[CURRENT ISSUE] Sims 3 Store content uninstalls/won't reinstall, EA App

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@domingues55 wrote:
@EA_Cade OH MY GOD! FINALLY! HOPE IT WORKS NOW! THANK YOU!

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No worries! If you don't see the update yet we have a couple of methods for forcing the update:

• Uninstall and reinstall the EA app from the site here.

Or

• Shut down the EA app and close EABackrgroundService via the task manager, then locate and run the EAUpdater.exe in C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\EA Desktop\EA Desktop (or whatever directory you installed the app in).

@sonic65101  You should still be able to use Edge: it has an option to specify that certain sites be opened in Internet Explorer mode.  Or you can try using Firefox.  Even if it didn't work before, try it again now just as a test.  Firefox works great with the store for most of us, but it's possible whatever version you tried originally wasn't as compatible.

You'll be able to run Origin in offline mode, without updating, for a while, but not forever.  So it's best to figure out a way to fix the store downloading issue sooner rather than later.

@domingues55  I actually installed Roaring Heights into a clean folder tonight, as a test, and it stayed installed through two subsequent game launches and one restart of my computer.  Granted, that's not a thorough test, but the problem at least appears to be at least partially fixed.

Did all your store content disappear, or just some?  Do the items appear as brown boxes in the launcher's Downloads tab, or do they not appear at all?

Please also open Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3 > DCCache and post a screenshot of the contents of that folder.  Make sure you're in Detail mode so I can see the file sizes and modified dates.

Hiya @domingues55 

Could you run the EA Error Reporter please and post your Report ID here?

@z67pnpn9385f  Did you delete the folders mentioned here:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/The-Sims-3-Saved-Games-Not-Loading-After-Store-Content-Download/m-p/12299672#M256056

and reinstall the store content from scratch?  Keep in mind that this will also remove most custom content, so if you don't want that to happen, put the folders aside without deleting them.  Alternately, move the entire Sims 3 folder out of Documents > Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, open the launcher to spawn a clean folder, and install a few store items into that folder.  Let me know whether that helps.

If your store content is still disappearing, please create an EA App error report and provide the report ID, as described earlier in this thread:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/CURRENT-ISSUE-Sims-3-Store-content-uninstalls-won-t-reinstall-EA/m-p/12311656#M256119

@domingues55  While you're waiting for a reply from EA_Cade, which might take a couple days considering tomorrow is a holiday in the U.S., it would be helpful to know if installing Roaring Heights into a clean folder helps.  (It worked for me a few days ago, but that's a small sample size.)  Move the entire Sims 3 folder out of Documents > Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, open the launcher to spawn a clean folder, install RH, and test.

If RH stays installed after a few game launches, and a couple computer restarts, you can copy over one of your saves and test that as well.  It's also fine to install the rest of your store content, but please do so in small batches—the launcher doesn't handle large amounts of data very well.

@puzzlezaddict Thank you for responding! I did try one of your suggested solutions - moving the Sims 3 files to the desktop and reinstalling my store content to the new clean file - and it works (at least for now)! 

I hope it will stay, otherwise i will report directly via the EA App. As reinstalling store content via launcher is very time-consuming I hope that not every future update of the EA App breaks it. It worries me a little because I did not have any problems before the recent update...

@EA_CadeI can't do this anymore. I am so fed up with the problems. I have done exactly as you have outlined four different times now and every single time I get the "you don't own this" or "there was an error". It still downloads and "installs" but it installs every single item nine NINE times. And then, guess what, when I reopen the game. POOF! Nothing I just downloaded 30 seconds previously is still there.

I have invested so much money and time into this that how y'all have handled this entire thing is a slap in the face. I am done.

@dtmaste09  If you're willing to try one more thing, you can try playing in a clean folder, as I described a few posts above yours:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/CURRENT-ISSUE-Sims-3-Store-content-uninstalls-won-t-reinstall-EA/m-p/12319692#M256173

I've heard from two other people that that helped when the intermediate steps did not.

@puzzlezaddict Thank you, sir. I did try what you suggested and removed The Sims 3 from Documents ->Electronic Arts. However, exact same issues are occurring and now I'm getting a video card error? I've attached screenshots. 

First screenshot is the error I get when I start downloading something that I have already purchased from the Sims Store. I either get this one or the one that says I do not own whatever it is I'm trying to download. 

Second screenshot is a new error regarding my video card. 

Third screenshot shows how the launcher doesn't allow me to click anything anytime I get the error mentioned in screenshot one. I have to close the program via Task Manager

Tbh, I'm am just about at the point of being willing to pay someone to fix this crap. Lol. 

Here are my system specs in case that is helpful.

@dtmaste09  The unrecognized video card error is because your graphics card's device ID isn't in the game's database.  This isn't a problem by itself—the game will run fine with an unrecognized card—but we can fix that if it matters to you.  You saw it once here because it always pops up when the game creates a new options.ini file, which it did when you moved the Sims 3 folder to the desktop.

For the store downloading issue, please try using a different browser.  Please also make sure you're signed into the same account on the store site that you're using in the EA App.  If the accounts don't match, the store content won't work properly.

If that's not the issue, do you have a third-party antivirus that might be interfering?  The easiest test is to disable it temporarily; as long as you're only downloading store content and not using any other websites, your computer should be safe.  Have you changed your firewall settings to block any data from EA?  That can also cause problems with store content.