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sznschng's avatar
sznschng
3 years ago
Solved

sims 3 device 0

this is a rant about my awful experience with ea support as well as my unsolved sims 3 issue.
please help me i have tried everything to fix this. i have windows 11 pc, i get this message when i open the sims 3 launcher and press play "device 0 cannot run this title". the game is downloaded on my ea app. i have made more than 5 email cases since july 2022 and every response i make i get a brand new advisor who is completely clueless about my case and what ive tried doing, so i need to reexplain everything and then they just suggest something ive stated i tried. this is my last hope. i have already tried so many things to resolve this issue. i will list all below , please read carefully
 
 
what i tried:
running launcher and sims 3 as administrator
replacing the graphic rules and graphic cards file to fit my graphics card, and changing it to .sgr or .orig
changing deviceconfig file (mine is empty!)
pasted my graphic card settings in device config, including my device ID
messing with options.ini file (i dont have one!) 
deleting the game and ea app and reinstalling
deleting the game and ea app and reinstalling only base game sims 3
changing my computer resolution
running the game through my nvidia device/experience
updating my nvidia driver
deleting my nvidia driver, disabling the controllers, and reinstalling+reenabling
put "-windowed" in advanced launch options
deleting all expansion packs i dont have from the registry editor
limiting sims3.exe fps in nvidia inspector and in control panel
turning on virtual sync of sims3.exe on nvidia control panel
deleting and reinstalling all nvidia apps
turning off windows "game mode" 
downloaded cc cleaner (even though the game has never even been successfully launched and played! - this is also why my device config is empty)
moving sims 3 folder to desktop then launching the game
renaming sims 3 folder then attempting to launch
deleting sims 3 folder then attempting to launch
repair files/game in ea app
downloaded and updated directx
verify my anti virus is not conflicting with sims 3
followed system requirements and verified my computer can run this game
closed sims3 launcher and ea app on  task manager then opened back
deleted and reinstalled sims 3 profile on my nvidia driver experience
edit: more things ive tried:
alder lake
task manager method
adding TS3.exe and the launcher exe file as an exception on windows defender security center
 

today i spoke to an advisor on live chat called Khangembam C. and they told me to edit my options.ini file even though i told them i dont have one. then they just copy and pasted the steps of how to edit my options ini file... later they sent me 3 troubleshooting links in the chat and all of them were "page not found". after the end of our chat, they sent me different links through my email and i wanted to add them to the list because these are things that are so obviously already on my list if you carefully read but i guess it is not clear.

https://help.ea.com/ca/help/origin/origin/your-vc-runtime-package-has-not-installed-correctly-error-troubleshooting/ - ( i dont use origin)

https://help.ea.com/ca/help/pc/pc-graphics-troubleshooting/

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

i have attatched my dxdiag, and the error message.
please solve my issue, it shouldnt be this difficult! I am so dissapointed with your customer service. give me a proper solution or help me set up a screen sharing call with someone who can fix this!
 
 
pc
technical issues
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    3 years ago

    @sznschng  You're right that this error is likely related to your graphics card or driver, but I wanted to address other potential causes that could interfere with the driver first.  For example, an antivirus could block a program from using the GPU or driver in a certain way.  And yes, it's always worth repairing after changing antivirus settings or anything else that might interfere with the game's program files.

    Additionally, it's worth running Sims 3 as an admin again, if you haven't tried that since you first posted.  However, if you've set it to permanently run as admin, disable that setting and test again.  I've seen posts about other older games not opening because the EA App set them to run as admin, and disabling that setting has fixed the issue.  Point is, try both ways.

    If that doesn't or didn't help, the next step is to do a clean uninstall and reinstall of the driver.  Here's how;

    https://crinrict.com/blog/2019/02/clean-re-install-of-graphics-drivers-with-display-driver-uninstaller-ddu.html

    You can get a fresh copy of the newest driver from Nvidia:

    https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/199654/en-us/

    If that doesn't make a difference, you can try playing in a new admin Windows account.  This doesn't have anything to do with your graphics card or driver directly, but it does get around any possible permissions issues or other borked settings in your main account.  Make the new account local, as in, don't sign into Microsoft, and don't sync with any other services you normally use.  You won't need to reinstall anything; just see whether you can play, and let me know either way.

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  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    3 years ago

    @sznschng  Please repair the game within the EA App, which will undo any changes you've made to the game's program files.  You can edit the .sgr files later, but for now, it's best to leave the game in its default state.  The fact that your GPU isn't recognized shouldn't stop Sims 3 from opening.  The Repair option shows if you hover over the Sims 3 icon in your game library and click the three dots.

