Re: The Sims 3 Stops Responding & Crashes 5 Minutes into Live Mode

Hey, @puzzlezaddict! Thank you so much for your help. It's really amazing that you took the time to write such a detailed reply when you don't even work for EA. Means a lot!

TL,DR: Tried everything you said, still having issues.

Good point @ the C drive. I already rerouted my documents folder to the D drive when I first got this computer. All TS3 files are located there now. Nonetheless, I cleared out my C drive and got it to about 8-9 GB of space. Although I don't think this should be affecting anything since all TS3 files are on the D drive, which has a ton of space left.

You were right about my FPS, it was uncapped. I tried Nvidia inspector, forcing Vsync on. Didn't change anything when in Windowed mode, so I just went back to regular full screen and set it to 75hz in settings. Game still had the same issue, but I noticed it look a little longer before it froze.

For Windows Game Creators: "Disable Game Mode" doesn't show up as an option in the game mode settings area. There's no switch to tick it on or off. I ticked "Disable fullscreen optimizations" as suggested in the link you gave.


I've attached a new DxDiag to this post.

Thanks again for your help. Seriously appreciate it.

@dentfaceah  It's good that you cleared some space, but I don't think 9 GB on C is enough either.  It's certainly not enough to say for sure that the problem is somewhere else.  I would feel better seeing 15-20 GB free.  You're right that having TS3 on D cuts down on the free storage necessary on C, but Windows itself will generate temp files and clog itself up, and it can slow down everything else with it.

If your fps is locked in while in fullscreen mode, and you're fine playing that way, that works.  But if you'd prefer windowed (or Windowed Borderless), you could try RivaTuner Statistics Server instead.  I use RTSS, and it works great.  Unlike the other tools, it does have to be running in the background.  Be sure to set the profile using TS3.exe, not TS3W.exe or the launcher executables.  The real download, as opposed to any ads you might see, is about halfway down the page.

https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/rtss-rivatuner-statistics-server-download.html

If that doesn't help though, it's a good idea to get some data on how your hardware is performing.  You can download hwinfo (free) and run it while you play.  The portable version doesn't even require installation; just unzip it and launch it directly from Downloads if you want.  (If you do want to install, be sure to click the green button, not the orange one.)  The portable version is 8 MB on my computer, so it won't cut into the space you've made on C.

https://www.hwinfo.com/download/

Restart your computer, then open hwinfo and run sensors only.  Then press the file icon in the lower right corner of the window to start logging.  Wait five minutes, open Origin and then TS3, start a new game, play around in CAS for five minutes, then go to live mode and play for five minutes, or until you get a crash.  Then end logging.  You can upload the log to a free filehosting site and link it here.  And please let me know if the game crashes, or if there's anything else weird going on during the test.

I'll take a look at the log, and if I don't see anything, I'll ask someone else to look as well.

Thank you so much again, @puzzlezaddict! Seriously. It means a lot.

I've freed up the C drive much more by moving one of my larger games. I now have 47 GB free on the C drive. Still no change with TS3.

I've downloaded both hwinfo and RTSS and will try them out tomorrow.

Again, thanks a million!

Okay @puzzlezaddict. I tried HWiN.

1-5 min: Wait

6-8: Game's loading up

8-9: Loading town

10-19: CAS

19-20: Live mode / crash

Here's the link to the logs: https://mega.nz/#!PXAWmSIT!TM73rdmMxCekNabJYrIrdzBAGmN9tXwPTb9LOCtmoL8

I really hope that doesn't mark me for spam. If you need it in another file format or from a different file hosting site, let me know.

RTSS also works great for windowed mode. Thanks for the recommendation.

I know I've said it a million times, but thank you thank you thank you. Seriously appreciate all your help.

@dentfaceah  First of all, those of us who help regularly do so because we enjoy it.  But when we're helping someone who's thorough, who properly follows directions and reports back with all the requested info, and maybe some useful observations as well, as you've done, it can make the process quite fun.

