice at the hostels. It was freezing at the time I went, so I usually layered up when temperatures were lower than usual.
Safety
I am a 6'1" (1.85 m) male with a light brown complexion. I felt safe most of my time there. I think it was the safest country I have ever been to. Some Japanese people are known to be racist but I didn’t experience it. So I wouldn’t worry about it.
Itinerary/Activities
Feb 9 Day 1 Tokyo Feb 10 Day 2 Tokyo Feb 11 Day 3 Tokyo (Day Trip to Odiaba/Yokohama) Feb 12 Day 4 Osaka Feb 13 Day 5 Osaka (Day Trip to Hime-ji Castle/Kobe) Feb 14 Day 6 Osaka (Day Trip to Nara) Feb 15 Day 7 Kyoto Feb 16 Day 8 Kyoto Feb 17 Day 9 Kyoto Feb 18 Day 10 Tokyo Feb 19 Day 11 Tokyo Feb 20 Day 12 Tokyo (Fly Out)
I will put a star (*) next to anything that I highly recommend! 2 stars are for more emphasis! I will list the accommodation first, then activities, and then bars/restaurants.
Tokyo - 3 Nights (Asakusa + Akihabara + Odaiba + Yokohama)
Lodging: Sakura Hostel Asakusa
Activities: *Tokyo National Museum, *Senso-ji Temple, Kaminarimon Gate, Nakamise-dori Street, *Sengaku-ji Temple, Hirose Entertainment Yard arcade, Animate Akihabara, **Mandarake Complex Akihabara, Tsukiji Outer Fish Market, TeamLabs Odaiba, Gundam Yokohama, NISMO Museum Yokohama, Nissan Headquarters Yokohama
Restaurants/Bars: Fuji Ramen Asakusa, Asakusa Unana, *Naruto Taiyaki, *Koyangi Asakusa, *Ouzakura Ramen Yokohama
Took a Shinkansen bullet train from Tokyo to Osaka
Osaka - 3 Nights (Kobe + Nara)
Lodging: Backstage Osaka Hostel
Activities: *Hime-ji Castle, *Kaiyukan Aquarium, Dontonbori, Shinsekai, Round 1 Stadium (arcade), *Nunobiki Waterfall Kobe, *Todai-ji Temple, *Nara Park, Kasuga Taisha Temple, Gilco Sign
Restaurants/Bars: *Wakakusa Curry Nara, *Nakatanidou Nara, *cafe CROCO Nara, Fanny Mae Bar Osaka, Rikuro’s Namba Main Branch, PC and Retro Bar Space Station, Bible Club Bar Osaka, Untitled karaoke bar next to Rock Bar Cherry Bomb lol, Takoyaki Wanaka Sennichimae Osaka, Sushi Dokoro Kuromonsuehiro Osaka, *Dotombori Ichiaki Osaka, *Hamamoto Coffee Himeji, Tairku Ramen Kobe
Took a Shinkansen bullet train from Osaka to Kyoto
Kyoto - 3 Nights (Day Trip to Uji)
Lodging: **Gojo Guesthouse
Activities: Otagi Nembutsu-ji Temple, Adashino Mayumura (closed when I arrived early), Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, *Tenryu-ji Temple, Togetsukyo Bridge, *Nishiki Market, *pocoapoco Record Store, Super Milk Record Store, *Fushimi Inari Taisha Temple Complex, *Byodo-In Temple Restaurants/Bars: *comorebi Ramen House, 茶室 tea room Uji, *Gion Duck Noodles, 自家製麺 うどん 讃式
Took a Shinkansen bullet train from Kyoto to Tokyo - Saw a glimpse of Mount Fuji :’)
Tokyo - 2 Nights (Shinjuku + Shibuya + Akihabara)
Lodging: **Capsule Hotel Anshin Oyado Shinjuku Station (Males Only)
Activities: Tower Records Shinjuku, Disk Union Shinjuku, Mandarake Complex Shibuya, Nakano Broadway, Tokyo Dome for Red Hot Chili Peppers concert, *Shibuya Sky at Night, Tokyu Hands Shop
Restaurants/Bars: Ramen Kaijin, Shakey’s, McDonald’s, Ichiran Nakano
Tips, Advice, and Bonus Stuff!

1. Goes without saying but please respect the local customs.
   
2. Please learn how to say “Thank You” in Japanese! Just learning and using “Arigato” anywhere you go will make you seem like you care and respect everyone. Nothing was more embarrassing than watching an American say “thank you” to a Japanese person.
   
3. Plan to do the major tourist attractions early in the morning. You will get nice pictures without any tourists and you’ll sometimes get the whole temple complex to yourself. The staff will also be more friendly and willing to chat with you. I usually aim to be at temples around 7:00 when they open.
   
4. Use Google Translate for everything! You can have full conversations with friendly Japanese people when using the conversation feature on the app! Use the camera feature to translate Kanji at restaurants that do not offer an English menu.
   
5. Get a Ubigi data plan, I bought 10GB and it had good service anywhere I went. Get more GB if you plan on staying longer.
   
6. I ate at 7-Eleven most of the time when I was too lazy or tired to go out. The 7-Elevens here in Japan are nothing like the ones in the US. Expect to find high-quality sandwiches, Onigiri, and more Japanese snacks.
   
7. Shop at supermarkets near the end of the day (1 hour before closing) and they usually mark down prepped meals half-off or at a discounted price! If you really on a budget, this can help you to save a ton of money and still get a taste of the local cuisine.
   
8. If you need to buy random stuff like clothes, bags, or toiletries; go shop at any Don Quijote or Tokyu Hands department store. They have other shops too that are great to find cool stuff.
   
9. Use Google Translate to translate English to Kanji (Japanese) and use Kanji to find restaurants that are hidden because they don’t use English words. For example, if you want to find the best ramen place, search “拉麺” and you’ll find hidden gems with 5-star reviews!
   
10. The best souvenir I brought back myself was a Goshuincho. These are “honorable stamp/seal book” used by people visiting shrines or temples. If you want more info, google this! I highly recommend doing this!
    

If you have any questions, comment below or send a DM. Peace!

Munitions

Item	Type	Delivery Complete	Origin	Quantity	Cost for this year	Notes
JDAM-ER	Guided Glide-Bomb	2025	USA	11,000	$ 65,000,000.00	2/2
AIM-120C-8 AMRAAM	BVRAAM	2026	USA	120	$ 92,000,000.00	2/3
AGM-158B JASSM-ER	LACM	2025	USA	64	$ 176,000,000.00	1/1
M982 Excalibur	Percision guided artillery round	2026	USA	560	$ 35,000,000.00	2/3
GBU-53/B StormBreaker	Percision guided glide bomb	2025	USA	100	$ 40,000,000.00	1/1
PrSM Incr. 2	Ballistic missile	2028	USA	54	$ 27,000,000.00	2/4, deliveries start in late 2025

Vehicles

Item	Type	Delivery Complete	Origin	Quantity	Cost for this year	Notes
K2	MBT	2025	South Korea	180	$ 842,500,000.00	4/4
K2PL	MBT	2032	South Korea/Poland	820	$ 820,000,000.00	4/11, Deliveries start in 2026
M1A2 SEPv3	MBT	2026	USA	250	$ 950,000,000.00	4/5
K9 Thunder	Self-Propelled Artillery	2026	South Korea	212	$ 150,000,000.00	4/5
K9PL	Self-Propelled Artillery	2032	South Korea	460	$ 250,000,000.00	4/11
AHS Krab	Self-Propelled Artillery	2027	Poland	90	$ 75,000,000.00	3/5
M120 Rak	Self-Propelled Mortar	2025	Poland	29	$ 90,000,000.00	3/3
K239 Chunmoo	Self-Propelled Rocket Artillery	2028	South Korea/Poland	288 (218/70)	$ 500,000,000.00	4/7
BWP Borsuk	IFV	2032	Poland	1400	$ 560,000,000.00	3/10
Wirus	Recce	2026	Poland	300	$ 24,000,000.00	2/3
M142 HIMARS	Rocket artillery system	2029	USA	108	$ 350,000,000.00	2/6, includes GMLRS-ER
MS-20 Daglezja	Vehicle Launched Bridge	2027	Poland	62	$ 6,200,000.00	2/4

Aircraft

Item	Type	Delivery Complete	Origin	Quantity	Cost for this year	Notes
AH-64	Attack Helicopter	2032	USA	96	$ 900,000,000.00	3/10
AW149	Multi-Role Helicopter	2029	Italy	32	$ 176,000,000.00	3/7
F-35 Blk. IV TR-3	Multi-Role Fighter	2026	USA	32	$ 650,000,000.00	6/7
FA-50PL Blk. 20	Multi-Role Fighter	2029	South Korea/Poland	32	$ 285,000,000.00	3/7

Weapons

Item	Type	Delivery Complete	Origin	Quantity	Cost for this year	Notes
MSBS Grot	Assault Rifle	2027	Poland	100,000	$ 20,000,000.00	2/4
PPZR Grom	MANPADS	2029	Poland	800 launchers, 2500 missiles	$ 142,000,000.00	2/6
PILICA+	Short-Range SAM	2032	Poland/UK	22 bty	$ 380,000,000.00	3/5, Polish systems and CAMM-ER
Narew	Medium-Range SAM	2030	Poland/UK	23 bty	$ 1,300,000,000.00	3/10
PATRIOT PAC-3MSE	Long-Range SAM	2028	USA	6 Bty	$ 1,700,000,000.00	2/7, includes IBCS and GhostEye radar

Other

Item	Type	Delivery Complete	Origin	Quantity	Cost for this year	Notes
Support equipment	C4I, ammunition, smaller UAVs, spare parts, software, and other necessary equipment	2025	Poland	---	$ 479,291,000.00	Smaller pieces of equipment not mentioned in other categories

Ships

Item	Type	Delivery Complete	Origin	Quantity	Cost for this year	Notes
ORP Miecznik	Arrowhead 140PL Frigate	2028	UK/Poland	1	$ 45,000,000.00	4/7
ORP Foka	Arrowhead 140PL Frigate	2029	UK/Poland	1	$ 39,000,000.00	4/8
ORP Wieloryb	Arrowhead 140PL Frigate	2031	UK/Poland	1	$ 31,000,000.00	4/10
ORP Orka	Type 212 Submarine	2027	Germany	1	$ 115,000,000.00	2/4
Unnamed	Type 212 Submarine	2028	Germany	1	$ 90,000,000.00	2/5
Unnamed	Type 212 Submarine	2029	Germany	1	$ 80,000,000.00	2/6
ORP Oko, Jasnowidz	SAAB SIGINT Ship	2027	Sweden	2	$ 120,000,000.00	3/5
ORP Gardno	Kormoran-2 Class Minehunter	2029	Poland	1	$ 12,000,000.00	3/7
ORP Bukowo	Kormoran-2 Class Minehunter	2030	Poland	1	$ 10,000,000.00	3/8
ORP Dąbie	Kormoran-2 Class Minehunter	2031	Poland	1	$ 9,500,000.00	3/9

