Can't open The Sims 3 on my Mac due to "unknown error." [ Edited ]

[dovecam]

Hello there. I'll try to give as clear and accurate a description of the problem I'm experiencing as I can.

I've been enjoying playing with The Sims 3 for a couple of months now. I got it as a digital download from Origin, and liked the base game so much I added the Late Night, Generations and University Life EPs. (All paid for and above board.) 

I'm using a MacBook Pro from early 2011, with 16GB memory, 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7 processor, AMD Radeon HD 6750M 1024 MB graphics card, and running OS X Yosemite 10.10.1. It generally runs without any difficulty.

I began to experience an increasing number of glitches and crashes in my games, so I followed Bluebellflora's guide to performing a clean unintall and reinstall, which has worked for me in the p...I'm really sure I removed all the leftover files that might taint a new installation. But after reinstalling the base game, patching it to the latest update, adding Late Night and Generations again (I don't want to play with University Life at the moment) and trying to open the game, only a couple of seconds after clicking on its icon I get the message "Unknown error occurred." The game simply won't start; I can't even get the Launcher on screen. This didn't happen any of the other times I uninstalled and reinstalled. I even downloaded a whole new copy of the game in case the installer .dmg I'd saved as a backup was somehow corrupt, to no avail.

After reading some troubleshooting articles and threads, I thought the problem might be a lack of free memory, but I've run Memory Clean and got it to more than 10 GB of free memory available, so that seems unlikely. I've also repaired my disk permissions.

Although I've used custom content and mods like the NRaas suite in the past, there are none in the new installation's Documents>Electronic Arts>The Sims 3 folder, either .packages or .sims3packs, so I don't think they can be causing the problem.

The one bright spot is that I backed up my favourite families' games before uninstalling, so they're safe and sound waiting for me to get back to them. But how can I when the game won't open? I hope someone here can help me. This is awfully frustrating.

[dovecam · Accepted solution]

Joyful news. I didn't honestly expect it to work, but since I had nothing else I could try, I went through the whole uninstall-reinstall process again. The only difference is that before I started, I cleared out some duplicate files in my Documents and moved my saved games onto a USB stick, then deleted them from the computer. And this time, mysteriously enough, it finally worked.

So! Thank you for your patience. Problem solved, for now!

[caspinwall]

Hi

It is possible that the game is running out of free RAM while the launcher is trying to open. I usually bypass the launcher, but on the few occasions that I need to use it in order to install content, well, it uses about 12 GB of RAM just trying to open. You can purge the RAM while the launcher window is opening by having Activity Monitor open and Terminal open - just purge the memory every so often. See the next post for details - as usual, it is via a link to BluebellFlora's excellent site that helps us Mac simmers.

Best of luck,

Caspin

[caspinwall]

Tips for Mac simmers

Unfortunately a lot of TS3 players encounter problems when playing the game on their Mac. These can include crashing and freezing. A lot of these issues can be avoided or at least improved by the following measures.

Firstly, manually reset your RAM while playing. See BluebellFlora's guide on how to do this: http://bluebellflora.com/the-sims-3-on-a-mac/resetting-ram-during-gameplay/

I restart my computer before I play TS3. Close down other things that are running in the background. The memory used as seen in Activity Monitor is at about 3GB after the restart. If I open the Launcher it goes up to around 11 GB (that's all I've done - just opened the Launcher!). At this point I reset the RAM. Then I hit play and get through the opening sequence. I then press cmd-return to put the game in windowed mode from time to time while playing (and always before saving or using CAS). That way I can keep an eye on the memory and reset RAM if necessary. Being in windowed mode also allows you to close the game using force quit if it freezes up - it's better to crash the game than your whole computer.

Second tip is to save frequently. I save at least once per sim day. Use the option to Save or Save As, rather than the combined Save and Quit.

Make sure you are patched up to date. The 1.63 patch included fixes for Mac simmers that did actually improve the stability of the game on our operating systems, so it is well worth updating to at least that level. The current patch is 1.67.

The game runs better if you switch off the memories system and disable the in-game Store and social features.

For general advice, information and tips on how to play TS3 on a Mac, read BluebellFlora's guide here: http://bluebellflora.com/how-to-play-the-sims-3-on-a-mac/

[dovecam]

Thanks for your reply. The tricky part is, it is literally just two or three seconds after I click the game's icon to open it that the "unknown error" message comes up. There isn't time to observe a decrease in free RAM and do a purge in Terminal. Can you think of any other possibility?

I tried opening the game while bypassing the Launcher just now, and had a moment of hope before another error message came up: 

Unable to start game

Service initialization failed (0x0175dcbb)

I Googled that but couldn't find any answers that made sense to me or that I hadn't already tried - or that I trusted, since the one that seemed to have "worked" was on a forum that recommended the use of cracks. Can you advise?

[caspinwall]

---

@dovecam wrote:

Thanks for your reply. The tricky part is, it is literally just two or three seconds after I click the game's icon to open it that the "unknown error" message comes up. There isn't time to observe a decrease in free RAM and do a purge in Terminal. Can you think of any other possibility?

I tried opening the game while bypassing the Launcher just now, and had a moment of hope before another error message came up: 

Unable to start game

Service initialization failed (0x0175dcbb)

I Googled that but couldn't find any answers that made sense to me or that I hadn't already tried - or that I trusted, since the one that seemed to have "worked" was on a forum that recommended the use of cracks. Can you advise?

---

Hi

Ah, so there really isn't time to fix the RAM issue. Interesting. When you click the icon to open the game, do you see any evidence at all that it is trying to open? For example does a second icon appear in the dock or do you see anything appear in the list of active programmes in Activity Monitor?