    Next, please apply one of the workarounds for the Alder Lake issue described in the accepted solution of this thread:

    https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/Sims-3-won-t-open-Alder-Lake-Intel-12th-gen-CPU/m-p/11057820#M248615

    Try to launch the game, and let me know whether you get the same error.  If you do, please let me know what antivirus you use.  Even if you never downloaded one, your computer may have come with one pre-installed, so check the Task Manager, including the background processes list and the Startup tab just to make sure.

  • sznschng's avatar
    sznschng
    3 years ago

    Hello, thank you for trying to help, as I've stated, ive already tried repairing my game. and as for the alder lake, i downloaded it and tried using it on my game but nothing happened after.. im not sure if im supposed to launch it on ea app after usin alder lake, but thats what i did, and i got the same device 0 message. as for my antivirus. i have the one you automatically get with windows 11.. i think its called microsoft defender or windows defender, something like that. i also tried using the powershell script in the link you shared, crashed my pc, it kept saying sims 3 is open, but it wasnt, retried, and just got the error msg.. then i tried changing the script to TS3W then lauching sims 3, and it just got the error msg. then i tried using the task manager method, and after the step of launching the game, i just got the error message.

    edit: i will be adding these to my attempts at fixing list!

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    3 years ago

    @sznschng  I know you already tried repairing.  I was asking you to repair the game again to undo any changes you've made to the game's program files, including the .sgr files.  It's always better to test with an unaltered game and only introduce changes after the game is stable.  So please run that repair, again, and let me know whether it helps.

    If it doesn't, check whether Windows Defender's Controlled Folder Access is enabled, and if it is, either disable it or set exceptions for Sims 3 (TS3.exe and Sims3Launcher.exe, without the W, for an EA App or Origin install) as well as the EA App itself.  This guide is for Sims 4, but the concept is the same:

    https://crinrict.com/blog/2019/03/windows-10-defender-controlled-folder-access.html

  • sznschng's avatar
    sznschng
    3 years ago

    Hi! 🙂

    yes, before i did all the things in my previous message i did run the repair again, and i ran another one now just in case, still nothing.

    Windows Defender's Controlled Folder Access was off when i checked now.

    Thank you for that link it was very clear and easy to follow, i did all those steps (as shown in attatched screenshot) then opened the game again and still got the error message. should i have tried repairing again after setting it as an exception?

    obviously the error message has to do with my graphics card because it is new, but i am really losing hope because i thought maybe the problem wasnt with my graphics card (because ive tried to mess with the nvidia driver so much) so im not sure what to do now

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    3 years ago

    @sznschng  You're right that this error is likely related to your graphics card or driver, but I wanted to address other potential causes that could interfere with the driver first.  For example, an antivirus could block a program from using the GPU or driver in a certain way.  And yes, it's always worth repairing after changing antivirus settings or anything else that might interfere with the game's program files.

    Additionally, it's worth running Sims 3 as an admin again, if you haven't tried that since you first posted.  However, if you've set it to permanently run as admin, disable that setting and test again.  I've seen posts about other older games not opening because the EA App set them to run as admin, and disabling that setting has fixed the issue.  Point is, try both ways.

    If that doesn't or didn't help, the next step is to do a clean uninstall and reinstall of the driver.  Here's how;

    https://crinrict.com/blog/2019/02/clean-re-install-of-graphics-drivers-with-display-driver-uninstaller-ddu.html

    You can get a fresh copy of the newest driver from Nvidia:

    https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/199654/en-us/

    If that doesn't make a difference, you can try playing in a new admin Windows account.  This doesn't have anything to do with your graphics card or driver directly, but it does get around any possible permissions issues or other borked settings in your main account.  Make the new account local, as in, don't sign into Microsoft, and don't sync with any other services you normally use.  You won't need to reinstall anything; just see whether you can play, and let me know either way.

  • sznschng's avatar
    sznschng
    3 years ago

    @puzzlezaddictHi, i have tried running it as admin, didnt work, repaired and tried again, didnt work. repaired and tried running w/o admin, didnt work. my game is not set to permanently run as admin.

    tried to uninstall and reinstall my driver again as you suggested ,did not work, still getting the error message. i made a whole new account on my pc and tried to launch sims 3 and got the same error message

    edit: oh my gosh.. im not sure how, but following this i realized i did not reinstall the correct driver, and once i did the game worked! thank you so much for recommending me to do it again! although i have a lot of trust issues with the sims games.. so for now i will leave this issue as solved!! i hope it doesnt come back with the error message again one day, thank you again!

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    3 years ago

    @sznschng  I'm so glad to hear it worked, and yes, installing the wrong graphics driver could easily perpetuate the issue.  At least now you've established that this is in fact a problem with the driver, so if you run into it again, you know where to start looking.

    Let me know if you have any more issues, and otherwise, enjoy your game.

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