Upgrades

Item	Type	Delivery Complete	Origin	Quantity	Cost for this year	Notes
Leopard 2PL	MBT upgrade	2025	Poland	32	$ 49,000,000.00	1/1

RDT&E - $ 300,000,000.00

I originally posted this to help, but their mods deleted it and said my post was more suited for this sub, so here goes:
Reddit's current model of reporting suspicious accounts is woefully inadequate for combating bot follower accounts, and I would like to know what reddit is doing about it. If this isn't the right sub for this issue of accountability, please let me know where I can complain.
I have received multiple bot followers recently, and there is no easy way to report an account as a bot. When you click the hamburger menu on a user's account and choose Report Account , you're brought to a support article. The article says that you should report specific posts / comments made by the user rather than reporting the whole account. There is no way to take any action from that link. That same article says, "6185 out of 38806 found this helpful"-- makes sense, as linking to a useless article usually yields a ~16% upvote rate.
While I understand reddit's user-reporting rationale, this policy makes it much harder to report accounts that are very obviously bots. I've seen posts recently like this one where other users have experienced similar frustrations.
Some users have advised others to disable followers, but I think that's a bridge too far; I still want the option to have followers, but I don't want a constant influx of spam accounts either. Edit: I also know you can block users, which I have been doing. Still, that offers no help to others being plagued by the exact same accounts.
What is reddit doing to combat the bot followers that have proliferated recently, and what can we do as individuals besides reading unhelpful documents or shutting off followers altogether?
My suggestion (based on u/Nova1395's comment) would be to allow an entire account to be reported as a bot. Large companies like reddit have tons of private metadata about a user account, such as sign-up time, number of posts, and activity. The reddit admins could vet these reported accounts and auto-suspend the really suspicious ones and offer some sort of appeal process for legitimate users.

Quick question for anyone who designs in 2K23; Where are the train tracks, or railway tracks?
I have seen then on another course, but cannot find them in the Designer menu. In the past versions I have buried bridges to approximate tracks, but actual tracks now seem to be available, but danged if I can find 'em.

I'm running triple 22's in nvidia surround ultrawide and all has been normal. Boot up a couple days ago and the taskbar is still centered but now on top. Yes I know there are reg hacks or tools to move it but didn't do anything like that to cause or fix. I reboot and its back on the bottom BUT now its stuck on the left.
To be clear I'm not talking about alignment where the windows button is on the left of taskbar, i mean the whole taskbar is on the left 1/3 of my ultrawide. When I click the windows button (Start) the Start Menu opens in the middle like always even though it is now not above the taskbar it opened from.
I've toggled everything back and forth in taskbar settings, undid and redid the surround setup, it just seems like something is forcing the whole taskbar left. I'm blaming MS in my head for an update causing this but wanted to see if anyone else has dealt with this and what you did?
Not the end of the world as everything else is perfectly normal, it's just flaring my OCD.
Thanks all!