Given how you described the crashing, I wondered about your system temperatures.  And that's the issue: your hardware is overheating.  Here's what your CPU and GPU temps look like over the entire logging session:

The processor starts to throttle performance when it gets near 90º C, and the graphics card at 80º.  But even with the throttling, your processor still has intermittent temps above 90, which is likely why the game crashes.

There are a few other high values in hwinfo's logs that I don't fully know what to do with—if they're cause or effect, and what can be ignored.  So I'll ask for a second opinion when I can get one.  In the meantime, clean your fans.  Even if you've done it recently, a bit of dust or pet hair in the wrong place can quickly build to a large problem.  Hopefully, the cleaning will fix the issue.  But if not, repeat the test and upload the new hwinfo logs.

(Also, thanks to @holger1405 for teaching me how to do this, as well as all the other things.)

Seeing that now, it makes sense. Some other games I'm playing see frame rate drops or other performance issues when my PC overheats. Considering TS3 is a bit poorly optimized and heavy on the computer, my PC overheating seems to be the most likely cause of these issues.

I'm going to do a thorough cleaning of my fans tomorrow, and will report back soon on whether or not the issue is resolved. If it isn't, I'll provide another log.

Thanks again!

Okay - @puzzlezaddict, here's the deal.

I cleaned my fans, dug up a laptop cooling pad, and most importantly, manually increased my fan's power to max via Asus' built-in gaming center. Temps seem to clock in around 47-57°C now. Even with this improvement, the game still crashes, so here's another HWiN log.

1-5 Min: Wait
5-6 Min: Load to Main Menu
6-end: Load Town + Live mode.

So what I've noticed is I can cause the crash to happen much faster, almost in seconds if I just page through tabs quickly (Relationships, needs, etc.). Earlier, it seemed to trigger when panning over to load a lot/house. So I wonder if the sudden onrush of new stuff to load is somehow triggering the crash. Not sure what that would be indicative of though.

Anyway, here's the new HWiN log: https://mega.nz/#!7OxxTaaK!SdmA2QfELMTjY_5fzfBtmmiMUbEU-_QObsQK32YRFvs

@dentfaceah  Sorry for the delay, but I wanted to get that second opinion, since this is venturing into territory I don't really know much about.  You're right that your CPU and GPU temps are fine now, although there are still a couple of abnormal values in your second hwinfo log.  (The second opinion is looking into it.)

In the meantime, I was also reminded that some of the errors in your dxdiags may indicate a GPU driver issue.  So it's a good idea to do a clean uninstall and reinstall of the driver.  First, download Display Driver Uninstaller from here:

https://www.wagnardsoft.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1750

You can download a fresh driver (1070, notebook) here:

https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/147966/en-us

Next, take your computer completely offline—disable wifi and/or pull the ethernet cord—and double-click the DDU.exe. Take note of where the file will land, and click Extract. If it's easier, you can copy the path and then paste it into the address bar in a File Explorer window. Open the folder and then Display Driver Uninstaller.exe, and you'll get a message that you're not in Safe Mode. Click OK, then go to Options and enable Safe Mode dialog. Here's a screenshot of what your options should look like:

Close options, and the DDU, and then open the DDU.exe again. For launch options, choose "Safe Mode (Recommended)," and then click Reboot to Safe Mode (you'll need your password, so find it before rebooting). Once you login, you'll see this:

Choose GPU in the dropdown menu (step one), then Nvidia (step 2) if it's not already showing. Then click Clean and Restart (step 3).

Once your computer has rebooted, now back in normal mode, run the driver install .exe in custom mode. Select "perform a clean installation" and install ONLY the GPU driver and the PHYSX software. Reboot again and see how the game runs.

With how you described the crashes, I had to test for myself, and I could cycle through the info tabs without any problems.  Of course, that doesn't mean anything, other than this probably isn't a game glitch.  Anyway, I'll keep on this, and if the clean install of the driver doesn't help, we'll dive back into the hwinfo logs.

 Also: Thanks again @holger1405 for the images, and the original instructions.

Thanks for the response, and thanks for your hard work on this @puzzlezaddict (and @Holger1405!)

