Expansion Pack not downloading due to Origin

[joeaddie]

@puzzlezaddict Terminal is saying that no file was found & there was nothing in game center either.

[puzzlezaddict]

@joeaddie  I asked for and received a consult on this one (two, actually), because I didn't know exactly what I was looking at.  The reason you can't see the .tginstall directories is because anything that starts with a . is hidden by default.  You can change this by hitting cmd, shift, and . (period).  Then open the Test folder and see whether the directories are showing now.

The first time you ran the command, it moved the files as requested—that's the blank "answer" from Terminal.  The second time you ran it, the files had been moved, so Terminal found nothing in the original location and threw that error.

The person I asked said it's best to use Terminal to delete the two directories outright and wrote out the command to do it.  (I wasn't comfortable giving you that kind of command, since it has to be exactly right or you could bork your system, but that's why I asked.)  Open Terminal and paste this:

find ~ -name ".tgInstall_*" -exec rm -r {} \;

Terminal will ask you if you want to delete each instance it finds, so if you see anything else aside from the Sims 3-related entries we've been looking at, you can decline.

Then run the Origin reset tool again, restart your computer, and see whether you can download your packs.

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/origin/origin/how-to-reset-origin-on-mac/

[joeaddie]

@puzzlezaddict i ran the command to where it only comes up with this, but yet the expansion packs are still coming up as installed.... 

[puzzlezaddict]

@joeaddie  Alright, please do another clean uninstall of Sims 3.  Do a clean uninstall of Origin as well:

https://bluebellflora.com/how-to-uninstall-origin-on-a-mac/

Create a new admin user account on your Mac, install Origin and the Sims 3 base game, and let me know whether the packs are also listed as installed.  If they are, do you have at least temporary access to another Mac?  There might be a way around this.

[joeaddie]

@puzzlezaddict they are still listed as installed..... i do have temporary access to another mac.

Unrelated question, I'm looking to buy a desktop gaming PC - do you have any recommendations? My budget is on the affordable side.

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@joeaddie  If that other Mac is not yet running macOS Catalina, you can install the base game on it, download your packs, and transfer the installers to your current Mac.  Each installer lands in Origin's DownloadCache folder, from where Origin launches it when you click Install.  But you can move these installers around and manually launch them if you want.

Open a Finder window and click Macintosh HD (or whatever you've renamed your hard disk) in the left panel.  If you don't see it, click Finder in the upper left corner of your screen, then Preferences > Sidebar, and check the box next to Hard disks.  From there, the path is:

Macintosh HD > Library > Application Support > Origin > DownloadCache

Once you've downloaded a pack, inside that folder will be a labeled with a string of numbers, and inside that will be a .dmg (disk image), which is the installer.  You can transfer this installer to your main Mac and launch it from the desktop.  Just make sure you have the product key for each pack you want to install, because the installer won't show it before asking.  If you don't have the keys, click Install on the Mac that downloaded the pack, copy down the key when you see it, then click Cancel.

On the subject of getting a gaming PC, I can certainly help with that.  But "affordable" means different things to different people, and prices vary a lot from one country to the next as well.  So please let me know more or less what your preferred budget is, and in what currency.

[joeaddie]

@puzzlezaddict Fantastic! This worked! 

For the PC, I'm looking at something around £700 - £900, but of course I'm flexible. I'm from the UK. I'd rather spend money on something on something that's going to last than cheap it out for it to break within the first 6 months. I've also read that building your own is a better option, as some of the sellers skimp on the other parts like the power pack. Is this the case? Or is it more hassle for little gain? 

[puzzlezaddict]

@joeaddie  Whether it's worth building your own computer depends in large part on how powerful you want that computer to be, or as a stand-in, your price range.  If you were looking at a £2,000 desktop with high-end hardware, you could probably only get the compnents you wanted if you bought them and assembled the system yourself.  But in the £700-900 range, you probably wouldn't save money even if you spent months trying to find the best deals.

A compromise can be a custom build site, where you pick the components and have the company build it for you.  You'd get higher quality hardware, not the top tier parts (at least not for your budget) but better than what's usually in a prebuilt system.  Custom builds are more expensive of course, but not always by a large margin.  I think you could get a very good system for under £900, but I haven't checked the usual sites in a few months and would need to confirm.

If you're interested in a custom build, let me know, and I'll find you some examples.  If not, I'll look for prebuilt computers.  Either way, it might take me a day or so to get back to you, because Sims 4 is absolutely insane right now and I'm already behind.  But I will get back to you for sure.

[joeaddie]

@puzzlezaddict Yes I would absolutely be interested in a custom build, thanki you so much for your help and efforts!

[puzzlezaddict]

@joeaddie  I'm so sorry it took me this long to get back to you.  The forum got worse before it got better, but that's a different story.

I checked a couple of build sites and picked two good configurations for you to look at, if not to buy outright then at least to get your bearings.  Not knowing what other games you might want to play besides Sims 3, I picked an Nvidia 1650 Super, which is a bit overpowered for the game... and then the second site only had a 1650 or a 1660, so it's not an exact comparison.  But you can still get a sense of what your money might buy you.

CyberpowerPC lets you pick every single component, including the motherboard and power supply, so you don't wind up with the cheapest possible version of each.  This configuration costs £823 including VAT, and every component is at least good quality.  You can play around with the configuration a bit if you want, for example getting a faster graphics card or different hard drives.

http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/saved/2168321

This option from Overclockers UK is actually cheaper, £769 including VAT once you pick similar components, or at least as much as possible.  I chose:

• an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 processor
• 2x8 GB RAM 3000 MHz
• an Nvidia 1650 graphics card
• a WD Black 500 GB NVMe SSD
• a Seagate Barracude 1 TB HDD

The site doesn't let you pick the motherboard, power supply, or CPU cooler though.

If you're not a fan of either configuration, just let me know what components you want, and I'll see if there are other sites that offer something more to your liking.  But it's much easier to search if I have a better idea what your looking for, either in terms of components or what goals you have for this system.