Here is my current mod list, I'm quite proud of it. What do you all think of it? Note: 1. A few of the mods are deactivated, they were all copied together. 2. The mods are not listed in order, they got automatically sorted alphabetically when I copied them.
Moonpath to Elsweyr SSE"
Moons And Stars - Sky Overhaul SKSE"
More Informative Console"
More to Say"
moreHUD Inventory Edition"
Moss Rocks"
Moss Rocks - 3D Rocks Patch"
Mrf's Markarth"
Mrf's Solitude"
Mrf's Solitude - Update"
Nate DBVO Pack - MALE PC"
Natural Hair Colors"
NL_MCM - A Modular MCM Framework"
No Grass In Caves"
No Grass In Objects"
No Grassias - A Universal Grass Fix For Grass Mods"
No Recoil"
No Spinning Death Animation"
Nordic Snow"
Nordic Snow - Projected Diffuse"
Nordic Stonewalls"
NORDIC UI - Compass Markers Restored"
NORDIC UI - Interface Overhaul"
Nordic UI - Menu Cleaned and Upscaled"
NORDIC UI - Miscellaneous Patches"
NORDIC UI - Ultrawide Fixes and Patches"
Nordic UI Ultrawide Patch"
Nordic...ish - A TrueHUD preset based on Nordic UI"
Nordic...ish - A TrueHUD preset based on Nordic UI - Recent Item Widget"
Northborn Scars"
Northfires Photoreal Mountains 3 for Majestic (8K)"
NPC AI Process Position Fix - NG"
NPC Animation Remix (DAR)"
NPCs Names Distributor"
NPCs React To Invisibility"
NPCs Wear Amulets of Mara PLUS"
Obsidian Weathers and Seasons"
Open Civil War SSE"
Optional Round Farmhouse Posts"
OSHA-Compliant Sovengarde Mesh Fixes"
Paarthurnax - Quest Expansion"
PapyrusUtil SE - Modders Scripting Utility Functions"
Paragon gems 4K"
Particle Lights For ENB - Aetherium Shards"
Particle Lights For ENB - Alchemy and Enchanting Tables"
Particle Lights For ENB - Apocypha"
Particle Lights For ENB - Blood Splatter Fix"
Particle Lights For ENB - Bugs in a Jar"
Particle Lights For ENB - Dark Elf Lantern"
Particle Lights For ENB - Dark Elf Lantern Particle Patch"
Particle Lights For ENB - Dragonborn Ingredients"
Particle Lights For ENB - Ingredients"
Particle Lights for ENB - Nirnroot"
Particle Lights For ENB - Paragon Gems"
Particle Lights For ENB - Staff Enchanter"
Particle Lights For ENB - Undead Creatures"
Particle Lights For ENB - Wisps - Witchlight"
Particle Lights For ENB - wSkeever Ingredients"
Particle Patch for ENB"
Payload Interpreter"
PELTAPALOOZA - Special Edition"
Penitus Oculatus Questline"
Pickaxe Redone SSE"
Picta Series - Improved Sky Meshes"
Picta Series - Improved Sky Meshes - Cathedral Version"
Populated Skyrim Reborn SSE"
powerofthree's Papyrus Extender"
powerofthree's Tweaks"
Precision"
Prisoner cart fix SMIM"
Pristine Vanilla Movement"
Project ja-Kha'jay"
Project ja-Kha'jay- Moonpath to Elsweyr Khajiit Overhaul"
Project New Reign - Nemesis Unlimited Behavior Engine"
Quality CubeMaps - HD Cube Maps Optimized"
Quick Light SE"
Race Menu SE - WIdescreen Fix"
RaceMenu"
RaceMenu - Male Khajiit Mouth Expression Fix"
RaceMenu Memory Leak Fix"
Rain Extinguishes Fires"
Rally's Civil War Document Tubes"
Rally's Riekling Outposts"
Reachmen Tribes Names"
Real Rabbits HD"
Real Rabbits HD - SPID Edition"
RealRainSE"
Reanimated NPC Animations"
Relationship Dialogue Overhaul - RDO SE"
Remi UnLux Patch"
Remiel-Custom Voiced Follower"
Remiros' Chitin Armor HD"
Renthal's Waterwheel Remastered"
Reversed Daggers Moveset for MCO"
Riekling Barrels SMIM"
Riften Architectural Details"
Riften Docks Overhaul"
Riften Docks Overhaul - Riften Extension Patch"
Riften Docks Overhaul - SMIM Patch"
Riften Extension - Southwoods District"
RS Children - Populated Skyrim Reborn SSE Patch"
RS Children Overhaul"
Rudification - Rudy Candles Expanded"
Rudy ENB Obsidian Weathers ADDONS and REQUiRED Files"
Rudy HQ - Falling Leaves and Needles SE"
Rudy HQ - Falling Leaves and Needles SE - Yellow Leaves Texture"
Rudy HQ - Hay SE"
Rudy HQ - Miscellaneous SE"
Rudy HQ - More lights for ENB - Daedric weapons"
RUGNAROK - Special Edition"
Ruins Clutter Improved"
Ruins Clutter Improved - Fixes"
Ruins Clutter Improved - Portcullis Collision Fix"
RUSTIC ARMOR and WEAPONS 4k-2k SE"
RUSTIC CLOTHING 4k-2k - Special Edition"
RUSTIC MAPS"
RUSTIC WINDOWS - Special Edition"
SABRECAT.by.Kajuan"
SCAR - Skyrim Combos AI Revolution"
Sconces of Skyrim - Markarth Braziers Improved"
Scrambled Bugs"
Scripts, Utilities and Core Files_separator"
SDA - UnLux"
SDA Patch Hub SE"
SD's Horn Candles SE"
Security Overhaul SKSE - Add-ons"
Security Overhaul SKSE - Lock Variations"
Security Overhaul SKSE - Regional Locks"
Serana Dialogue Add-On"
Serana Re-Imagined"
Serious Civil War Defense for OCW"
Serious Civil War Finale Sieges"
Shaders of Solstheim - Ash and Moss"
Shadow of Skyrim - Nemesis and Alternative Death System"
Show Player In Menus"
Shroud Hearth Barrow Script Fix"
Sigils of Skyrim - Shields"
Sigils of the North - Banners 4k"
Simple Snow Improvements - Giant Obelisks (BOS)"
Simple Snow Improvements - Skyrim (BOS)"
Simplicity of Snow"
SIRENROOT - Deluge of Deceit"
SIRENROOT - HD Texture Pack"
Skeleton Replacer HD"
Skeleton Replacer HD - Lux Patch"
Skeleton Replacer HD - Patch Collection"
SKSE - INI"
SKSE Output"
SKSE Plugins_separator"
SKSE Scripts - v2.0.20"
Sky Idles"
SkyFix SE - HD Blacksmith Signs"
SkyHUD"
Skyland AIO"
Skyland Farmhouse - Farmhouse Door Patch"
Skyland Whiterun - Epic Doors of Whiterun Patch"
Skyland Whiterun - Pompous Door of Whiterun Patch"
Skyrim - A Mountainous Experience"
Skyrim 3D Docks and Boardwalks"
Skyrim 3D Furniture"
Skyrim 3D Furniture - SMIM Patch"
Skyrim 3D Landscapes"
Skyrim 3D Rocks"
Skyrim 3D Windmill"
Skyrim on Skooma"
Skyrim Priority SE AE - skse plugin"
Skyrim Remastered - Caves"
Skyrim Remastered - Glaciers and Ice - IMR Edition"
Skyrim Ultimate Eye Meshe"
Skyrim Ultimate Eye Meshes - Vampire Fixes"
Skyrim Upscaler - DLSS FSR2 XeSS"
Skyrim Upscaler - Patreon BETA"
SkyUI"
Slayable Offspring SKSE"
Sleeping Expanded - Animations and NPC reactions"
Small Nordic Tent Replacer"
SMIM - Quality Addon - Unofficial Material Fix Patch"
SMIM Barrel Expansion - Mead Barrel - Oil Barrel - Butter Churn"
Smoke - Rudy Fix"
Smoking Torches and Candles SSE"
Smooth Moveset"
Smooth Random idle Animation"
SmoothCam"
SmoothCam - Modern Camera Preset"
Solstheim Objects SMIMed"
Sons of Nirn - Whiterun"
Soul Cairn Script Tweaks"
Spell Perk Item Distributor"
Spell Perk Item Distributor OLD"
SpellSword Moveset"
Splashes of Skyrim"
Splashes Of Storms"
Splashes of Storms - Rudy Fix"
SSE Display Tweaks"
SSE Engine Fixes (skse64 plugin)"
Stalhrim Refrozen"
Stalhrim Refrozen - Upscales Textures"
Static Mesh Improvement Mod"
Static Mesh improvement Mod - SMIM - Quality Addon"
Static Mesh Improvement Mod Improvement Mod"
Stockades of Skyrim 3D"
Stones of Solitude - Better Blended Rock Piles"
Storm Lightning for SSE and VR (Minty Lightning 2019)"
Strongholds - Largashbur"
Strongholds - Narzulbur"
Stunning Statues of Skyrim"
Subtle Wind FX"
TAA Deblur"
Take a Seat - New DAR Sitting Animations"
Tamrielic Names"
Tempered Skins for Males - Dressed Version"
Terrain Fixes for CC Mods"
The Eyes Of Beauty SSE"
The Eyes Of Beauty SSE - Elves Edition"
The Second Great War"
The Second Great War - USSEP Patch"
The Taste of Death Improved Shutdown"
TMB Vanilla Armors and Clothes SSE"
To Your Face SE"
Troll.by.Kajuan"
True Directional Movement - Modernized Third Person Gameplay"
TRUE FACES - A Character Enhancement Project"
TrueHUD - HUD Additions"
Unarmed Moveset for MCO"
Undead Snow Elves - Mihail"
UNDERDOG Animations"
Unique Map Weather"
Unique Map Weather - Vanilla Additions"
Unique Skulls HD"
Unique Solstheim Grass"
Unique Solstheim Grass - Complex Grass"
Unofficial High Definition Audio Project"
Unofficial Material Fix"
Unofficial Material Fix - Assorted Mesh Fixes Patch"
Unofficial Moonpath to Elsweyr Patch"
Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch"
UNP Female Body Renewal"
Unreal 4K Mammoth Skeleton ReTexture"
Use Those Blankets"
Valhalla Combat"
Vampire Lines Expansion"
Vampires Have Claws"
Vanargand Animations - Archery"
Vanargand Animations - Sneak Archery"
Vanilla Follower Expansion - Illia (VFE)"
Vanilla hair - Salt and Wind"
Vanilla Makeup HD"
Vanilla Warpaints Absolution"
Veydosebrom Regions"
Veydosebrom Regions - Complex Grass"
VickusDickus' Khajiiti Apex Armory"
Wade In Water Redone"
Wall mounted dead animals fixes"
Water for ENB"
Water in Wells - mesh-only animated wells"
Weapon Keyword Unification Project"
Weather of World"
Weathers & Atmosphere_separator"
WEBS SE"
Wedding Outfit Commission"
WeldingMans Smelter"
WeldingMans Smelter - Embers XD"
Whiterun Exteriors Patch Collection"
Whiterun Objects SMIMed"
Whiterun Trees"
Whiterun Trees - JKs Skyrim - Fortified Whiterun Patch"
WIDeadBodyCleanupScript Crash Fix"
Windhelm Bridge Stairs"
Winterhold Statue - Animated with ENB Lights"
Wispmother.by.Kajuan"
WiZkiD Riften and Ratway"
WiZkiD Signs"
WiZkiD Specific Signs"
Wolves of the Wild"
Wood Wall Trap Mesh and UV Fix"
Woodcutter Axe Redone SE"
Word Wall Transparency Fix for ENB"
Wyrmstooth"
XNFRain's Civil War Map Flag Replacer SE"
XP32 Maximum Skeleton Special Extended"
.NET Script Framework"
Landscape Fixes For Grass Mods - ASLAL Patch"
3D Riften Trellis and Roofs"
3D Solitude Market Trellis"
3D Solitude Market Trellis Expansion"
3D Trellis Improved - Gildergreen Plaza"
3D Whiterun Trellis"
3D Whiterun Trellis Expansion"
4K Carts Clean"
4K SMIM Carriage Seat"
4K Tusks"
A Matter of Time - A HUD clock widget"
A Matter Of Time - Legacy Settings Loader"
Actor Limit Fix"
Address Library for SKSE Plugins"
ADXP I MCO elden rim moveset collection (SCAR)"
ADXP l MCO Nordic Animation Complete Pack"
After the Civil War - Siege Damage Repairs"
Alternate Conversation Camera"
Alternate Start - Live Another Life - SSE"
Amber Refossilized"
aMidianBorn Book of Silence SE"
aMidianBorn Matching Armory - Glass Armor and Weapons"
Ancient Falmer Armor 4K"
Ancient Falmer Armor 4K - Armour Mesh Fixes Patch"
Ancient Nord Pickaxe Replacer - Rusted Textures 4K"
Ancient Nord Pickaxe Replacer 4K"
Animated Coffins"
Animated Forge Water"
Animated Static Reload Fix - NG"
Animation Motion Revolution"
Animation Queue Fix"
Another Jump Animation - Female"
Another Jump Animation - Male"
Archery Locational Damage"
Archery Target Retexture 4k"
Armor Mesh Fixes SE"
Armor Mesh Fixes SE - aMidianBorn Patch"
Armor Mesh Fixes SE - Orcish Environmental Map Fix"
Armor Mesh Fixes SE - Steel Armour Fix"
Ashbound - Solstheim Revisited"
Ashlander Nomads Names"
Assorted mesh fixes"
Attack MCO-DXP"
Auriel Bow - ENB Light"
Auriel's Bow and Shield HD SE"
Aurora Fix"
Authentic Eyes"
Auto Input Switch"
Axarien's Animations - Kaidan (DAR)"
Axarien's Animations - Lucien (DAR)"
Baby Chickens - Mihail"
Bandit Lines Expansion"
Bandit Lines Expansion - Dark Elf"
Barter Limit Fix"
Base Object Swapper"
Base Textures & Meshes_separator"
Basic Dining Set Replacer2k"
Bears of the North"
Bears of the North - 4k Textures"
Behavior Data Injector"
Belethor's Sister - Quest"
Bellyaches 16K-8K Dragon Replacer Pack"
Beneath Bronze Waters Start Fix"
Better Beast vampire fangs - fixes and adjustments - Argonian and Khajiit"
Better Beast vampire fangs - fixes and adjustments - Argonian V Fangs"
Better Blended Mushrooms"
Better Books and Letters"
Better Combat Escape - SSE"
Better Dialogue Control Widescreen Fix"
Better Dialogue Controls"
Better Dyndolod Red Mountain Plume"
Better Jumping SE"
Better Ladder UV Mapping"
Better tomboys DAR animations"
Better Wedding Guests"
Beyond Reach"
Beyond Reach - Arnima - Armour Fix 2"
Beyond Reach - Arnima - Dragonstar Armour Fix"
Beyond Reach - Arnima - Female Witchman Armour Fix"
Beyond Reach - Arnima - Forrsworn Texture Fix"
Beyond Reach - Arnima - Wool Plate Armour Fix"
Beyond Reach - Dunlain Falls Interior and Exterior House Fix"
Beyond Reach - House Texture Fix"
Beyond Reach - Infant Ogre Inventory Fix"
Beyond Reach - Shaman Fix"
Beyond Skyrim - Wares of Tamriel SE"
Bijin NPCs Civil War Legate Rikke Fix"
Bijin NPCs SE"
Bijin Skin - UNP"
Bijin Warmaidens SE"
Bijin Wives SE"
BiR's Remiel Replacer"
Blended Roads"
Blended Roads - Simplicity of Snow Patch"
Blended Roads Redone - Bridges - 8K"
Blended Roads Redone SE - 8K"
Blended Roads Redone SE - Meshes - 8K"
Blind people DAR animations"
Blood and Ash - Ash"
Blood and Ash - Blood"
Bloodline - Volkihar Family"
Bosmer NPCs have Antlers"
Bosmer NPCs have Antlers - Texture Patch"
Breton NPCs Have Elven Ears"
Bright Waterfall Fix for ENB - DynDOLOD"
Bucket Again - SMIMed"
Bug Fixes SSE"
Capital Whiterun Expansion - 3D Whiterun Trellis Patch"
Carriages and Stables Dialogue Bundle"
Cathedral - 3D Deathbell"
Cathedral - 3D Deathbell - ENB Light"
Cathedral - 3D Mountain Flowers"
Cathedral - Mushrooms"
Cathedral - Plants"
Cathedral 3D Mountain Flowers - Base Object Swapper"
Character Creation & NPC Overhaul_separator"
Chicken Replacer - Mihail"
Ciri DBVO - Live Another Life Patch - FEMALE PC"
Ciri DBVO - LotDB Patch - FEMALE PC"
Ciri DBVO - Wyrmstooth Patch - FEMALE PC"
Ciri DBVO Pack - FEMALE PC"
Citizens of Tamriel"
City & Settlements Textures_separator"
Civil War Couriers Framework"
Civil War Lines Expansion"
CLOUDS"
Clouds All Over - All In One"
College of Winterhold - Quest Expansion"
College of Winterhold - Quest Markers"
College of Winterhold - RS Children Patch"
CoMAP"
Combat Music Fix SKSE"
Combat Pathing Revolution"
Complementary Grass Fixes"
Comprehensive First Person Animation Overhaul - CFPAO"
Conditional tavern cheering (DAR)"
Configurable Commentary Rate Slider"
ConsoleUtilSSE"
ConsoleUtilSSE NG"
Cosmos Lucien Replacer"
Creation Club - Fishing"
Creation Club - Rare Curios"
Creation Club - Saints & Seducers"
Creation Club - Survival Mode"
Creatures & Fauna_separator"
Crouch Sliding"
Curated Bosses for True HUD"
Cuyi's Bosmeri Antlers - SSE"
Daedric Names"
DAR - Dynamic Swimming"
DAR - Dynamic Swimming - Argonian Mastery"
Daughters of Malacath"
DBVO Dialogue Interface ReShaped Patch"
Destination Weddings"
Destination Weddings - Lux Via & NPC's Wear Amulets of Mara Patch"
Detailed NPCs - Immersive Armors for NPCs (SPID)"
Dialogue Interface ReShaped"
Dibella's Blessing"
Dibella's Blessing Patches"
Disable Turn Animation SE I AE"
Diverse Skyrim - Voiced Addon (ElevenLabs)"
DIVERSE SKYRIM SSE"
DLC2dunFrostmoonTriggerScript Optimization"
DLC2dunNchardakDoorSeal Script Infinite Loop Fix"
DLC2dunSeekerInvisScript Fix"
DLC2MiraakScript Fix"
DLC2PillarBuilderActorScript Tweak"
DLC2TribalWerebearScript Fix"
Dodge MCO-DXP"
Don't sheathe bound weapons DAR animations"
Dovah Names"
Dragon Priest - Armour and Weapons"
Dragonborn Voice Over"
Dragonborn Voice Over - Nordic UI Ultrawide Patch"
Dragonborn Voice Over Old"
DragonPriest Retexture - SE"
Draugr.by.Kajuan"
dunFolgunthurBossBattle Script Fix"
Dwemer Pipework Reworked"
Dwemer Pipework Reworked - Decorative Pattern"
Dwemer Pipework Reworked - ENB Lights"
Dynamic Animation Replacer"
Dynamic Dodge Animation"
Dynamic Impact - Slash Effects X"
Dynamic snow For Map"
DynDOLOD Resources SE"
eeekie's even better Kaidan"
Elder Creed - Valhalla Axe Moveset AIO"
ElSopa - Papers HD SE"
ElSopa HD - Realistic Dark Elf Urns SE"
Elven Weapons for Silence SE"
Embers XD"
Emperor Penguins - Mihail"
ENB Helper SE"
ENB Light"
Enhanced Blood Textures"
Enhanced Enemy AI SE"
Enhanced Invisibility"
Enhanced Reanimation"
Enhanced Volumetric Lighting and Shadows (EVLaS)"
Equip Enchantment Fix"
Equipment & Apparel_separator"
ESO Style Cursor"
EVG Animated Traversal"
EVG Animated Traversal - Bleak Falls Barrow"
EVG Animated Traversal - Flat Footed Quest"
EVG Animated Traversal - Patch Collection"
EVG Animated Traversal - Skyrim Integration Patch"
EVG Animation Variance"
EVG Conditional Idles"
EVG Conditionals Extended"
EVG Conditionals Extended - Modesty Replacer"
EVG Conditionals Extended - Valhalla Patch"
Expressive Facegen Morphs SE"
Expressive Facial Animation -Female Edition-"
Expressive Facial Animation -Male Edition-"
Expressive Remiel"
FA ORCODONTIST - Orsimer Mouth and Teeth Fix"
Face Discoloration Fix"
Falmer.by.Kajuan"
Fancy Sword Moveset for MCO"
Fate Cards Remade - Legacy of The Dragonborn"
Feminize - Crafting Animation (DAR)"
First Person Combat Animations Overhaul 2.0 -SIZE MATTERS"
Fish Anywhere With Water"
Fix Note icon for SkyUI"
Fixed Mesh Lighting"
Fixed Nordic Metal Grate"
Flickering Meshes Fix"
Flies Around Corpses - Audio Only"
Flora & Landscape_separator"
Forgotten Argonian Roots"
Forsworn and Thalmor Lines Expansion"
Forsworn Matriarchs Names"
Fortified Whiterun"
Fortified Whiterun - Immersive Citizens Patch"
Fortified Whiterun - JK's Skyrim Patch"
Frankly HD Dawnguard Armor and Weapons"
Frankly HD Dragonbone and Dragonscale - Armor and Weapons"
Frankly HD Dragonbone and Dragonscale - Armor and Weapons - Mesh Fix"
Frankly HD Imperial Armor and Weapons"
Frankly HD Imperial Armor and Weapons - Leanwolf Patch"
Frankly HD Imperial Armor and Weapons - Long Sleeves"
Frankly HD Nightingale Armor and Weapons [SSE]"
Frankly HD Nightingale Armor and Weapons [SSE] - Leanwolf Patch"
Frankly HD Shrouded Armor"
Frankly HD Silver Sword"
Frankly HD Stormcloak and City Guards"
Frankly HD Stormcloak and City Guards - Falkreath Hue Fix"
Frankly HD Stormcloak and City Guards - Fix"
Frankly HD Thieves Guild Armors"
Fuz Ro D-oh - Silent Voice"
FYX - 3D Coal in the Shovel"
FYX - 3D Dock Ramp"
FYX - 3D Farmhouse Walkway"
FYX - 3D Honeyside Deck Floor"
FYX - 3D Shack Kit Roofs"
FYX - 3D Shack Kit Walls"
FYX - 3D Shack Kit Walls - BOS"
FYX - 3D Stockades"
FYX - 3D Stockades - Walls and Gate"
FYX - 3D Whiterun Castle Bridge"
FYX - 3D Whiterun Drawbridge Gate"
FYX - 3D Whiterun Drawbridge Gate - Lux Orbis Patch"
FYX - 3D Whiterun Guard Towers"
FYX - 3D Whiterun Scaffold"
FYX - 3D Whiterun Tree Circle"
FYX - Candlehearth Hall Chimney"
FYX - Fortified Whiterun Consistency"
FYX - Jorrvaskr"
FYX - RavenRock Docks and Fences Round Posts"
FYX - RowBoat"
FYX - SMIM Barrels - Smooth and New optionnal Metal and Wood Texture"
FYX - Smooth Wells"
FYX - The Temple of Mara (ENB Light Windows)"
FYX - Water Splash"
FYX - Windhelm Stable Roof"
FYX Smooth Wells - Invisible Well Fix"
Gameplay_separator"
Gesture Animation Remix (DAR)"
Giant.by.Kajuan"
Gilded Doublet - Ported to SSE"
GKB Waves Reborn"
Glorious Doors of Skyrim (GDOS)"
Glowing Mushroom Collision Fixes"
GOAT HD by Pfuscher"
Goetia Animations - Conditional Shouts"
Goetia Animations - Enchanted Staves"
Goetia Animations - Magic Spell Casting"
Golden Saint Armory Revamped"
GORECAP"
Grass Sampler Fix"
Guard Armor Reforged"
Guard Dialogue Overhaul - Second Great War Patch"
Guard Dialogue Overhaul - UHDAP Patch"
Guard Dialogue Overhaul SE"
Hagraven.by.Kajuan"
Happy Little Logs"
Happy Little Trees"
Happy Little Trees - Aspen Addendum"
Happy Little Trees - DLC Trees"
Happy Little Trees - Reduced Saturation"
Happy Little Trees Add-On - DynDOLOD 3"
Harvestables Cabbages Addon for High Poly Project"
HD CubeMap Collection"
HD LODs Textures SE"
HD Reflective Ebony Armor and Weapons"
HD Reflective Ebony Armor and Weapons - Ebony Mail"
HD Reworked Falmer Architecture 4K"
HD Reworked Horses"
HD Serpentine Dragon and Mesh Fix SE"
HD Skeever"
Hearthfire Oven"
High Hrothgar Fixed"
High Hrothgar Fixed - Lux Orbis Patch"
High Hrothgar Fixed - Lux Patch"
High poly Mudcrab n Retexture"
High Poly Project"
High Poly Vanilla Hair"
High Quality Food and Ingredients SE"
Highlandcow HD by Pfuscher"
High-Poly Inigo Replacer"
Hold Border Banners"
Hold Border Guards - Definitive Edition"
Hold Guard Armor Unchanged SE"
Horker by Pfuscher"
Horses Simply Turn Better"
Hunters Not Bandits"
Husky Wolf - Wolves Use Husky Model"
Husky Wolf - Wolves Use Husky Model - Shell Fur"
Hvergelmir's Aesthetics - Beards"
Hvergelmir's Aesthetics - Brows"
Icy Mesh Remaster"
Icy Mesh Remaster - Overwrite Handler"
IFrame Generator RE"
I'm Glad You're Here - Follower & Spouse Appreciation"
I'm Walkin' Here"
Immersive Armors"
Immersive Citizens - AI Overhaul"
Immersive Equipping Animations"
Immersive Equipping Animations - Shadow of Skyrim Patch"
Immersive folded hands (DAR)"
Immersive Interactions - Animated Actions"
Immersive Kaidan Start"
Immersive Load Screen Message Overhaul"
Immersive Patrols SE"
Immersive Rejections"
Immersive Weapon Integration Distributed with SPID"
Immersive Weapons"
Immersive World Encounters SE"
Imperial Centurion Armor for Solitude Guards"
Imperial Guard Centurion Armor SE - 4k"
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Hello,
As the title suggests, I am attempting to install OpenZFS with Native ZFS Encryption on a fresh installation of Arch Linux whilst utilizing rEFInd as my bootloader.
After carefully completing all the appropriate steps, exiting arch-chroot, unmounting all my ZFS datasets, exporting my ZFS pool, unmounting my ESP, powering off my system, and unplugging my USB containing my Arch Live ISO, I am greeted with the following error when I attempt to boot my system back up and boot into my fresh Arch Linux system with ZFS Native Encryption via selecting it on rEFInd:
 