I already did a clean install of my graphics driver about a day before making this thread. I followed this guide: https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/10/kw/remove and it didn't really do anything. Is this sufficient? Seems somewhat identical to what you're describing, just without the custom program to do the uninstall. I did the clean install afterward.

Do you think I should do it again with the program you mentioned? Would that be necessary?

@dentfaceah  A Control Panel uninstall will leave behind some files from the driver, which is why the DDU apps were created.  These leftover files might not be the issue, but for the sake of being thorough, it's best to remove them anyway.  If it doesn't help, at least we'll know the driver isn't the problem.

@dentfaceah  Sorry for the double-post, but I have another question.  Your first dxdiag showed a couple of BSOD (bluescreen) errors.  Do you remember the circumstances when those happened?  As in, what you were doing, what was open at the time, how long the apps had been running, etc.  It would be good to know, especially if the clean install of the graphics driver doesn't help.

Okay, @puzzlezaddict. Here's the rundown:

Did the fresh uninstall and reinstall via your instructions. Everything went well except when I installed, "ONLY the GPU driver and the PHYSX software" wasn't an option. The "HD audio driver" was checked by default and it wouldn't let me uncheck it. I doubt that'll make a difference, but I figured it'd be best to put it all on the table.

Went into TS3, played around. Switching the tabs didn't cause an immediate freeze/crash like before, but the game did eventually stop responding, as per usual, 2 min later while loading a residential lot.

For the blue screen errors, I have to say, I don't recall any recently. There was one like 6 months ago, and I don't remember the circumstances.

There was a graphics driver issue that I've been having on and off recently though with another game (like 1-2 times a month). This specifically: https://eu.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/17615272701.

My whole monitor would freeze, nothing would be clickable, then a black screen would flash, and the game would have crashed with that specific error. Everything functioned fine afterward and the game ran just fine after I relaunched it. This usually would happen when there's a lot of action on the screen, and only 3+ hours into running the application. At the same time, I probably had Discord open, as well as Google Chrome.

 But I'd wager that issue is due to overheating, and hasn't happened again since I adjusted my fans.

Outside of that and the current TS3 issue, I have had no issues with other games whatsoever.

Hi @dentfaceah 

You already, unnecessarily ( @puzzlezaddict  😉 ) heard of me.

I would like you to test a few things.

1. Set your "User DPI Setting" to 100% (96 DPI). > Test the Game.
   https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/5990-change-dpi-scaling-level-displays-windows-10-a.html
   
   
2. Please disable "Origin in game" > Test the Game.
3. Set your Monitor to 60Hz refresh rate. > Test the Game.
   
   
   
   

4. Preform a clean boot and test the Game in clean boot mode.

Hi! @puzzlezaddict & @holger1405:

1. Changed DPI back to 100%, game still crashed.

2. Disabled Origin in-game, still crashed.

3. Both the Nvidia Control Panel and Windows system settings only gave 1 option, 75Hz, so I wasn't able to change it.

4. Did the clean boot, game still crashed.

@dentfaceah 

OK, we need a few things:

First the "InstallLog.txt" You can find it under ">drive<:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\__Installer"

Load it up like the DxDiag.

Second, a crash dump of the game.

• Press the Windows key and "R" at the same time.
• In the new Window, type or copy and paste "%LOCALAPPDATA%\CrashDumps" (Without the quotation marks) > Press ENTER
• Look if there are any "TS3.exe.Xxxx.dmp" files in the "..Local\CrashDumps" folder.
• Upload all  TS3.exe dmp file at a free filehoster like Dropbox and post the link here.

If there aren't any dump files of TS3:

• Press the Windows key > Write: Command Prompt > Right click on "Command Prompt" in the search results > Run as administrator.
• Copy and paste "reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps\devenv.exe" /v DumpType /d 2 /t REG_DWORD" (Without the quotation marks at beginning and end of the line, so the quotation marks before HKLM and after devenv.exe need to stay in) into the command prompt Window > Press ENTER.
• Play the game until it crashes.
• After the game crashes, let all Windows crash dialogues finish.
• Press the Windows key and "R" at the same time. > Type "%LOCALAPPDATA%\CrashDumps" (Without the quotation marks) into the new window > Press ENTER.
• Upload the TS3.exe dmp files at a free filehoster like Dropbox and post the link here.
  
