Tech Responders - Break Room «1234567…345...Next Go

ceejay402

UPDATE - Hi all,

i thought i update this first posting to encourage any person helping others here to stop by to at least say, hi.

Also if you have any good insight/solution to a problem plaguing many in the community we would really appreciate a heads up!



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Howdy, thought i make a thread for those who post answers in the tech forum.

Give us a chance to say hi and perhaps talk a little shop...Or just chat about something!

Like im hoping i can pick b.ob007's brain re windows 8..for starters there was a recent update and some folks are having issue now ..any ideas? also any good insight how windows 8 is different then 7 in terms of handling the game...

Also noticing more and more folks installing EPs without all stuff..anyone have any theories

also did anyone see the grammies..i missed it but not sure if there any good performances i should youtube

Bronwin2

Hi. Well I keep pounding my drum on disabling the user data folder before patching. How I wish the game did this automatically.

I almost want to cry as I read about people uninstalling and reinstalling when they don't need to.

DawnLBrown

Hi everyone,

I missed the Grammys too. I just read a post last night where the guy said he was going to reinstall everything. And reading his problem, I knew it wasn't going to help him.

Question about running dxdiag. The EA link says to press the "Run 64-bit DxDiag button" if you have 64-bit. Does this really make a big difference in the report?

bob007

I'm still learning Win 8 as I only have it on my ASUS eee and I don't use it that much. I have Win 8 Pro on it. I'm still tweaking it. I don't see a lot of difference other then the desktop. I was at a meeting last night and the speaker said IP V6 is coming fast and I said how many consumer (home) routers do IP V6? How many network printers do IP V6? How many managed switches do IP V6? That kind of took the wind out of his sails. Then they were raving about PoE. I said it's cheaper for me to hire an electrician to install outlets then the cost of the PoE devices (see a little problem here). Yes the technology is there and coming but the cost needs to come down to be competitive to today's technology. And cloud computing, it sounds like a good idea but how secure is it and who is going to pay for it? We've come a long way since Mr. Watson heard Mr. Bell say "Mr Watson—Come here—I want to see you". Most of my clients are businesses and they don't use their computers for gaming. I'm guessing the last and next generation of integrated graphics will be very competitive to entry level gaming chips. Right now I'm looking at the Raspberry Pi. Wish I had some answers but I don't. This is not the only game that has problems. Steam users not getting their install codes. Graphics cards that will work with WoW. OMG, my computer is crashing in Skyrim. You go from forum to forum and it's all the same only the name of the game is different. If I come across anything important I will post.

10eliblue

Bronwin2 wrote:

I almost want to cry as I read about people uninstalling and reinstalling when they don't need to.

I know, right? They could have used a Fresh "The Sims 3" Folder! Also, one of my friends is a PC genius, but unfortunately, he doesn't play the Sims 3, nor does he know of this site. And I'm not a expert at PC DxDiag's. Only just using them, at least.

DawnLBrown

I seem to be getting people who post simple game specs when I ask them to post a dxdiag. Perhaps I should leave out the words, Please post your specs by following the direction below to post a dxdiag and paste it in here. Just ask them to run a dxdiag by following the directions in the link and leave it at that?

ceejay402

hi!

@dawn...you know i just looked at the link u use for dxdiag. personally not sure why they would request 64 bit app to run ..perhaps some smarter..who may be lurking :-) but i hope will drop in to say hi can answer...

the only difference i noticed at first read for me was page file count

and i personally dont have folks run dxdiag for the results just the specs which ull get with the 32 but app report...its also seems to me that may be confusing to some .also..and im guessing since the game is 32 bit app...probably not even necessary

so dawn u may want to use another link..crinrict's here or there is one at the top of bugs forum, i just use the quick hand 10eliblue posted first. thanks again 10eliblue, its been truly nice to have a short hand version and ive confirmed it works with windows 8 :-o

so come on b.ob007 you left out your favorites from the grammies?!

but please keep posting re Raspberry Pi, so interested in that! and i agree about privacy issues re cloud..but i love it for music ..i rather have my library in the sky then having to keep loading all my stuff to a new device..what a pain

and you are not painting a pretty picture for the gaming industry ..i only play sims so i feel bad for folks thinking they go from one game to the next with issues after issues

worse story yesterday i saw posted was another victim of a big box store selling her an intel card saying it would work for all her games....

im so glad i it started using mods in sims2 because i learned of mods the sims and from them i learned what your computer truly needs to play the game...



@Bronwin2 - totally agree re un/re installing the game..i dont even understand why folks do it and soo often..i mean if u just had a base and an EP thats bad enough but if u have most if not all Eps and stuff packs and dont add a slow internet connection...just sad..and most times after they overcome the new problem of registry keys they find their game still has the same problem

@moderators im hoping perhaps a moderator may chime in..im wondering whats EA official stand on the use of it?

also is it possible to get more info on the new EA customer service board..whose answering the questions and is there a nice place to look at the options so we can link folks..any insight would be great

Bronwin2

DawnLBrown, I would suggest that you simply give them the instructions.