Starting vmlinuz-linux Using load options 'zfs=zroot/sys/arch-0/root/arch-RWSmith
cryptdevice=/dev/disk/by-partlabel/Root-0-NVMe:zroot
rw
add_efi_memmap
initrd=boot\intel-ucode.img
initrd=boot\initramfs-%v.img
initrd=etc\zfs\zroot.key
initrd=\boot\initramfs-linux.img'
Invalid loader file!
Error: Not found while loading vmlinuz-linux
** Hit and key to continue **

 
What caught my attention was that there was an added back slash after "=" at "initrd=\boot\initramfs-linux.img'" on the last line, since the Arch Wiki (rEFInd 3.1.2 For manual boot stanzas) says to not use backslashes when adding initrd commands but I think this is ok since it is from before I began manually entering the multiple initrd= without the initial backslash in the /boot/efi/EFI/refind/refind.conf file.
 
However, I tried editing it in the terminal pressing tab twice on the keyboard with no avail no matter what I changed.
 
I made sure to incorporate the archzfs-linux-git, zfs-linux-git, zfs-linux-git-headers, zfs-utils-git packages into the Live Arch ISO when building the base system. Furthermore, I made sure that the Linux kernel and ZFS packages are compatible and supported with respect to each other. I was trying this with 6.3.1 and 6.3.2 (I made sure no package was not newer than as of Sunday, 21 May 2029). I understand they released updated ZFS packages for 6.3.4 today (Monday, 29 May 2023), but I have not had the chance to give a try yet.
 
I am installing the system on a single Samsung 950 PRO 512 GB NVMe SSD M.2 to get my feet wet with ZFS and comfortable enough before scaling up. I have two partitions, a 32-bit FAT 1G EF00 EFI System Partition mounted on /boot/efi, and the second BF00 partition utilizing the remaining 475.9G disk space for my ZFS Pool, zroot. I am utilizing ZFS Native Encryption on the second partition with the key saved in the the initramfs.
 
