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hrayx's avatar
hrayx
Newcomer
4 days ago

Mac 64-Bit Crashing Troubleshoot Help

Spent 6+ hours trying to troubleshoot this today and having no luck. Waited for a live chat agent for a while as well and nobody joined despite it saying est. 1 min for the past 45 mins. Wanted to post a consolidated writeup in case others are hitting the same combination of bugs, and in case anyone's found workarounds I haven't tried. Hoping someone can help!

Setup: Sims 3 64-bit, Mac Sequoia 15.6, Apple Silicon.

Can reproduce all of these issues

  • launcher crashes opening downloads tab (NSImage/NSTableView crash, confirmed bug on nraas forums, both Intel/ARM Macs)
  • launcher login email field reverts to "null," wont accept any typed input
  • In-game login hangs indefinitely on "connecting..." as does Downloads Dashboard in-game, both need force quit
  • Store purchases (worlds, objects, etc.) all not recognized, asks me to repurchase, not downloading properly
  • CC in Downloads (.sims3pack) and in Mods/Packages with valid Resource.cfg (.package) won't load even after full relaunches, full redownloads, etc. 

    • Placed 22 .package files directly in Mods/Packages with a correctly formatted Resource.cfg (confirmed UTF-8 plain text, correct extension, correct paths, CC enabled in game options). Nothing appears in CAS even after full quits/relaunches.

Already tried

  • repair via EA app
  • clearing caches (DCC Cache, SigsCache, Thumbnails, CASPartCache.package -- both individually and all together)
  • removing downloads folder to let a fresh one regenerate / redoing that whole process (as seen in other forums here)
  • rebuilding mods folders
  • installing store content one at a time instead of in bulk
  • installing cc one item at a time instead of in bulk
  • tried associating sims3pack files with sims3launcher app
  • used safari open while launcher is open workaround to download store purchases (didn't work)
  • redownloading each cc item from original source one at a time and in bulk

Could not find a Sims3Pack Clean Installer as a conversion tool or Parallels as an alternative path.

I know Sims 3 isn't a priority anymore for the support team but would be eternally grateful for someone who can help me fix this, if there is a fix! 

Thanks for reading this far

bug
crashing
custom content (cc)
gameplay issue
mac
missing content
technical issues

1 Reply

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    1 hour ago

    hrayx​  Sorry for the late reply.  I've only seen your post just now, which means it was either caught by the spam filter or moved from a different forum.

    The launcher crashing when the Downloads tab is opened (when there's anything inside Downloads) is a known issue on your OS with no fix:

    Launcher crashes when I open the downloads tab in Sims 3 | EA Forums - 12167613

    Store content can be installed through the Downloads Dashboard, accessible through the Main Menu, that is when it works.  The master thread above has some tips for getting it to cooperate.  But you do of course need to be signed in for it to work.

    If your Store content isn't being recognized and you need to reinstall it, rename or remove the Sims 3 folder in Documents > Electronic Arts first, so you're installing the content into a clean folder.  You can move over your saves and other user data later.  The point is that reinstalling the same content over the top of an already-broken install is probably not going to work.

    For the infinite connecting, open Keychain Access, in Applications > Utilities, search for sims3 , and delete any entries you find.  If that doesn't work, do it again, and at the same time, open Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3 > Downloads and delete the file labeled [your email].bin.  Finally, clear the EA App's cache:

    https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/faq/clear-cache-to-fix-problems-with-your-games/

    The login at the launcher doesn't always work no matter what people do to try to fix it.  But the only time you should need to use it is when you're uploading content to the Exchange.  Other than that, you can skip it with no consequences to your game.

    For your custom content, Sims3Pack files can't be read in Mods > Packages.  If you're having an issue with .package files, that's different, but Sims3Pack files can only go in Downloads and be installed through the launcher that way.  However, the launcher will crash, as noted above, so this isn't going to work either.  All you can do here, unless you have access to a Windows PC to work with, is download .package files instead.  Many cc creators offer both types for the same content.

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