Need Help Getting The Sims 3 to Recognize Ryzen 9

[mw1525]

@-roberta591 -

Adding Desktop GPU to Mini PC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQYdgW5VaUs

The model featured in the video is one step above the one I have. It shows how to add a full-size desktop graphic card to these machines using the M.2 slot. While not an ideal solution to adding more graphic power, it is still possible and won't break anything inside of the PC. And, as you will see in the video it does work. My model has the slot: M.2 2280 512GB PCIe 3.0 SSD

Concerning the temperature of this machine when under heavy load or in heavy MMORPGs, it stays totally cool. The fan is unrealistically quiet and professional folks have compared its cooling capabilities to being better than liquid or water-cooled tower systems. If you are interested in benchmarks for these types of PC's I would recommend watching YouTube videos by Linus Tech Tips, Jayz Two Cents and Gamer's Nexus (to name a few) who do specific tear downs on these machines. There are also a host of online articles from technical and PC geek enthusiasts which are information packed and enlightening.

As I mentioned earlier, I didn't purchase this machine with the idea of adding anything further to it (except maybe storage). The Sims 3 is an older game which (in theory) should be able to run on this machine, my goal now it to figure out why (on the software side of things) it is having issues.

While I may not be programming savvy (*anymore), I am good with hardware and alterative components as I repair, upgrade and maintain all of my PCs. This is my very first mini pc so I am learning it's secrets. .

@puzzlezaddict - I believe the game is telling me what it needs, I'm just too slow right now to understand. Since the game did install, boot and the Sunset Valley fly over did work with all the colors and shapes being what they should have been, this tells me the card is indeed recognized and is working.

The fact the game can't simulate or move forward tells me it is somehow missing the instructions to do so which is why it just stops, it doesn't and hasn't crashed -- it just stops. If I remember correctly, Sims 3 was built on .NET framework 2.0, correct? I'm not sure which framework the AMD system has. I do have the Sims installed on my Win7 machine which is also AMD so I am going to do a comparison of runtime and framework components. What do you think? Could my PC be lacking some basic instructions the game needs?

[puzzlezaddict]

@mw1525  Sims 3 requires .NET Framework 3.5, which includes 2.0 and 3.0, but if the runtime were missing or corrupted, the game wouldn't open at all.  And this is a Windows feature, not dependent on your hardware.

Still, if you want, you can try uninstalling and reinstalling it: click Windows key-R, enter "appwiz.cpl" without quotes, click "Turn Windows features on or off," and click the box next to .NET 3.5 to uninstall it.  Restart your computer and repeat, clicking the box again to install, then restart again.

Sims 3 also uses DirectX 9 and VC++ 2005 x86, and here again, the game wouldn't open if the runtimes were missing or corrupt.  But if you'd like, you can reinstall both.  You don't need to uninstall DX9; just run the installer over the top.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-US/download/details.aspx?id=8109

VC++ 2005 does need to be manually uninstalled before reinstalling it.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26347

If reinstalling these runtimes doesn't help, or you don't want to go through the process yet, please post a dxdiag.

As for what else might cause this issue, I'm really not sure and would rather have at least a little more info before I start throwing out wild guesses.  By the way, did you try the GPU Add-on tool from NexusMods?  I understand why you might be reluctant to try it, but it's easy to reverse its effects: just save a copy of your current .sgr files and restore them if necessary.

[mw1525]

@puzzlezaddict - No, I haven't installed the Nexusmod. I want to try to understand as best I can what has happened to this install first. If it turns out the problem is a missing or not installed feature, I would rather go that route to fixing the issue first.

Okay, using control panel, I checked to see if the .NET was installed, and it is missing. I haven't at this point checked to see if it is in the features listing or not. Currently, the PC is busy rendering and most likely won't be done until the wee hours of the morning. I'll check then to see if the .NET framework is on the features list. If it is, I'll turn it on (install it) and see what the results are.

I've included a link to an image of all 3 PCs installed windows components, the list for the Ryzen machine looks awfully slim in comparison. Will you please take a look to see if I am missing anything? Thanks!

Control Panel Installs:
https://www.mediafire.com/view/pnnyeq6m0vora44/Control_Panel_x3.png/file

[puzzlezaddict]

@mw1525  My computer doesn't list any .NET frameworks in the Control Panel list either, but if I click "Turn Windows features on or off" (it's available on that screen too), I can see that both 3.5 and 4.8 are present.  I would guess the differences are that your Iris Xe laptop has .NET 5.0, which apparently has the privilege of being listed; and that Windows 7 lists .NET by default, or at least 4.5.

The only other difference I see between the two Windows 10 lists in your screenshots if that the AMD PC has two extra 2005 VC++ runtimes.  That's not a problem, and maybe some other programs are missing further up or down the list, but otherwise the entries are identical.  The Windows 7 PC has a whole pile of 2005 and 2008 VC++ runtimes, probably a result of Windows just installing the new versions at every major release rather than simply replacing them.

[mw1525]

@puzzlezaddict - The framework was fully turned on just like you said. So, all the pieces of the game are there. However, when I tried to open the Radeon software, I was met with an error saying the versions are mismatched, so I am going to have to update the drivers for the software. I'll give the game another try after the update to see if that solves the problem. If not, the last thing I am going to try is to run it in compatibility mode for Windows 7. If none of that works, I am going to stop trying to get it to work on this machine.

By the way, I did go to Nexus' site to look for the potential fix you suggested. I didn't see it. But that's okay, I've decided not to try it. After installing TS3 I am suddenly getting odd behavior from the PC so I may end up having to uninstall it after all. Still, no matter what happens, I want to take the time to thank you for all you have done and are currently doing to help me get TS3 running on this system. I really do appreciate your help.

I'll update this thread after I try the update or compatibility mode should the update not work. Give me a couple of days to report back as I'm a bit busy with real life at the moment.

[puzzlezaddict]

@mw1525  Whenever you do get back to this, if you want to try something random, install Seasons and see what happens.  Another player in a different thread said they had weirdly low-quality graphics in Map View until they installed Seasons.  I don't know why this would be, and they had both a different issue than you and a different GPU, but it would be easy enough to try, especially if the next step is uninstalling the game.

I'll PM you the link to the GPU Add-on tool in case you change your mind about using it or at least want to see what it is.