I am having difficulty setting up the correct and appropriate rEFInd configuration files: refind.conf which is located at /boot/efi/EFI/refind/refind.conf, and refind_linux.conf which is located at /boot/refind_linux.conf.
 
Here are my current configurations files for each respective rEFInd configuration file, respectively:
 

• nano /boot/refind_linux.conf

"Boot with standard options" \ "zfs=zroot/sys/arch-0/root/arch-RWSmith \ cryptdevice=/dev/disk/by-partlabel/Root-0-NVMe:zroot \ rw \ add_efi_memmap \ initrd=boot\intel-ucode.img \ initrd=boot\initramfs-%v.img \ initrd=etc\zfs\zroot.key loglevel=4" 

 

• nano /boot/efi/EFI/refind/refind.conf

scanfor manual,nvme,zfs_keys scanfor_manual +zfs/*/*.efi scan_driver_dirs EFI/tools menuentry "Arch Linux" { icon /EFI/refind/icons/os_arch.png volume zroot loader /boot/vmlinuz-linux initrd /boot/initramfs-%v.img options "zfs=zroot/sys/arch-0/root/arch-RWSmith \ cryptdevice=/dev/disk/by-partlabel/Root-0-NVMe:zroot \ rw \ add_efi_memmap \ initrd=boot\intel-ucode.img \ initrd=boot\initramfs-%v.img \ initrd=etc\zfs\zroot.key" } 

 
I also tried using the suggestions I found online here that suggested the following:
 

Works for me:

 $ cat /boot/refind_linux.conf "Boot with standard options" "dozfs=force root=ZFS=SSD/ROOT/Debian rw quiet splash vt.handoff=7" "Boot to single-user mode" "dozfs=force root=ZFS=SSD/ROOT/Debian rw quiet splash vt.handoff=7 single" "Boot with minimal options" "dozfs=force root=ZFS=SSD/ROOT/Debian rw" 

or in refind.conf manual stanza

 menuentry "Akua Debian" { icon EFI/refind/icons/os_elementary.png volume ZFSROOT loader ROOT/Debian/@/vmlinuz initrd ROOT/Debian/@/initrd.img options "dozfs=force root=ZFS=SSD/ROOT/Debian rw quiet splash vt.handoff=7" } 

 
I had to fiddle with the paths - since the actual root is ROOT/Debian ... but it wouldn't work if I didn't add the /@/ path component. Those paths are symlinks into boot/ (latest version of kernel and initrd).
 

 zfs list ... SSD/ROOT 30.7G 61.7G 23K none SSD/ROOT/Debian 11.5G 61.7G 11.5G legacy SSD/ROOT/FreeBSD 949M 61.7G 949M /mnt/FreeBSD SSD/ROOT/Void 18.2G 61.7G 18.2G legacy ... # ls -l /boot/efi/EFI/refind/drivers_x64/ total 239 -rwx------ 1 root root 83222 Sep 16 18:13 btrfs_x64.efi -rwx------ 1 root root 69384 Sep 17 09:41 ext4_x64.efi -rwx------ 1 root root 90336 Apr 25 2018 zfs_x64.efi 

 
Zpool's name is SSD ... ZFSROOT is the partition name set with gdisk (gptfdisk).
Hope this helps.

 
I incorporated the suggestion into my /boot/efi/EFI/refind/refind.conf file with the appropriate changes:
 

menuentry "Arch Linux" { icon /EFI/refind/icons/os_arch.png volume zroot loader sys/arch-0/root/arch-RWSmith/@/vmlinuz-linux initrd sys/arch-0/root/arch-RWSmith/@/initramfs-%v.img options "zfs=zroot/sys/arch-0/root/arch-RWSmith \ cryptdevice=/dev/disk/by-partlabel/Root-0-NVMe:zroot \ rw \ add_efi_memmap \ initrd=boot\intel-ucode.img \ initrd=boot\initramfs-%v.img \ initrd=etc\zfs\zroot.key" } 

 
but it didn't help :( I tried other small tweaks in that configuration file but they also did not work. For example, instead of volume zroot, I I tried entering volume Root-0-NVMe.
 
I was originally trying to use rEFInd as my exclusive bootloader and utilizing the ZFS drivers/binaries from here. The drivefile I downloaded is zfs_x64.efi. I saved the zfs_x64.efi driver in multiple locations before and after installing rEFInd via running the refind-install script, even though one location should have sufficed. I saved a copy of zfs_x64.efi in /usshare/refind/drivers_x64, /boot/efi/EFI/refind, /boot/efi/EFI/refind/drivers, /boot/efi/EFI/, /boot/efi/EFI/refind/tools, /boot/efi/EFI/refind/tools/drivers, /boot, and /boot/drivers. I may have saved copies in other locations, just in case, but it also did not help.
 
I would like to highlight that /boot is located within the ZFS natively encrypted zrootpool.
 
I am pretty sure that that I am doing something incorrectly with respect to the configuration files for the rEFInd bootloader, but everything else should be correct. However, as I write this, I barely realized I did not use the following commands recommended from the "Usage" section from the aforementioned website where I downloaded the zfs_x64.efi driver file for rEFInd:
 

zfs_x64.efi map -r 

 
So this may be the problem, but I doubt it. I will try to enter the command next time I have access to my computer. The extra ZFS datasets involving /usr, /tmp, /srv, /opt, and /var may also be contributing my issues, since I am not sure if I mountd them correctly.
 
That said, after weeks of frustrating research and failed attempts of diagnosing and fixing the problem, I thought I would give ZFSBootMenu a try to see if it would fix all my issues, but it did not help either. As recommended by the Arch Wiki (Generate a ZFSBootMenu image), I set up my /etc/zfsbootmenu/config.yaml as thus:
 

Global: ManageImages: true BootMountPoint: /boot/efi DracutConfDir: /etc/zfsbootmenu/dracut.conf.d PreHooksDir: /etc/zfsbootmenu/generate-zbm.pre.d PostHooksDir: /etc/zfsbootmenu/generate-zbm.post.d InitCPIO: true InitCPIOConfig: /etc/zfsbootmenu/mkinitcpio.conf Components: ImageDir: /boot/efi/EFI/zbm Versions: 3 Enabled: false syslinux: Config: /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg Enabled: false EFI: ImageDir: /boot/efi/EFI/zbm Versions: false Enabled: true Kernel: CommandLine: ro quiet loglevel=0 

 
I also try to incorporate some of the recommendations from the ZFSBootMenu wiki and also a different page on the wiki from the guide, but it was difficult to follow since Arch Linux utilizes mkinitcpio and not dracut.
 
Here is how I have my pacman.conf file:
nano /etc/pacman.conf:
 

Color VerbosePkgList ParallelDownloads = 10 ILoveCandy [core] SigLevel = PackageRequired Server = https://archive.archlinux.org/repos/2023/05/21/$repo/os/$arch [extra] SigLevel = PackageRequired Server = https://archive.archlinux.org/repos/2023/05/21/$repo/os/$arch [community] SigLevel = PackageRequired Server = https://archive.archlinux.org/repos/2023/05/21/$repo/os/$arch [multilib] SigLevel = PackageRequired Server = https://archive.archlinux.org/repos/2023/05/21/$repo/os/$arch [archzfs] SigLevel = Optional TrustAll Server = https://archzfs.com/$repo/$arch 

 
My mkinitcpio.conf file:
 

MODULES=(usbhid \ xhci_hcd \ nvidia \ nvidia_modeset \ nvidia_uvm \ nvidia_drm) FILES=(/etc/zfs/zroot.key) HOOKS=(base \ udev \ autodetect \ modconf \ block \ keyboard \ keymap \ encrypt \ zfs \ usr \ filesystems \ fsck shutdown) 

 
In my /etc/fstab file, I commented out all my ZFS datasets, and simply left the line for my ESP uncommented, as follows:
 

/dev/disk/by-partlabel/EFI-0-NVMe \ /boot/efi vfat \ rw,\ relatime,\ fmask=0022,\ codepage=437,\ iocharset=ascii,\ shortname=mixed,\ utf8,\ errors=remount-ro \ 0 2 

 
Before, instead of /dev/disk/by-partlabel/EFI-0-NVMe, I had UUID=####-####.
 
Here is my zpool:
 

zpool create -f \ -o ashift=12 \ -O encryption=aes-256-gcm \ -O keylocation=file:///etc/zfs/zroot.key \ -O keyformat=passphrase \ -O pbkdf2iters=750000 \ -O acltype=posixacl \ -O relatime=on \ -O xattr=sa \ -O compression=lz4 \ -O checksum=sha512 \ -O dedup=sha512 \ -O normalization=formD \ -O dnodesize=auto \ -o autotrim=on \ -m none \ -R /mnt \ zroot \ /dev/disk/by-partlabel/Root-0-NVMe 

 
Here are my 48 ZFS Datasets:
 

