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thesims1depot's avatar
thesims1depot
Seasoned Ace
3 years ago
Solved

EA, please look into this! Sound and Audio seems to be breaking on new systems.

In summer/fall of 2020, my game started to break. I got this ancient bug from the base game: Sims 3 Glitch - TV Runs While Paused - YouTube in spite of having fully patched the entire game through Origin. Sound has also been breaking in my game since then, as if the game can no longer run audio channels properly. What happens is that sounds keep skipping in the jukebox, as if the game doesn't know how to cycle through the playlist. The game also doesn't know how to layer sounds anymore, or fade sounds in and out when you jump from one lot to another.

I Googled all these issues, and these all seem like old, old bugs that were supposedly patched ages ago but aren't patched in my game, in spite of uninstalling reinstalling through Origin a million times now and letting it do its thing.

When the problem started, I was on an AMD quadcore and Nvidia 1030GT with 4GB RAM and Windows 7. Now I'm on Windows 10 with an AMD 4500 Ryzen and 8GB RAM, a dedicated sound card and AMD Radeon graphics card. The problems have followed me across all these configurations.

Please don't tell me all the usual stuff (deleting cache files, updating drivers, compatibility mode, large address aware, etc.) because I have done all of these things backwards, forwards, sideways a million times over the past two years. I have done them over and over again across several system configurations, installs, reinstalls, hardware changes, etc. 

No, I do not run mods!

Something happened that has caused the audio and video to break on newer systems, or maybe the Origin-only install doesn't patch properly (I was once on a combination of disc and Origin, then went all-Origin). I don't know if it's whether Windows itself put out an update that screwed something up or if the game needs a major update. But something has gone wrong beyond system configuration, or at least an update needs to be done to accommodate systems that are too new to play the game properly. A likely lead I came across was a potential codec issue, but I don't know. All I know is that everything worked flawlessly in the summer of 2020 and then broke shortly afterward when I started upgrading my system and got a series of Windows updates.

pc
technical issues
  • thesims1depot's avatar
    thesims1depot
    3 years ago

    Guys, I found the solution(s), and I think it may go a long way in explaining why some people are having sound issues that can't be resolved by just deleting caches or updating sound drivers.

    The reason why I've written "solution(s)" is that I'm still unsure whether this issue is due to one or a combination of factors. At any rate, here is what happened:

    1. There are scripts generated in real time when you're playing any world, represented by those little white boxes you might've seen from time to time in your game when placing apt shells or popping up randomly on lots with a message that says "SHOULD NOT APPEAR IN GAME." 

    They're supposed to be "flushed" in real time, but sometimes they don't. They keep replicating out of control until things start to break in the world. The solution is to use the makesim cheat using MC, then flush these scripts. I am also sensing that the Gnubb set is a troublemaker, too. It generates scripts labeled "forwarders", which can replicate to where you can have well over 3,000 of them in a world.

    2. Some of the music and sounds are using different codecs, some of which are outdated or compromised on newer systems.

    I have no idea how this bug is created. All I know is that I did all of this in Summer 2020, which preceded the bug:

    1. Installed Island Paradise for the first time.

    2. Went from hybrid disc/digital installation to all-digital (Origin)

    3. Upgraded from super old GPU (Nvidia 9800GT) to new one (GT 730, then 1030GT) and CPU (not the one I have now, but to quadcore AMD FX series)

    4. Used "makesim" cheat (which I've used forever but may have contributed to issue)

    5. Upgraded from old monitor to new

    6. Got a new hard drive

    Here's some of the stuff I did to troubleshoot the issue:

    1. Flushed scripts using MC

    2. Deleted Gnubb Set from lot, then looked for "forwarders" in MC to flush (this seemed to be the key piece of the puzzle in terms of sound issues)

    3. Installed older DirectX User Runtime Runtimes: Download DirectX End-User Runtimes (June 2010) from Official Microsoft Download Center

    4. Installed new codec packs for Windows 10

    If you've been having major sound issues that keep coming back no matter how many of the tried-and-true methods you've been told (delete cache, update drivers), maybe try the above.

8 Replies

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    3 years ago

    @thesims1depot  This isn't a common issue, or at least it's not a commonly reported issue, so I don't think anything broke overall.  (It hasn't happened to me in six discrete installs across several OSs.)  Since this happens on multiple systems, the obvious question is what, if anything, do these systems share?  If you're using the same sound output device, for example the same speakers, try a different one that uses a different type of connection.

    Please also run a dxdiag and attach it to a post so I can take a look at what you're working with on your current system.

    https://help.ea.com/en/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

  • thesims1depot's avatar
    thesims1depot
    Seasoned Ace
    3 years ago

    I have not been using the same input device this entire time. I have had three different speaker systems and setups. The first pair was an old pair of wire JBL speakers. Then I tried a pair of Logitech speakers, now Pebble speakers. Two were wire, one was USB.

    There is another poster in a different thread that is also having an issue with sound disappearing, so it might not be the most common problem but it's also not rare. 

    I'll post the dxdiag as you request, but I have a strange feeling that I will be back to square one, because I have been down this road more than two dozen times with others. 

