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"Unknown Error" on Mac

When I try to launch my game, it tells me that an "unknown error" has occurred. I'm playing on a MacBook. I know that TS3 wasn't really meant for Macs, but it worked on my previous Mac laptop. Anyone know how to get rid of this "unknown error"?

Comments

  • puzzlezaddictpuzzlezaddict Posts: 1,877 Member
    There are several causes for the unknown error message, depending on your computer's specs and what you've installed in the way of packs. So if you could post those details, it would be easier to tell you how to proceed.
  • becks1112becks1112 Posts: 919 Member
    There are several causes for the unknown error message, depending on your computer's specs and what you've installed in the way of packs. So if you could post those details, it would be easier to tell you how to proceed.

    I have all the packs installed. It's a 2017 MacBook. 1.1 GHz Intel Core m3. 8GB Memory. Intel HD Graphics 515 1536 MB graphics card.
  • puzzlezaddictpuzzlezaddict Posts: 1,877 Member
    Your computer is way under the minimum specs to run TS3. Both the processor and the graphics card don't come close to requirements. Whether this mac could handle the base game on the lowest graphics settings, I don't know, but even if it could, the stress of the game might take years of the life of your laptop.

    As far as the unknown error itself, it could be due to having certain packs installed, to the game not detecting your graphics card, or just due to your macbook being underpowered. If you really want to try to play TS3 on this computer, the first two problems can be addressed, but the third might still be an insurmountable barrier. I'm sorry I don't have better news.
  • igazorigazor Posts: 19,330 Member
    edited June 2018
    Hey there, @becks1112 - I know you have been away from us for a while. One thing that has happened, besides TS3 for Mac becoming more of a mess to get installed and running than it ever was, is that Apple released a new product line of what they call MacBooks (not MacBook Pros) that are nothing like the regular MacBooks of prior years. These devices cannot run TS3 and if you force even the base game on them, they will likely overheat on you -- they have no real cooling system besides being too weak on the other specs.

    Basically I'm agreeing with @puzzlezaddict - you can't really sim or play any graphics intensive games on those devices. They are more powerful than tablets but not built to withstand too much more stress than say an iPad can. Their strengths are super lightweight portability and performing very light office and web/cloud based tasks more so than running games and other intensive programs.
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  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    Absolutely agree with @puzzlezaddict and @igazor. The new MacBooks are very underpowered and don't have a fan to cool them down so severely throttle any app that is demanding graphics and processing power, which the Sims 3 does in spades. You will drastically shorten the life of your MacBook if you play TS3 on it.
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  • Tremayne4260Tremayne4260 Posts: 3,126 Member
    And there are issues with the graphics cards which are no longer supported since they are newer than when the last patch for TS3 Mac came out which was several years ago.
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  • DianesimsDianesims Posts: 2,867 Member
    Absolutely agree with @puzzlezaddict and @igazor. The new MacBooks are very underpowered and don't have a fan to cool them down so severely throttle any app that is demanding graphics and processing power, which the Sims 3 does in spades. You will drastically shorten the life of your MacBook if you play TS3 on it.

    That's a thing that bothers me with Apple right now, the computers are less powerful than they used to be but the prices are insanely high.
    I have a 2015 Macbook pro, and my brother has the old thicker one, that, for a lesser price, had more memory for example (mine has 250go, his has 500go).
  • igazorigazor Posts: 19,330 Member
    edited June 2018
    Dianesims wrote: »
    That's a thing that bothers me with Apple right now, the computers are less powerful than they used to be but the prices are insanely high.
    I have a 2015 Macbook pro, and my brother has the old thicker one, that, for a lesser price, had more memory for example (mine has 250go, his has 500go).
    No, you are I'm afraid confusing hard drive size with memory and possibly computing potential. My current MacBook Pro also has a much smaller drive than its predecessors, but it's a Solid State Drive (SSD) and I willingly paid a premium price for that benefit (and I don't play sims games on it). SSDs are and always have been more expensive than traditional Hard Disk Drives (HDD) on both PCs and Macs. Hard drive size has nothing to do with how powerful a computer is, but whether it is meant to store and run files locally or operate more from files stored on externals or in the cloud. These lighterweight devices that cannot possibly run TS3 properly are built more for cloud usage and cost more precisely because they weigh less and are more easily portable.