#1 zfs create -p \ -o mountpoint=none \ zroot/sys/arch-0 #2 zfs create -o mountpoint=none \ zroot/sys/arch-0/root #3 zfs create -o mountpoint=/ \ -o canmount=noauto \ zroot/sys/arch-0/root/arch-RWSmith zfs mount zroot/sys/arch-0/root/arch-RWSmith #4 zfs create -o mountpoint=none \ zroot/sys/arch-0/data #5 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/home \ zroot/sys/arch-0/data/home #6 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/root \ zroot/sys/arch-0/root/arch-RWSmith/root #7 VAR zfs create -o canmount=off \ -o mountpoint=/var \ -o refquota=35G \ zroot/sys/arch-0/var #8 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/valog \ -o refquota=10G \ zroot/sys/arch-0/valog #9 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/valog/audit \ -o quota=10G \ zroot/sys/arch-0/valog/audit #10 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/valog/journal \ -o quota=10G \ zroot/sys/arch-0/valog/journal #11 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/vatmp \ -o quota=3G \ zroot/sys/arch-0/vatmp #12 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/vacache \ zroot/sys/arch-0/vacache #13 zfs create -o canmount=off \ -o mountpoint=/valib \ zroot/sys/arch-0/valib #14 zfs create -o canmount=off \ -o mountpoint=/valib/systemd \ zroot/sys/arch-0/valib/systemd #15 zfs create -o canmount=on (?) \ -o mountpoint=/valib/systemd/coredump \ zroot/sys/arch-0/valib/systemd/coredump #16 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/valib/libvirt \ zroot/sys/arch-0/valib/libvirt #17 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/valib/docker \ zroot/sys/arch-0/valib/docker #18 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/valib/mysql \ -o recordsize=8K \ -o primarycache=metadata \ -o logbias=throughput \ zroot/sys/arch-0/valib/mysql #19 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/valib/mysql/data \ -o recordsize=8K \ -o primarycache=metadata \ -o logbias=throughput \ zroot/sys/arch-0/valib/mysql/data #20 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/valib/mysql/log \ -o recordsize=8K \ -o primarycache=metadata \ -o logbias=throughput \ zroot/sys/arch-0/valib/mysql/log #21 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/valib/postgresql \ -o recordsize=8K \ -o primarycache=metadata \ -o logbias=throughput \ zroot/sys/arch-0/valib/postgresql #22 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/valib/postgresql/data \ -o recordsize=8K \ -o primarycache=metadata \ -o logbias=throughput \ zroot/sys/arch-0/valib/postgresql/data #23 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/valib/postgresql/log \ -o recordsize=8K \ -o primarycache=metadata \ -o logbias=throughput \ zroot/sys/arch-0/valib/postgresql/log #24 TMP zfs create -o canmount=on (?) \ -o mountpoint=/tmp \ -o reservation=16G \ -o quota=18G \ -o sync=disabled \ -o setuid=off \ -o devices=off \ -o com.sun:auto-snapshot=false \ zroot/sys/arch-0/tmp #25 SRV zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/srv \ zroot/sys/arch-0/srv #26 OPT zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/opt \ zroot/sys/arch-0/opt #27 USR zfs create -o canmount=noauto (?) \ -o mountpoint=/usr \ -o reservation=8G \ -o quota=11G \ zroot/sys/arch-0/usr zfs mount zroot/sys/arch-0/usr #28 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/uslocal \ zroot/sys/arch-0/uslocal #29 zfs create -o canmount=on (?) \ -o mountpoint=/uslib \ zroot/sys/arch-0/uslib #30 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/ussrc \ zroot/sys/arch-0/ussrc #31 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/usshare \ zroot/sys/arch-0/usshare #32 HOME zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/home/youngroderick \ zroot/sys/arch-0/data/home/youngroderick #33 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/home/youngroderick/local \ zroot/sys/arch-0/data/home/youngroderick/local #34 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/home/youngroderick/config \ zroot/sys/arch-0/data/home/youngroderick/config #35 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/home/youngroderick/cache \ zroot/sys/arch-0/data/home/youngroderick/cache #36 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/home/youngroderick/media \ -o recordsize=1M \ zroot/sys/arch-0/data/home/youngroderick/media #37 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/home/youngroderick/games \ -o recordsize=1M \ zroot/sys/arch-0/data/home/youngroderick/games # OPTIONAL DATASETS #38 zfs create -o mountpoint=none \ zroot/e #39 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/home/youngroderick/e/books \ zroot/e/books #40 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/home/youngroderick/e/computer \ zroot/e/computer #41 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/home/youngroderick/e/personal \ zroot/e/personal #42 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/home/youngroderick/e/images \ zroot/e/images #43 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/home/youngroderick/e/media \ zroot/e/media #44 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/home/youngroderick/e/university \ zroot/e/university #45 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/home/youngroderick/e/workspace \ zroot/e/workspace #46 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/home/youngroderick/e/work \ zroot/e/work #47 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/home/youngroderick/e/reference \ zroot/e/reference #48 zfs create -o canmount=on \ -o mountpoint=/home/youngroderick/e/other \ zroot/e/other 

 
I am not sure if the mountpoints I used for some are the ZFS datasets are appropriate and or are contributing to my issues of my bootloader not being able to detect my natively encrypted ZFS pool which holds my initramfs and vmlinuz-linux. Any suggestions would be welcomed. What is supposed to happen is that rEFInd should be automatically booting my natively ZFS encrypted Arch Linux system (if I don't select it first), prompt me to enter my password once before going forward with unlocking all my ZFS encrypted pool and datasets automatically and going forward with the typical boot process as if it were not encrypted.
 
I would like to highlight my original intention was to use rEFInd as my exclusive bootloader and not use ZFSBootMenu whatsoever. However, if I must use ZFSBootMenu in conjunction with rEFInd, then I will. I intend to to have this Samsung 950 PRO 512 GB NVMe SSD M.2 dedicated to my Arch Linux (and other Linux systems) and utilize my second Samsung 980 PRO 2 TB NVMe SSD M.2 for Windows but boot it from rEFInd which is installed on my 950 PRO.
 
Any tips or suggestions would be well appreciated. I probably did something very dumb or some silly mistake.
 
Here are all the commands I used during my install of Arch Linux with ZFS Native Encryption on a single Samsung 950 PRO 512 GB NVMe SSD M.2; I did my best to do things in a particular order such that there would be little to no conflicts:
 