I found myself saying the same things over and over again that I typed it up as a Word document, saved it and now I simply cut and paste it.

And, of course, no one seems to read the stickies.

crinrict

@ceejay402: Are you talking about the AnswerHQ ? Well, I can exactly tell you who's posting there: rumbutter, elanorbreton two other members I haven't seen on here and myself (going close to 8500 posts now).

The community managers pop in from time to time but mostly they just link to the FAQs I did over there and answering old threads that haven't been answered by one of us.

The problems over there seem to be more basic then here (aka how do I install the game and why does my serial number not work) but for me, it's a good place to see what basic issues there are so I can address them in my blog too (the pile is getting bigger and bigger but atm my laptop is broken and I don't feel like blogging on my desktop)

Interesting thread by the way. I added it to the sticky

Bronwin2

crinrict, Thank you for you time and effort and willingness to help.

blunote00

crinrict wrote:

Interesting thread by the way. I added it to the sticky

I agree. Been kind of following it myself (had bookmarked now). :thumbup:

ewilson1114

Bronwin2 wrote:

And, of course, no one seems to read the stickies.

Haha that's my biggest pet peeve here! Crinrict did such an amazing job on the "How to post in the technical forums" sticky and yet I'd wager that only 25% of people who post here asking for help read it. Such a shame!

blunote00

ewilson1114 wrote:

Bronwin2 wrote:

And, of course, no one seems to read the stickies.

Haha that's my biggest pet peeve here! Crinrict did such an amazing job on the "How to post in the technical forums" sticky and yet I'd wager that only 25% of people who post here asking for help read it. Such a shame!

Agree with this as well. I never will understand why people simply do not read. Some of the excuses people have posted are just... :roll:

Now you know why I have the signature I have. :hunf:

ceejay402

thanks crinrict! seriously feeling big time now!

ill get better acquainted with Answer HQ section ..i must admit i havent really looked at it since i thought it was just customer service. so glad to hear its not!

let me know if there is any we can do here better to connect folks more to Answer HQ...

and i totally agree Bronwin2 and ewilson1114 reading is fundamental! In fact i use to try to explain to folks why their intel graphic card was no longer working but to no avail and one time ewilson1114 wisely posted the MTS link your computer is like a car and it worked like charm!

so now its my favorite link!

blunote00 - thanks for book marking--i feel like we now have a nice hotline to ya!

bob007

ceejay402 - missed the Grammies. Can you tell me how Jan and Dean did? Oh, where does the time go! Me and the misses go to shows like Celtic Woman (great show), 12 Girl's Band (there's actually 13), Sarah Brightman (another great show), Gallagher (first time I went was row 3 center), and several lesser known shows. The Willowbrook Ballroom is close and on the way home we get to look for Resurrection Mary.

blunote00 - Most of us Americans try to assemble something and when that fails THEN you read the instructions. Didn't you know you CAN get a square peg in a round hole?

I can only make one person happy each day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking to good either.

blunote00

*****7 wrote:

blunote00 - Most of us Americans try to assemble something and when that fails THEN you read the instructions. Didn't you know you CAN get a square peg in a round hole?

That reminds me of my ex-boyfriend who has a giant tin can of leftover screws from all the things he's put together.

crinrict

lol. You guys are funny.

I think the AnswerHQ is just a addition. No use in sending anyone over there. Here there are more people answering so if I have someone I can't help, I send them over here cause I usually can't help with hardware stuff. I see the AnswerHQ as entry level for the more basic questions.

It's really worse than here I just decided to help out there rather than here cause you're supposingly able to advance and get more privileges or even a goodie or two. Also I have a better channel to the moderators there and can get stuff sticky and even send them a PM now and then.

Well, I've had the same rank since I had 10 solutions (have 950 now) and EA has no clue why I'm not advancing. There are two people that have the status Hero (with a lot less) but all they can do more than I is give out 2 XPs instead of 1. So it's just another thing that doesn't work properly.

Reading is fundamental but it's easier not to and hey, why do so when you do get an answer anyways.I am thinking that there are probably A LOT of people actually reading and finding their own solutions, we just don't see them cause they don't post.

I really think it's great that we have a handful of people helping out here now, makes me feel less guilty about abandoning the tech forum but I'm still reading now and then. I've stopped answering questions were people try to play the game on their intel cards with 0-64 dedicated memory and a processor with 2.0 ghz or less. They don't want to hear it anyways, so why tell them.

If you guys think there's any topic that needs addressing in my blog so you can link to it, let me know. There's still a lot I need to re-write but if it helps you guys and makes our lives easier, I'm all for it.

crinrict

Oh and while I'm at it, do you guys have a solution to the following issues:

- EPs are installed but none of the content show up. It's like they are not installed (doesn't ask for the disk). Happens mostly on Macs
- Game gives a disk authorization warning although person has the download version (never had the disk)
- Any of the Mac Issues: Unknown errors, exception raised and crashes
- Game does not start at all when pressing play (either launcher or directly). Nothing happens
- Has a satisfactory solution been found to the crashing on saving with Seasons ?

blunote00

crinrict wrote:

Oh and while I'm at it, do you guys have a solution to the following issues:

- EPs are installed but none of the content show up. It's like they are not installed (doesn't ask for the disk). Happens mostly on Macs
- Game gives a disk authorization warning although person has the download version (never had the disk)
- Any of the Mac Issues: Unknown errors, exception raised and crashes
- Game does not start at all when pressing play (either launcher or directly). Nothing happens
- Has a satisfactory solution been found to the crashing on saving with Seasons ?

