STILL getting 0 byte "updates" every time Steam starts

[GuyInDogSuit]

And it's ONLY Wallpaper Engine that does it. I seriously doubt at this point that it's all Steam to blame, because if it was, it'd be all my games/apps doing it, not just WE. How do I even fix this annoyance? Uninstalling it and reinstalling WE did not fix it. Neither did a fresh install of Windows. Stable or beta build of Steam, does not make any difference. It STILL continues to do it.

[Tim]

The bug is indeed coming from Steam since Wallpaper Engine does not in any way download anything or has any control over Steam downloads. You can also find lots of users for all sorts of games and software by googling "Steam 0 byte updates" or something similar like that.

The most likely answer why you are getting this issue with Wallpaper Engine is that either you do not own any other games or software for which you have subscribed to Workshop items to OR some of the Workshop items that you have subscribed to are in some way corrupted and it bugs out Steam.

However, it is odd that even a Windows re-installation, did you re-install Windows but keep a copy of your Steam directory maybe or was everything from Steam also re-downloaded and installed from scratch? But either way, I do not really have a clear answer to your issue since the issue is outside of our hands, it's simply a bug in Steam that affects a very, very small numbers of users and I have not come across any solutions, though completely uninstalling Steam should solve it. You can also try unsubscribing from every wallpaper and see if the issue continues, but that would likely be a real pain in the ass.

[GuyInDogSuit]

My hard drive failed and I had to redo everything, Windows, Steam, all of it. The problem persisted. The only apps or games I have Workshop items for, that are currently installed, are WE and Final Fantasy XV. WE is the only one that gets these 0 byte updates.

[Tim]

Like I said, it sucks that I have to point fingers at Steam but there really is nothing related to file verification or downloads in Wallpaper Engine, it is just as frustrating for us that we cannot help users with this issue but that is the way it is.

The application simply makes use of Steam features and Steam handles all download, file verification and cleanup tasks. The 0 byte download issue seems to be less than a year old and was supposed to be fixed with an update but apparently that did not work for some users. Best I can recommend you is to contact Steam Support and be a bit persistent about it, the more people nag about this issue, the more likely it will get fixed:

https://help.steampowered.com/en/wizard/HelpWithSteamIssue/?issueid=807

[evereternal]

Sorry for replying in this thread but Tim's suggestion above and the steam workshop log helped me solve this problem. After going through all subscribed workshop items I found the one that was removed (item does not exist anymore) and unsubscribed from it. No more 0 size updates!

[GuyInDogSuit]

How do I do that?

[evereternal]

https://steamcommunity.com/my/myworkshopfiles?appid=431960&sort=score&browsefilter=mysubscriptions&view=imagewall&browsesort=mysubscriptions&p=1

I went there and opened all my subscribed wallpapers until I found the one (or possibly more) that got removed, and unsubscribed from it.

[GuyInDogSuit]

Thanks!

[evereternal]

I want to add another method for users with too many wallpapers to check each individually, in case someone stumbles upon this thread. It requires a bit more technical knowledge than the method above however. I haven't tested this method - Use at your own risk!

Close Steam before you start.

First, check which subscribed wallpapers are causing the issue. Go to:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\logs\workshop_log.txt" (default location)

The latest log will show which workshop items have failed.

Second, locate the following file:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\workshop\appworkshop_431960.acf" (default location - otherwise check in drive where Wallpaper Engine is installed)

Make a BACKUP of this file before in case you mess up the file!

Third, edit "appworkshop_431960.acf" with a text editor (I recommend Notepad++). Inside is a list of your wallpapers. Find and remove the workshop item(s) which have failed as shown in the log. Remove the subsection which is part of the failed workshop item. The workshop item could possibly appear twice in this file, make sure and remove both then. Save the file when done. Start Steam after and the issue should be fixed.

[Voidolt]

Originally posted by evereternal:

https://steamcommunity.com/my/myworkshopfiles?appid=431960&sort=score&browsefilter=mysubscriptions&view=imagewall&browsesort=mysubscriptions&p=1

I went there and opened all my subscribed wallpapers until I found the one (or possibly more) that got removed, and unsubscribed from it.

How do you see if wallpaper got removed?

[RogellParadox]

All I get in the log is

[2021-05-13 13:10:41] [AppID 431960] Get details for item 1863808677 failed : Access Denied
[2021-05-13 13:10:41] [AppID 431960] Detected workshop change : removing unknown item 1863808677

It is said "removing unknown item 1863808677", but this is there EVERYDAY.
And then, when I look in appworkshop_431960.acf, this item is not there, so I can't delete it.