loadkeys es mount -o remount,size=7G /run/archiso/cowspace passwd enter and verify root passwd ip -c a nano /etc/pacman.conf Color VerbosePkgList ParallelDownloads = 10 ILoveCandy [core] SigLevel = PackageRequired Server = https://archive.archlinux.org/repos/2023/05/21/$repo/os/$arch [extra] SigLevel = PackageRequired Server = https://archive.archlinux.org/repos/2023/05/21/$repo/os/$arch [community] SigLevel = PackageRequired Server = https://archive.archlinux.org/repos/2023/05/21/$repo/os/$arch [multilib] SigLevel = PackageRequired Server = https://archive.archlinux.org/repos/2023/05/21/$repo/os/$arch [archzfs] SigLevel = Optional TrustAll Server = https://archzfs.com/$repo/$arch :x timedatectl set-ntp true pacman-key --populate pacman-key --init pacman -Syu modprobe zfs echo $? pacman -S --needed openssh screen duf nvme-cli lsblk nvme list nvme format --ses=1 /dev/nvme0n1 status=progress dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/nvme0n1 bs=512 count=1 conv=notrunc status=progress fdisk -l /dev/nvme0 or parted -l /dev/nvme0 ls -l /dev/disk/by-id disk0=/dev/disk/by-id/nvme-Samsung_SSD_950_PRO_512GB_################ swapoff --all zpool labelclear -f $disk0 sgdisk --zap-all $disk0 sgdisk -n1:1M:+1G -t1:EF00 -c1:"EFI-0-NVMe" $disk0 sgdisk --zap-all lsblk ls -l /dev/disk/by-partlabel sgdisk -n2:0:0 -t2:BF00 -c2:"Root-0-NVMe" $disk0 lsblk ls -l /dev/disk/by-partlabel zpool labelclear -f /dev/disk/by-partlabel/EFI-0-NVMe zpool labelclear -f /dev/disk/by-partlabel/Root-0-NVMe mkdosfs -F 32 -s 1 -n EFI /dev/disk/by-partlabel/EFI-0-NVMe echo 'XxxBigDaddyRoderickWSmith6969420!xXX' > /etc/zfs/zroot.key chmod 000 /etc/zfs/zroot.key Create ZFS Pool (See above) Create ZFS Datasets (See 48 above) zgenhostid $(hostid) chmod 700 /mnt/root chmod 1777 /mnt/tmp chmod 1777 /mnt/vatmp zpool set cachefile=/etc/zfs/zpool.cache zroot systemctl mask tmp.mount zfs umount -a zpool export zroot zpool import -d /dev/disk/by-id -R /mnt zroot -N zfs load-key zroot zfs mount zroot/sys/arch-0/root/arch-RWSmith zfs mount zroot/sys/arch-0/usr zfs mount -a df -h zpool set bootfs=zroot/sys/arch-0/root/arch-RWSmith zroot (?) mkdir -p /mnt/etc/zfs cp /etc/zfs/zpool.cache /mnt/etc/zfs/ zpool set cachefile=/etc/zfs/zpool.cache zroot cp /etc/zfs/zroot.key /mnt/etc/zfs cp /etc/hostid /mnt/etc cp /etc/resolv.conf /mnt/etc/ mkdir -p /mnt/boot/efi mount /dev/disk/by-partlabel/EFI-0-NVMe /mnt/boot/efi cd pacman -Syy pacstrap /mnt \ archzfs-linux-git \ b43-fwcutter \ base \ base-devel \ bash-completion \ broadcom-wl \ cryptsetup \ curl \ dhclient \ dhcpcd \ dkms \ dmidecode \ duf \ fwupd \ git \ grml-zsh-config \ intel-ucode \ iucode-tool \ lib32-nvidia-utils \ linux \ linux-atm \ linux-firmware \ linux-firmware-marvell \ linux-headers \ nano \ nvidia \ nvidia-dkms \ nvidia-utils \ openssh \ os-prober \ pacman-contrib \ refind \ screen \ sg3_utils \ sudo \ vim \ wget \ zfs-linux-git \ zfs-linux-git-headers \ zfs-utils-git \ zsh \ zsh-theme-powerlevel10k echo "UMASK=0077" > /etc/mkinitcpio.d/umask.conf lsinitcpio /boot/initramfs-linux.img grep zroot.key genfstab -U -p /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab zpool set bootfs=zroot/sys/arch-0/root/Root-0-NVMe zroot (again?) cp -r /etc/zfs-tools-driver /mnt/etc nano /mnt/etc/fstab Comment out everything except /boot/efi: /dev/disk/by-partlabel/EFI-0-NVMe \ /boot/efi vfat \ rw,\ relatime,\ fmask=0022,\ codepage=437,\ iocharset=ascii,\ shortname=mixed,\ utf8,\ errors=remount-ro \ 0 2 :x arch-chroot /mnt nano /etc/pacman.conf Color VerbosePkgList ParallelDownloads = 10 ILoveCandy [core] SigLevel = PackageRequired Server = https://archive.archlinux.org/repos/2023/05/21/$repo/os/$arch [extra] SigLevel = PackageRequired Server = https://archive.archlinux.org/repos/2023/05/21/$repo/os/$arch [community] SigLevel = PackageRequired Server = https://archive.archlinux.org/repos/2023/05/21/$repo/os/$arch [multilib] SigLevel = PackageRequired Server = https://archive.archlinux.org/repos/2023/05/21/$repo/os/$arch [archzfs] SigLevel = Optional TrustAll Server = https://archzfs.com/$repo/$arch :x pacman -Syyu nano /etc/mkinitcpio.conf MODULES=(usbhid \ xhci_hcd \ nvidia \ nvidia_modeset \ nvidia_uvm \ nvidia_drm) FILES=(/etc/zfs/zroot.key) HOOKS=(base \ udev \ autodetect \ modconf \ block \ keyboard \ keymap \ zfs \ usr \ filesystems \ fsck shutdown) :x mkinitcpio -p linux zpool set cachefile=/etc/zfs/zpool.cache zroot (again, according to Arch Wiki?) refind-install (--path=/boot/efi (? add this extra tag, maybe?) # MAYBE: refind-install --usedefault /dev/nvme0n1p1 --alldrivers --no-scan ## Maybe change /dev/disk/by-partlabel/EFI-0-NVMe in lieu of /dev/nvme0n1p1 efibootmgr remove the unnecessary options via efibootmgr -b 1 -B efibootmgr -b 1 -B ## `-b 1` apply the change to boot option #1. ## `-B` the change to apply is to remove the boot option ls -l /dev/disk/by-partlabel efibootmgr -c -d /dev/nvme0n1 -p 1 -L "rEFInd (NVMe)" -l \\EFI\\refind\\refind_x64.efi efibootmgr -o #,#,#,#,# (reorder accordingly) cd cp /etc/zfs-tools-drivepetezfs/zfs_x64.efi /usshare/refind/drivers_x64 cp /etc/zfs-tools-drivepetezfs/zfs_x64.efi /boot/efi/EFI/refind cp /etc/zfs-tools-drivepetezfs/zfs_x64.efi /boot/efi/EFI/refind/drivers cp /etc/zfs-tools-drivepetezfs/zfs_x64.efi /boot/efi/EFI cp /etc/zfs-tools-drivepetezfs/zfs_x64.efi /boot/efi/EFI/tools cp /etc/zfs-tools-drivepetezfs/zfs_x64.efi /boot/efi/EFI/tools/drivers cp /etc/zfs-tools-drivepetezfs/zfs_x64.efi /boot/efi cp /etc/zfs-tools-drivepetezfs/zfs_x64.efi /boot/efi/drivers cp /etc/zfs-tools-drivepetezfs/zfs_x64.efi /boot/drivers cp /etc/zfs-tools-drivepetezfs/zfs_x64.efi /boot ls cd modprobe zfs echo $? nano /boot/refind_linux.conf "Boot with standard options" \ "zfs=zroot/sys/arch-0/root/arch-RWSmith \ cryptdevice=/dev/disk/by-partlabel/Root-0-NVMe:zroot \ rw \ add_efi_memmap \ initrd=boot\intel-ucode.img \ initrd=boot\initramfs-%v.img \ initrd=etc\zfs\zroot.key loglevel=4" :x nano /boot/efi/EFI/refind/refind.conf menuentry "Arch Linux" { icon /EFI/refind/icons/os_arch.png volume Root-0-NVMe loader /boot/vmlinuz-linux initrd /boot/initramfs-%v.img options "zfs=zroot/sys/arch-0/root/arch-RWSmith \ cryptdevice=/dev/disk/by-partlabel/Root-0-NVMe:zroot \ rw \ add_efi_memmap \ initrd=boot\intel-ucode.img \ initrd=boot\initramfs-%v.img \ initrd=etc\zfs\zroot.key" } ## Also add: scanfor manual,nvme,zfs_keys scanfor_manual +zfs/*/*.efi ## If any problems, remove this line ## scan_driver_dirs EFI/tools ## If any problems, remove this line ## timeout 10 :x pacman -Syu cat /etc/zfs/zroot.key ls -l /boot/initramfs-linux.img passwd enter and verify root passwd nano /etc/systemd/system/[email protected] [Unit] Description=Weekly zpool scrub on %i [Timer] OnCalendar=weekly AccuracySec=1h Persistent=true [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target :x nano /etc/systemd/system/[email protected] [Unit] Description=zpool scrub on %i [Service] Nice=19 IOSchedulingClass=idle KillSignal=SIGINT ExecStart=/usbin/zpool scrub %i [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target :x zpool status -t zroot zpool set autotrim=on zroot nano /etc/systemd/system/[email protected] [Unit] Description=Monthly zpool trim on %i [Timer] OnCalendar=monthly AccuracySec=1h Persistent=true [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target :x nano /etc/systemd/system/[email protected] [Unit] Description=zpool trim on %i [Service] Nice=19 IOSchedulingClass=idle KillSignal=SIGINT ExecStart=/usbin/zpool trim %i [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target :x mkdir -p /etc/zfs/zfs-list.cache ln -s /uslib/zfs/zed.d/history_event-zfs-list-cacher.sh /etc/zfs/zed.d systemctl enable \ zfs.target \ zfs-import-cache.service \ zfs-import.target \ zfs-import-scan (?) \ zfs-share \ zfs-zed.service \ [email protected] \ [email protected] systemctl start zfs-zed.service systemctl mask tmp.mount touch /etc/zfs/zfs-list.cache/zroot zgenhostid $(hostid) (again, according to Arch Wiki?) ## ("Check the contents of /etc/zfs/zfs-list.cache/. \ ## If it is empty, make sure that the zfs-zed.service \ ## is running and just change the canmount property \ ## of any of your ZFS filesystem by running: \ ## zfs set canmount=off zroot/fs1") pacman -Syu pacman -S --needed \ alsa-card-profiles \ alsa-firmware \ alsa-lib \ alsa-plugins \ alsa-utils \ acpid \ avahi \ bridge-utils \ dialog \ dnsmasq \ dnsutils \ dosfstools \ firewalld \ gvfs \ gvfs-smb \ haveged \ inetutils \ ipset \ iptables-nft \ mtools \ networkmanager \ network-manager-applet \ nfs-utils \ nss-mdns \ ntfs-3g \ pipewire \ pipewire-alsa \ pipewire-jack \ pipewire-pulse \ reflector \ rsync \ sof-firmware \ terminus-font \ tlp \ usb_modeswitch \ usbmuxd \ usbutils \ wireplumber \ wpa_supplicant \ xdg-user-dirs \ xdg-utils ln -sf /usshare/zoneinfo/America/Los_Angeles /etc/localtime hwclock --systohc nano /etc/locale.gen Uncomment en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8 Uncomment es_ES.UTF-8 UTF-8 :x locale-gen echo "KEYMAP=es" >> /etc/vconsole.conf echo "RWSmith" >> /etc/hostname nano /etc/hosts 127.0.0.1 [tab] [tab] localhost ::1 [tab] [tab] localhost 127.0.1.1 [tab] [tab] RWSmith.localdomain [tab] RWSmith :x useradd -mU -s \ /bin/zsh \ -G \ sys,\ log,\ network,\ floppy,\ scanner,\ power,\ rfkill,\ uucp,\ users,\ video,\ storage,\ plugdev,\ optical,\ lp,\ audio,\ wheel,\ adm,\ sudo \ youngroderick passwd youngroderick enter and confirm passwd cp -a /etc/skel/. /home/youngroderick chown -R youngroderick:youngroderick /home/youngroderick EDITOR=nano visudo Uncomment %wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL :x nano etc/xdg/reflectoreflector.conf --country US --protocol https --latest 5 --sort rate --save /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist mkdir /etc/zfs/zfs-list.cache (not needed, file already exists) touch /etc/zfs/zfs-list.cache/zroot (?) cat /etc/zfs/zfs-list.cache (Fix the paths to eliminate /mnt:) ? sed -Ei "s/mnt/?/" /etc/zfs/zfs-list.cache/* (?, I don't think I should or need to do this) systemctl enable \ acpid \ avahi-daemon \ firewalld.service \ fstrim.timer \ haveged.service \ NetworkManager \ reflector.timer \ rsyncd \ sshd \ systemd-timesyncd \ tlp \ usbmuxd \ systemctl disable dhcpcd.service exit cd / umount -l /mnt/boot/efi zfs umount -a zpool export zroot umount -a poweroff 

 
Lastly, if it matters, here is my hardware:

1. ASUS RAMPAGE V EDITION 10 (X99) Motherboard
2. Intel i7-6950X
3. Corsair Vengeance LPX 128 GB DDR4 (NON-ECC)
4. x2 ASUS ROG STRIX GTX 1080 Ti OC

 
Thank you for taking the time to read my wall of text. I have spent months researching and reading before I even considered attempting this project and or seeking help. I even attempted to utilize ChatGPT, and although it was helpful, it was not enough for what I was attempting to achieve.
Edit: Grammar, syntax, and formatting.

Problem: Loops not being saved as I expected.
Details I have an RC-500 because I like the extra buttons but I don't really use track 2. No problem, I remapped the buttons as followed:
Button 1: Track 1 P/S Button 2: Track 2 S/C Button 3: Rhythm Start/Stop Button 4: Memory Inc Button 5: Memory Dec
(Button 4&5 via a FS-7)
Everything works great. I have it set so I can start my rhythm before my loop , I can record, play, overdub, stop, undo, bring the drums in and out, etc... All is happy.
Sort of...
Say I lay something down on Memory 1, hit Memory 2, and when Memory 1 finishes its loop it heads over the memory 2. Great! Then when I select Memory 1, Memory 2 finishes its loop and heads back to memory 1 ... just rhythm. No loop! My loop on memory 1 is gone. Head back to 2... its gone as well. It seems that as soon as I change memory slots the recorded loop is gone.
I can force it to save it via the menu but this is counter intuitive to me, I would assume that the 'Write' is only for long term storage (i.e. only when I power down the unit), but in a live looping situation my expectation is that it will hold the loop on the slot so long as it is powered up.
I'd like to be able to lay down an intro on 1. And then pop over to 2 for a verse, and 3 for a bridge, back to 2, over to 4, etc, etc. All without having to lean over and issue a write command (or giving up any more buttons for a dedicated save).
I'm guessing I'm doing something very wrong. Any advice?