I have no solution to any of these especially the Mac questions since I don't have a Mac.

bob007

bump

ceejay402

crinrict wrote:

Oh and while I'm at it, do you guys have a solution to the following issues:

- EPs are installed but none of the content show up. It's like they are not installed (doesn't ask for the disk). Happens mostly on Macs
- Game gives a disk authorization warning although person has the download version (never had the disk)
- Any of the Mac Issues: Unknown errors, exception raised and crashes
- Game does not start at all when pressing play (either launcher or directly). Nothing happens
- Has a satisfactory solution been found to the crashing on saving with Seasons ?

howdy all!! to keep the laughs rolling checked out the 🐸🐸🐸🐸 latest update re nraas ...seriously havent laughed that hard in a while :-o

so the following are what i have gathered from simmers as workable options ..not sure if any are new so please anyone jump in and pick a part anything or add more..

launcher issues
-so first of course try bypassing launcher using the latest EP installed
-if that doesnt work try bypassing with the base game
-if that doesnt work delete missingdeps.idx from document\electronic arts\sims 3\dc cache
-if that doesnt work try right click on game icon and select run as administrator
-if that doesnt work move the whole sims 3 doc folder to desktop (ive been recommending move vs rename since im not confident renaming is as effective for not be read)

-also im guessing is an old issue re .net framework...can folks still have this issue?
http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/280647.page

so the missing content in games seems to me to be a growing problem and i only have a hunch ..i personally havent noticed an uptick here for macs but people are posting strange things like played bridgeport yesterday and today is not there?!

so my first hunch is it possible that all of the un/re installing have corrupted register keys? whats the best method to repair and clean corrupted registry keys?

re mac - no good insight...there is though a mac simmer here yenial who wants to be a moderator..i posted on his mypage this thread hopefully he'll stop by and give more info re macs...

and i thought i just throw this out for folks re windows 8
many are claiming running the game in windows 7 compatibility mode as the best work around. One simmer sent me this link for another EA game https://help.ea.com/article/why-am-i-having-trouble-with-my-gfwl-game-on-windows-8

another simmer posted this http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/645016.page

does anyone know if this is the best way to address the problem?


ill review more re seasons and disk error...

crinrict

I don't think Windows 8 crashes are that much different than Win 7 ones. There are a people that still have issues cause their graphic drivers don't work correctly with Win 8 and there seems to be a conflict with bitDefender but other than that, I think it's mostly the same-old-same-old. I'm not treating Windows 8 users differently atm.

I made a thread at the AnswerHQ on the whole game not starting at all issue. Feel free to send people my why to answer the questions: http://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-3/Error-Analysis-Pressing-PLAY-does-nothing-Game-won-t-start-at/td-p/505602/

DawnLBrown

Please see this thread.

http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/648408.page

What if it is the answer to all those Launcher start up problems that have been happening since patch 1.50? And how would we provide a .reg fix solution?

Pelerain is a great example of a customer with this possibility. She has had this same start-up issue with 1.50. And now she still has this issue even if she reinstalls and only patches to 1.48.*

Edit: *Reinstalling would recreate the registry entry and patch 1.48 would not remove it. Just patch 1.50.

Pele's threads:
http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/648570.page
http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/648426.page

crinrict

If it's registery issues, it's going to get complicated cause we can't have everyone mess around there or we have tons of computers not working anymore.

For now, have people check if they have that entry. Tell them NOT to change anything, just to check on it.

For people with 32 bit systems it should be here:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Sims\The Sims 3]

The log BearCameron posted has nothing to do with that though. They checked the launcher log which is for Exchange and Store downloads.

ceejay402

so i too have been trying to think of a good a way to handle what seems to be a growing issue re corrupted registry keys

dawn saw your first posting and am keeping an eye out to see if others are having the same issues..

re the second set of posting..not confident that simmers is doing all of the necessary steps..she unfortunately justs seems overwhelmed so still confident she could get everything put back together again...

crinrict checking is great idea ..and if its missing does running a good ccleaner and restoring to factory setting a workable prescription? or something to the effect?

hey b.ob anymore good insights re windows 8 updates?

crinrict

Problem also is that we can't know what everyone does need to put in. There's the install path, a product ID and many other entries that can be very individual so there isn't one entry that is correct.

If the patch does in fact corrupt registry entries, I'm afraid, there's not much we can do about it but to alert the gurus.

I for one don't want to be responsible if people's games and PCs for that matter don't work anymore.

I think checking is good, beyond that it's not a suggestion I will make. What I can do - should it be in fact prove to be true - is talk to some of the people at MTS. Maybe they have suggestions.