  
  If you want to undo the automatic dump creation, use the command below in a elevated command prompt (As in point 1) reg delete "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps" /f

Hi, @holger1405. Thanks for your patience. The past few days have been crazy and I haven't gotten the chance to sit down at the computer.

I've attached the installation log to this post.

I followed your instructions for the crash logs, and double checked to make sure I did everything right. I even got "The operation completed successfully." in Command Prompt after pasting in the string you gave. Unfortunately, no logs were generated for TS3.

I suspect this is why:

The game doesn't fully "crash." It just stops responding, and never becomes active again. It'll sit there for hours and hours - I've checked. And eventually I just tell Windows to close the program. Here's an exact example of what I'm talking about:



Interestingly enough, it froze during a different period today. I had my sim's radio on, and the game kept going through the radio playlist while frozen. No other sounds were played and it was clear the rest of the game was not doing anything.

Any other advice on this?

@dentfaceah 

No problem, I am very busy as well in the moment.

Could you reproduce the app hang at that specific point?

Did you looked if there are newer sound driver available?

@holger1405 

Turns out, I did have an audio driver that needed updating. I downloaded and installed the new driver, restarted my computer, tested the game, and I still have the same problem.

I'm unable to replicate the exact instance that this occurred from my last post because this app hang is completely random. It isn't connected to the fact I turned the radio on. The radio just happened to be on at that time.

I've had all sorts of things seem to "trigger" the freezing to the point that I think it's random. I used to think it was caused by loading a lot or several objects all at once, but I can spin around and hop to different points on the town with no issue, and then 5 minutes later have a random freeze.

Any other ideas?

@dentfaceah  Holger1405 asked me to let you know that he needs to rethink the issue, and he'll get back to you.  He hasn't forgotten or moved on (neither have I), just needs to work on it a bit more.

No worries. Take your time. The both of you have been so incredibly helpful.

@dentfaceah 

OK, lets try this:

• Press the Windows key > write "event" > Open the "Event Viewer"
• Expand "Windows logs" > Expand "Application"
• Search for a TS3 errors. (Check if the time of the event matches a crash.)
• Right click the "Error" entry > Copy > Copy details > past it to a text file.
• Check the "Information" entry next to the error entry. (It should have more info about the crash)
• Right click the "Information" entry > Copy > Copy details > past it to a different text file
  
• Check if the other TS3 errors are of the same kind. (If not load different errors up as well) 
• Load the text files up.

If there are "Attached files" shown in the "Information" entry look if a "*.dmp" file location is shown and load the dump file up to a free filehosting site.

@holger1405 

Alright. I've attached the two .txt error logs, one for the Error and one for the Information.

No .dmp files listed in either .txt file. Errors match older error logs as well.

@dentfaceah 

Ok, that was also not really helpful. The important info is missing from this files as well.

To fix the problem we could get trough all possible troubleshooting steps in order, or we could try to get a crash dump.

I can not promises you that a dump will contain the necessary info, but the chances are good.

But you would need to install a software package from Microsoft to obtain a dump in this case, because as you rightly assumed, it is not created because the game only hangs.

Let me know what you prefer.

@holger1405 

Let's get that crash dump. What program do I need?

@dentfaceah 

• Go here.
• Download "ProcDump v9.0"
• Unzip the file.
• Copy "procdump.exe" and "procdump64.exe" into the "C:\Windows\System32" folder.
• Press the Windows key > write "CMD" (Without the quotes) > right click "Command Prompt" in the search result > Run as an Administrator.
• Copy and paste "procdump -h TS3.exe hungwindow.dmp" (Without the quotes) to the command prompt. > ENTER.
• Play he game until it hangs.
• You should find the dump under "C:\Users\>your user name<"