    Memory is RAM, what a computer actually uses to run the operating system and programs, and the default configs have always increased the stock RAM over the years. Never decreased. You can't even buy a new Mac with less than 8 GB anymore except for the one lowest-end model of the much cheaper Mac Minis. In years past, the stock RAM was always 4 GB and then 2 GB before that on most models and so on backwards through time. The stock processors (CPUs) have also steadily increased in power across the board with each new lineup.

    We cannot compare specialty use devices like the newer line of MacBooks, or MacBook Airs even, with fully equipped computers like MacBook Pros and iMacs.
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  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    Dianesims wrote: »
    Absolutely agree with @puzzlezaddict and @igazor. The new MacBooks are very underpowered and don't have a fan to cool them down so severely throttle any app that is demanding graphics and processing power, which the Sims 3 does in spades. You will drastically shorten the life of your MacBook if you play TS3 on it.

    That's a thing that bothers me with Apple right now, the computers are less powerful than they used to be but the prices are insanely high.
    I have a 2015 Macbook pro, and my brother has the old thicker one, that, for a lesser price, had more memory for example (mine has 250go, his has 500go).

    Actually they're getting more powerful with really good GPUs in the 15" and high end iMacs, plenty of RAM, and nice stable storage. The MacBooks are pretty and serve their purpose well - to be ultra portable and lightweight. That's what the user is paying for, the technology crammed onto the smallest possible logic board.

    Your brother's Mac may have more internal storage but your CPU and GPU will be more powerful, and your RAM will be faster :)
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  • redblob93redblob93 Posts: 1 New Member
    Hello, I'm having a similar problem. Apologies for hijacking the thread but I couldn't see a button that would let me start a new one.

    I get the "unknown error" message too. Until today I had four expansion packs installed and all worked successfully. I then downloaded Late Night off Amazon in Origin Code form. Successfully added the game to my Origin library and then downloaded it. It seemed to install successfully until I went to launch the game and that error game up. After a bit of googling, it looked like the problem might be I installed an 'older' EP after some 'newer' ones. I proceeded to remove everything and start a clean install and install the EPs in the 'correct' order. I downloaded the base game again and this launched /played fine. I then proceeded to install Late Night again (the oldest EP I now had) but the same error happened. I'm a little lost. I also can't find Late Night in my Applications folder, yet could see all my other expansion packs. The only trace of Late Night I can find in Finder is if I right click on the base game --> package contents --> add-ons. How do I get Late Night to work?? Have I got a 'bad' code from Amazon...? Should I have bought direct from Origin?
  • puzzlezaddictpuzzlezaddict Posts: 1,877 Member
    @redblob93 Your issue is very common and has a well-known solution, and BluebellFlora has already directed you to the relevant thread at AHQ. As she is the source of all of our best troubleshooting practices for mac OS, I'd highly recommend following her advice.
  • ZaraAdnZaraAdn Posts: 5 New Member
    This is what I did, but you might need to backup and factory reset your Mac first. This is to be sure that you have removed all sims 3 files completely from your Mac.

    After you've done that, download and install your sims games one by one according to which was release first. It has to be installed one by one or the error might show up. So starting with the base game, once you've installed it, launch the game. If the launcher pops up, your game is good. Update if it is required. Repeat the process of installing, opening launcher, updating for each install.

    At anytime the error occurs, follow the bluebellflora's video for the error for late night expansion pack. I can't post links so I hope someone else would.

    BUT, instead of pasting it in the directory of your latest expansion pack, paste it in The Sims 3 directory.

    I find that the problem is the update that came with late night, and it needs to update before installing any other expansions that came after it. Uninstall and reinstalling doesn't change the problem cause the files of uninstalled expansion packs seem to linger in the system. thus the reason to reset your entire Mac and reinstalling.
    i hope it works for you!
  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    @ZaraAdn

    It absolutely isn't necessary to factory reset your Mac to get rid of all the Sims 3 files. That's extreme and not helpful to people who are not comfortable wiping their Macs. Simply manually uninstalling is enough. Factory resetting a Mac should only be done when there are evident problems of corrupted or missing files, permissions etc in the OS. And ONLY when the user is fully confident of what they are doing.