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    3 years ago

    @thesims1depot  Your dxdiag lists two sound devices with drivers from 2020 and 2015, respectively.  The latter entry, labeled Speakers (Sound Blaster Audigy Fx), could easily be the culprit.  So try updating any and all audio drivers on your computer; there may be other software not listed that's also older and interfering.

    Hit Windows key-X, choose the Device Manager, expand the Audio tab, click on each entry there in turn, and click the black and green Update button.  It's fine if Windows doesn't find updates for everything; the point is to make it look.  Repeat the process with the Sound tab, then restart your computer before trying to play.

    If that doesn't help, disconnect the speakers and restat your computer, then test again.

  • SenadorX's avatar
    SenadorX
    3 years ago

     Hi @thesims1depot!! 

    The truth is that I can not think what the problem may be, but I tell you that I have a similar configuration, I also have Windows 10, 8gb ram, Radeon card, the only thing I have different from all that is the processor, an a12 7th gen, and the Windows updates, I can assure you that I just yesterday updated my computer, and today I played the game with the audio working perfectly. So in principle I doubt that it is due to a Windows update. And about the speakers, I see that you have done everything, the only thing I can think of is if they are very new and for some reason the game does not just recognize them.( it happened to me with the graphics card, the game appeared to me in 4:3 resolution) I usually play with the integrated speakers of the laptop, not with an external set. And when not, I use headphones from a Walkman cassette from the 80's, or Philips Bluetooth headphones that I bought new last year. The only thing I can think of is to ask you if you've tried playing with headphones. I know it's ridiculous, but is the only thing I can think of. 

    ~SenadorX 

  • thesims1depot's avatar
    thesims1depot
    Seasoned Ace
    3 years ago
    @SenadorX Your solution doesn't sound ridiculous at all. It actually makes sense! We have to go through these hacks just to get the game to recognize graphics cards, so maybe it's the same with speakers, too. When I first played the game, I had a set of used JBL speakers. Then they messed up. Then I cycled through speakers, and now I have a set of Pebbles.

    So, I think I'll try bumming an old pair of JBLs off of eBay and see what happens. Wish me luck! 😁
  • thesims1depot's avatar
    thesims1depot
    Seasoned Ace
    3 years ago

    @puzzlezaddictI updated the drivers. As expected, I still had the problem. I'm going to try and see if I can chase down an older pair of speakers off of eBay, since the last time the sound worked was when I had a used pair of wire JBLs. It will take a while to get everyone posted, but if this solution works, I'll be sure to come back with an update.

  • SenadorX's avatar
    SenadorX
    3 years ago

    Hello again! @thesims1depot 

    Well, I'm glad to know that my idea wasn't so silly either😉. The truth is that I don't usually throw myself into giving technological solutions, it's not exactly my strong point. But since it may be a more real solution than I thought, well yes, best of luck with it. Fingers crossed😀🤞🤞🤞

  • thesims1depot's avatar
    thesims1depot
    Seasoned Ace
    3 years ago

    Guys, I found the solution(s), and I think it may go a long way in explaining why some people are having sound issues that can't be resolved by just deleting caches or updating sound drivers.

    The reason why I've written "solution(s)" is that I'm still unsure whether this issue is due to one or a combination of factors. At any rate, here is what happened:

    1. There are scripts generated in real time when you're playing any world, represented by those little white boxes you might've seen from time to time in your game when placing apt shells or popping up randomly on lots with a message that says "SHOULD NOT APPEAR IN GAME." 

    They're supposed to be "flushed" in real time, but sometimes they don't. They keep replicating out of control until things start to break in the world. The solution is to use the makesim cheat using MC, then flush these scripts. I am also sensing that the Gnubb set is a troublemaker, too. It generates scripts labeled "forwarders", which can replicate to where you can have well over 3,000 of them in a world.

    2. Some of the music and sounds are using different codecs, some of which are outdated or compromised on newer systems.

    I have no idea how this bug is created. All I know is that I did all of this in Summer 2020, which preceded the bug:

    1. Installed Island Paradise for the first time.

    2. Went from hybrid disc/digital installation to all-digital (Origin)

    3. Upgraded from super old GPU (Nvidia 9800GT) to new one (GT 730, then 1030GT) and CPU (not the one I have now, but to quadcore AMD FX series)

    4. Used "makesim" cheat (which I've used forever but may have contributed to issue)

    5. Upgraded from old monitor to new

    6. Got a new hard drive

    Here's some of the stuff I did to troubleshoot the issue:

    1. Flushed scripts using MC

    2. Deleted Gnubb Set from lot, then looked for "forwarders" in MC to flush (this seemed to be the key piece of the puzzle in terms of sound issues)

    3. Installed older DirectX User Runtime Runtimes: Download DirectX End-User Runtimes (June 2010) from Official Microsoft Download Center

    4. Installed new codec packs for Windows 10

    If you've been having major sound issues that keep coming back no matter how many of the tried-and-true methods you've been told (delete cache, update drivers), maybe try the above.

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