First Previous Next
​ Esen:
When we landed at the primary research site, it was quiet at last. As I unstrapped myself and began to stand up, I started forming a list in my mind of all the tasks that would need to be completed.
As a first order of business, I walked over to the other side of the flight deck and began to inspect the hull breach. The hole that had been formed in the side of our ship was smooth on the inside. There was no evidence of any tearing or fragmenting, rather, the metal appeared to have been melted.
“You know,” I said, “I don’t think this was from kinetics fire. It looks like a laser did this.”
“It was a laser,” Tsavolyn replied. “I could see the beam.”
“I mean, it makes sense ‘cause we were moving away from them so quickly.”
At this, commander Taylor spoke up:
“That reminds me, did I hear you correctly when you said that those attackers were pulling twelve G’s?”
“Yeah,” I answered.
“They… that’s not… they can’t do that, that should be lethal!”
“I know,” I said. “Maybe those two ships never had a crew to begin with, however, they weren’t acting like they were computer controlled either. Honestly, I’m even more impressed they didn’t damage their warp drives or stall their reactors pulling those kinds of maneuvers.”
“Unfortunately, we’ll have to worry about that later,” commander Taylor responded, “right now, we need to get our own drive back in order.”
The three of us began to make our way down to the cargo hold. Once there, I found the nearest control panel and instructed the cargo bay doors to open. Sunlight flooded into the compartment.
The first thing that jumped out at me was that, unlike Earth’s spaceports, our landing pad seemed to be entirely makeshift. The bay doors led directly out onto a platform surrounded by guard rails and supported by a steel lattice structure. From there, a set of stairs connected the platform to the concrete floor below. Besides the platform in front of us, there was a concerning lack of service structures.
Then, I saw the rest of the world beyond the guard railing. The human-built structures gave way to rolling grassy hills with forests and mountains visible in the distance. From our vantage point, an abandoned alien city could be seen as well. The city was the reason for the outpost’s construction and was also the only obvious indicator that this was not Earth.
“It may not be quite what you’re used to,” commander Taylor said, “but according to the outpost’s inventory, everything you need should be here.”
I went over my mental checklist again before speaking:
“Alright. So… I need to swap out proto-segments three, seven, nine, fourteen, and… eighteen. We should probably start with three since that one’s kinda the whole reason we landed at all.”
“What is special about segment three?” Tsavolyn asked.
“Proto-segment three is all the way inside of the warp drive’s primary ring,” I answered. “We experimented with other designs that were easier to service, but none could match the efficiency of our current approach. So unfortunately, in order to get to segments one through four, you have to partition them and extract the surrounding buffer. It takes special machines to do this because the drive becomes inoperable if the buffer leaks out.”
“Plus,” I added, “that stuff is toxic and it aerosolizes at standard pressure.”
“We didn’t pack our own equipment because it’s very heavy and we wanted to stay maneuverable in order to give ourselves the best chance of survival,” Taylor said plainly.
The three of us climbed down to the ground and began our preparations.
“I’m going to need some way to get up top to the primary ring,” I remarked.
“There should be an articulated lift here somewhere,” commander Taylor responded. “I can get that set up while you go find any other tools you might need.”
“Alright,” I said. The three of us parted, Tsavolyn traveling with Taylor while I headed in the opposite direction towards the edge of the spaceport. The researchers had set up a collection of temporary shelters and storage units. These structures were built out of flexible plastic supported by metal framework, they were more like habitats than buildings.
Once inside one of the shelters, it was obvious that the outpost was abandoned in a hurry. A variety of tools and electronics lay strewn about on top of a foldable table along with a half eaten bowl of oatmeal and a tablet.
Out of curiosity, I picked up the tablet and powered it on. When the screen lit up a dim orange color and displayed alien text, I realized that the device was of tynaksian design; evidence of the expedition’s cooperative nature.
After turning the tablet off, I set it back where I found it and then got to work. I managed to find a small tool bag and began packing it with everything I would need. I took a set of wrenches, a small flashlight, and a multitude of powered screwdrivers. I also packed a set of pliers along with extra bolts and wires in case any got lost or damaged. As I was searching through various storage drawers, I caught a glint of something gold and shiny. I reached in and produced a roll of PI tape. Remembering the hull breach on the flight deck, I packed the tape as well.
The next couple hours were spent tediously replacing each of the modified warp drive components. Accessing proto-segment three was a delicate process that involved attaching several cables and hoses to the drive’s primary ring, engaging multiple safety mechanisms, and then having commander Taylor activate the extraction machine from the ground.
After segment three, the rest were fairly straight forward. I would simply unbolt a panel somewhere, replace the proto-segment, and then put the panel back. When that was done, I went back inside the ship and used the PI tape to patch up the hole in the side of the flight deck. I also realized, upon further inspection, that the laser beam responsible for the hull breach had continued on its path and damaged one of the control interfaces.
To prevent any complications, I disconnected the damaged interface and then began a diagnostic on each of the components that had been replaced. After that, I headed back outside, finding commander Taylor and Tsavolyn admiring the alien landscape.
“I’m running a diagnostic on each segment,” I told them. “Once that’s done, we should be good to go!”
“Alright,” Taylor responded, “let me know when—”
As he spoke, the commander turned around to face me before stopping mid sentence.
After a moment of silence, I realized that Taylor was staring at something behind me. Cautiously, I turned around and followed his gaze.
An alien stared back at me. Their skin looked like it was composed of very small scales, so they definitely weren’t tynaksian. Looking directly at them, their scales were a crisp white color, however, when the sunlight hit them at an angle, they took on a faint violet hue. The alien wore a strange cyan-colored uniform inscribed with markings that were barely visible, and they seemed to be carrying a small crate full of electronics.
Since they weren’t tynaksian, that currently only left one option:
This was a raknin, probably one from the enemy fleet.
As soon as I had that realization, the alien dropped the crate they were holding and bolted in the opposite direction.
“Hey, wait!” commander Taylor shouted before taking off after them.
The raknin had already reached the other end of the launch pad by the time I recovered from my initial shock. I too began to chase after the commander and our alien visitor with Tsavolyn following close behind.
The concrete floor ended and our chase continued through the tall, lush grass. The ground grew steeper and before I knew it, the raknin and commander Taylor had both disappeared over the top of a hill.
Reaching the top of the hill myself revealed both a large valley as well as the alien’s intended destination. A raknin spacecraft sat tucked away at the bottom of the valley, concealed previously by the surrounding hills.
Taylor was gaining on the fleeing alien, and as they neared the bottom of the hill, the commander leapt forward. He collided with the raknin and the two of them tumbled the rest of the way down.
The alien quickly recovered and continued running. Commander Taylor took longer to get his bearings allowing me and Tsavolyn to catch up with him.
From there, it was a dead sprint to the spaceship.
When they reached the base of the rocket, the raknin scaled a ladder leading up to the cargo hold.
We weren’t far behind.
When I made my way to the top, officially boarding the alien craft, I was greeted with the sight of commander Taylor tackling the alien to the ground.
The alien tried to escape but couldn’t. As they struggled, the commander managed to look at me and shout:
“Tape! Tape! Give me the Tape!”
Tape?
And then I remembered: I still had the polyimide tape!
I opened the tool bag and retrieved the roll of tape I had used to repair the hull breach. I tossed the roll to Taylor and then helped hold the raknin down while he restrained them.
Once the alien was immobile, I stood up and took a step backwards. As I did so, my hand collided with a hard surface and I cried out in pain.
I turned around to see what I had hit, but there was only empty space in front of me. Confused, I looked down at the back of my hand.
There were burn marks.
Tsavolyn:
While Esen and Taylor were handling the fleeing raknin, I had the wherewithal to check if there were any other crewmates aboard the rocket.
I had been on a couple of raknin spacecraft before, but this one was different. It was like the whole interior had been emptied out and replaced with a strange metal lattice. This lattice was densely packed with hundreds of some kind of tetrahedron-shaped device. These devices covered every wall and ceiling. Even the floors were nothing more than a thin metal grating with more of the strange instrument underneath.
It looked like this vessel had been turned into some kind of detector array. I wasn’t sure what kind of array this was or why this had been done, but I figured the flight deck might hold some answers.
Besides us, the ship turned out to be empty; the raknin we encountered had flown here alone. When I reached the bridge, the first thing I noticed was a message displayed on several of the control interfaces warning of damage to the electrical systems.
I picked one of the control interfaces and sat down. As I was in the process of opening the diagnostics menu, Esen came in.
“Hey, do you think you can communicate with our new friend?”
“Probably,” I answered, “but I can’t guarantee that she’ll cooperate”
“I’m hoping they’re at least willing to tell us what they have down in the cargo hold,” He said.
“If you’re referring to all the devices on the walls, I can probably figure that out from here. I have some experience with these ships from before our falling out with the raknins. If I open the diagnostics interface, it will list every subsystem on the ship’s network.”
“Yeah, finding out what those are would also be helpful,” Esen said.
“Also? I thought the hold was otherwise empty.”
“Oh no,” Esen replied, “there’s definitely something in the middle of the cargo hold. We’re not sure what it is because it’s invisible.”
“Invisible?”
“Yeah,” he answered. “It’s surrounded by some kind of cloaking field. Also, the field isn’t safe to touch.”
Esen held up his hand revealing burn marks on both sides.
“Okay, that’s strange. Wait, you touched it twice?” I asked.
“Science has to be repeatable,” he said with a chuckle.
“Okay, I have the diagnostics menu up. It looks like they have… actually I’m not sure how to say this in English. It’s a type of particle, low mass, no charge, emitted during nuclear processes…”
“It’s not in the nucleus of atoms, right?” Esen asked.
“That’s right,” I answered.
“You’re probably thinking of neutrinos then.”
“That sounds correct,” I responded. “In that case, this ship has an array of neutrino detectors.”
“That’s probably what the things on the wall are for then,” Esen said.
“That would be my guess as well. Okay, this I don’t recognize.”
“What is it,” he asked.
“It’s a system listed as ‘frame capture,’ and I have no idea what that means.” I said.
“Could that have to do with our strange object?”
“Maybe?” I answered. “I’m not sure though because this is listed along with the warp drive and the drive complement.”
After a moment of contemplation, I selected ‘frame capture’ and ran a basic, full subsystem diagnostic.
After a few moments, I heard the ship’s reactor change output modes followed by the unmistakable rumble of the warp drive activating. This was confirmation that whatever the frame capture system was, it had something to do with the FTL drive, however that still left a lot of questions unanswered. I had never encountered it before, so it was either new technology or something that had been kept secret.
The diagnostic continued without issue until suddenly, a warning flashed on the screen. I didn’t have time to read it before the control interface went dead. The warp drive powered down along with the reactor leaving us in total silence.
“Hey!” commander Taylor shouted from below, “You two should get down here!”
Esen and I made our way down to the cargo hold. The spaces between the flight deck and the hold were dark now as, apparently, the entire spacecraft had lost power. Fortunately, the cargo bay doors were still open and thus the deck was illuminated with sunlight.
When we reached the hold, we both stopped in our tracks. Something was definitely different.
“Whatever you did caused it to become visible,” commander Taylor said.
He was right. In the center of the room sat a strange metallic object. It had a thick outline in the shape of a dodecahedron, however, the space in the middle was filled with a forest of thin metal strands. It was spiky, messy, and in some way, almost organic.
“Can you ask the raknin what this is?” Taylor asked.
I glanced over at the pilot thoroughly restrained with the shiny, high performance tape. She was staring at the now-visible object, and the fear in her eyes was contagious.
I looked at her and saw myself as a kid lost in the woods.
“Hey, are you alright?” the commander asked.
“Sorry, I’m fine,” I said. “I think the silence is getting to me again.”

I updated my Drivers on GeForce and it's just stopped everything working properly, I saw online there was an issue with the driver update for certain graphics cards. I've tried to uninstall my drivers to a previous version through the control panel but i cant find how to do it online because I dont have the pathway to get to the place I need. please someone help, I've been trying to fix this for 4 hour's and im just getting ready to jump off the top of my house >_<
Specs just in case.
Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU Intel Core i5 3570K @ 3.40GHz 54 °C
Ivy Bridge 22nm Technology
RAM 16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard MSI Z77A-G43 (MS-7758) (SOCKET 0) 28 °C
Graphics Standard Monitor ([email protected])
Storage 1863GB Western Digital WDC WD20EARX-008FB0 SCSI Disk Device (SATA ) 28 °C
232GB Hitachi HFS250G3 2TND-N1A2A SCSI Disk Device (SATA (SSD)) 27 °C
Optical Drives No optical disk drives detected
Audio NVIDIA Virtual Audio Device (Wave Extensible) (WDM)