Regarding the failure to bypass the launcher - have you had any success with this in the past? Now that I have thought about it a little more, my understanding is that you need an older copy of the game on disc to be able to do this. If you have a newer copy on disc, for example, something has been changed in the game code so that the launcher cannot be bypassed. I am not sure what the situation is with Origin downloads but it is likely that the digital versions require launcher use as well. So that may not work out and I may have been incorrect to suggest it. You can read more about bypassing the launcher (or not) here if you are interested: http://sims3.crinrict.com/en/2011/03/tutorial-bypass-the-launcher.html

I think there must be something wrong with your new installation. It sounds as though you followed the correct procedures to remove all the files associated with the game when you uninstalled, but that doesn't mean that there's nothing wrong with the new installation. Digital downloads through Origin are notorious for corrupt files. Perhpas that is the issue. Or maybe the game downloaded successfully but the patch failed. I know it is a nuisance but I would recommend trying again. I am going to paste ridiculously long instructions in the next post. Follow BluebellFlora's guide to uninstalling again - as well as getting rid of the game files, also delete the Origin client and download a fresh copy. Download a fresh copy of the manual superpatch as well. When using Origin to re-download the game, be sure to use the little "i" as described.

Let's try that and see if you have any luck. 

Fingers crossed for you!

Caspin

[caspinwall]

I would recommend that you cleanly uninstall the TS3 game and associated files from your computer, then install the base game and patch it with the manual superpatch. Instructions for doing this correctly are below in sections 1 and 2. If you wish to use Origin, also see the additional guidance in section 3 below.

1. Clean uninstall and reinstall

When you uninstall TS3 games on your Mac using the uninstaller, the game leaves behind stray files and isn't completely removed from your computer. These files may conflict with future installations. It is best to completely remove them. BluebellFlora's website provides a guide on how to do this:

http://bluebellflora.com/the-sims-3-on-a-mac/how-to-do-a-clean-uninstall-and-reinstall-on-a-mac/

After cleanly uninstalling, install the base game and patch it up to date. If you cannot update via the Launcher, download and apply the latest cumulative manual patch (called the superpatch) for Mac. Be sure to choose the right file - there are various 'regional' files for disc-users and one designated region 7 for Origin-users.

Check that your game works properly. Then install any EPs and SPs that you own, in order of release date.

2. Further information on the cumulative manual superpatch

Many simmers find that patching their game via the Game Updates tab of the Launcher does not work properly. It is then better to download and apply the manual superpatch. It is important to download the Mac version rather than the PC version, and to pick the right one for your region. Be aware that if you are using a disc you need to choose the correct 'regional' file but if you are using digital download through Origin then you should use the file designated 'region 7'.

Instructions and the links to the downloads can be found in the Mac section of the forums at thesims.com here:

http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/549552/official-ea-download-links-for-the-sims-3-cumulati...

If you use any mods or custom content, be sure to remove them before patching.

3. Using Origin to install games on Mac

Download and install the Origin client for Mac and make sure it is up-to-date. If you already have Origin on your Mac but are having problems with downloading or installing games, delete the client and download a new copy (this sometimes fixes issues with downloading). The latest version can be downloaded from here: http://www.dm.origin.com/mac/download

Additional advice on how to download games (thank you Tremayne for this tip):
When downloading from Origin, do NOT use the first install icon. Move your cursor over the game cover and click on the information (letter i) and then click on the install button from there. For some reason, downloads from Origin frequently become corrupted. Using the i reduces the chance of your download being corrupted. If you have already been unfortunate and have a corrupted download, then it is important to remove all traces of this before trying again, by doing a thorough, clean uninstallation first.

Are you running anti-virus software or any clean-up applications? If so, disable these, as they might be deleting files that Origin needs. A fast, stable internet connection will also help you.

[dovecam]

Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my questions. I'll try again and let you know how it works out. Unfortunately, genuinely fast internet connections aren't available in New Zealand (where I am) unless you are Kim Dotcom.

[dovecam]

Still no luck. Here's what I did:

1. Full, clean uninstall of all Sims and Origin-related files, as per BluebellFlora. Restarted computer.
2. Ran Memory Clean, repaired disk permissions. 
3. Downloaded and installed Origin client.
4. Downloaded new copy of base game, using the little "i." This took several hours, because, well, New Zealand.
5. Installed base game (by clicking the "Install" button in Origin).
6. Downloaded manual superpatch, extracted it and ran it. It did its thing.
7. Repaired disk permissions and ran Memory Clean again just to be on the safe side. Got it down to 12 and a half gigs free memory available.
8. Tried to open The Sims 3, using the Play button in Origin. Plumbob appeared in dock, but didn't bounce, and a couple of seconds later, "unknown error occurred."
9. Tried to open The Sims 3 from Launchpad. Exactly the same. Used "sudo purge" in Terminal and tried again. Exactly the same.
10. Despair?

[caspinwall]

Oh no, so frustrating! mileysad:

I didn't realise that download speeds were so bad in NZ. We are very lucky here. I mean, that might be the problem - something goes wrong during the download of one of the elements, but there's no really very much you can do about that and you've already tried several times.

I'm at a loss to know what else you can do. Did you move to Yosemite recently? I wonder whether that is part of the issue.

[dovecam]

I moved to Yosemite several weeks ago, before the current problems developed. Ah well.

I'm now playing the game on an older desktop that doesn't have whatever mystery problem this is - it's a bit slower, but it seems to be coping. 

Thank you for trying to help. I'm afraid this may just be insoluble.