    The problem is with Late Night, Ambitions, Fast Lane and Outdoor Living, macOS El Capitan and later versions of macOS. This is all very well documented here, at AHQ, on my site, and countless other sites, forums and social media channels. The video you refer to isn't mine, full credit for that goes to corey_0414.
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  • Tremayne4260Tremayne4260 Posts: 3,126 Member
    Also there are additional issues EA/Maxis is aware of and is working to properly identify and fix. University Life has been a headache for some folks to download and this issue is also being researched. No word yet, but if you go to AHQ, you can keep tabs on any solutions there.
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  • minerva08minerva08 Posts: 1 New Member
    So I've had some trouble with installing and running the sims 3 on my new MacBook Pro. I have a 15 inch 2018 MacBook with the i7 processor and the Radeon Pro Vega 16 4080 MB and Intel UHD Graphics 630 1536 MB.

    Every time I install the Sims 3, "An unexpected error" pop-up appears each time upon launching Sims 3 from the Apps folder.

    I've done various clean uninstalls, (after not being able to ever being to uninstall via the Sims 3 Uninstaller, as it doesn't show up there.

    I've also tried dragging the icon onto the desktop , making a shortcut, and it wouldn't launch from there as well....this applies to Origins as well..

    Please help :). I'd really appreciate it.
  • puzzlezaddictpuzzlezaddict Posts: 1,877 Member
    @minerva08 I know you've done a number of uninstalls, but please do one more, following Bluebellflora's instructions. If you don't clean out every single TS3 file, that could cause unknown errors going forward.

    https://bluebellflora.com/how-to-do-a-clean-uninstall-and-reinstall-on-a-mac/

    Then reinstall only the base game, and run the Super Patch (digital version). If packs are queued up to download, cancel them.

    https://bluebellflora.com/sims-3-manual-super-patch-for-mac-1-67/

    Try again to launch. If you still get an unknown error, the problem is likely that your graphics card is not supported by the game. The fix is to edit TS3's .sgr files to force recognition of the card. If you're not comfortable doing this yourself, someone can help you; just provide the device IDs of both cards. Here's how to find that information:

    https://bluebellflora.com/2018/07/24/sims-3-mac-players-i-need-your-help/#Information

    If the base game does run, you can start installing packs. Four of them—Ambitions, Late Night, Fast Lane, and Outdoor Living—don't install correctly, so you'll need to apply two workarounds. The first is easy: create an alias for each pack that doesn't already have on in Applications, alongside the alias for the base game:

    https://bluebellflora.com/sims-3-packs-not-showing-as-installed/

    The second fix is to copy files from the affected pack(s) into the folder for your newest pack, by the dates EA released them. This video walks you through the process:

    https://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-Mac/CURRENT-ISSUE-Sims-3-Unknown-Error-in-El-Capitan-Sierra-High/m-p/5725514#M5926

    Finally, if you have any questions or would prefer specific instructions for any of the steps, just list your Mac's specs here, along with the packs you'd like to install. A description of how to find your specs is included with the graphics card device ID instructions.
  • TheRealTacomamaTheRealTacomama Posts: 109 Member
    edited March 2019
    HI! I am having the same issue (and I'm sorry, I posted my own thread. I can delete it).

    I just bought a 2018 MacBook Pro from Apple on Thursday. There were some issues with running the game but I made a new admin account and it worked. The admin name was [Removed]" so I thought "let's change that" and created a new admin account again. All of a sudden "an unknown error has occurred" starts popping up.

    I clear Origin's caches. I uninstall, delete all my files, and reinstall everything (I tried to follow in order but I think one or two might have slipped up). Then I cleared Origin's caches again, rebooting after each process.

    "An Unknown Error Has Occured."

    I created ANOTHER admin account just for the game but it wants me to reinstall everything AGAIN (which, it shouldn't since it's the same computer).

    You guys, I have been crying HARD over this. It's so frustrating. EA and Origin won't help me. Literally right now I am on Chat with them and the supervisor says he can't help me!

    Please, I'll Venmo money.

    Edited to remove profanity, please don't bypass the profanity filter. ~Rtas
    Post edited by EA_Rtas on
    Simming for twenty years...
  • EA_RtasEA_Rtas Posts: 2,875 EA Community Manager
    edited March 2019
    Hey there, all our bug reporting and technical issue help has moved to Answers HQ, I'll provide you a link below where you can check it out, you may be able to get some help there if someone's had the same issue.

    Check out here : Sims Mac AHQ
    Post edited by EA_Rtas on
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