Forum Discussion

Anonymous

13 years ago

Solved

Sims 3 doesn't start - Csrss.exe infinite loop

The solution to this issue was, in my case, manually patching Sims 3 to the most recent version (1.55.4 as of now).

-----------------------------------

So, after two days of waiting and supportage I finally got my Sims 3 keys (Tip: Repeatedly go for LiveChat, till one of the advisors just gives you the keys)... buuut the game doesn't want to start.

After some task-manager observation, I could deduce the following:

When I attempt to start Sims 3, by any instance (directly, origin, TS3.exe, via desktop link), Sims3Launcher.exe (or TS3.exe, respectively) will be created as a new process, be closed again, created again... etc, ad infinitum. Doing so drains the CPU's speed via the process (csrss.exe (which is a windows system process that organizes the creation/deletion of processes)). This implies Sims 3 is started multiple (dozens, hundreds?) times per second, crashes and restarts itself (or something similar).

The loop does NOT end. The only way to interrupt it considers of either restarting the PC or renaming the TS3.exe (for a brief moment), which will trigger a "couldn'T be started TS3.exe not found" error message.

Except for a displayed loading icon on my mouse icon, there is no visible indication of any action whatsoever, all observations above were made by utilizing the TaskManager. Origin merely grays out the 'Play' button, indicating it thinks Sims3 is currently running. There is no loading screen, black screen or Sims 3 logo of any description.

What I've tried:

Reinstalling, restarting PC, restarting Origin, starting Sims 3 via various methods (including the bypass mentioned in the FAQ).

I've created a DxDiag, which is at the end of this post.

I'm currently sitting in livechat, but got 'transfered to a Sims3 related advisor' which will probably take a hour at the very least.

If somebody else had this or a very similar problem, I would nontheless love to hear their advice/solution, it might be applyable here.

DXDIAG:

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 8/16/2013, 19:25:39
       Machine name: xxx
   Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_qfe.130704-0421)
           Language: xxx
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
       System Model: System Product Name
               BIOS: BIOS Date: 04/27/09 14:59:08 Ver: 08.00.14
          Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU     E8400 @ 3.00GHz (2 CPUs)
             Memory: 2046MB RAM
          Page File: 1144MB used, 4840MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
    DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
     DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.5512 32bit Unicode

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
        Card name: ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series
     Manufacturer: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
        Chip type: AMD Radeon Graphics Processor (0x9442)
         DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
       Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9442&SUBSYS_E104174B&REV_00
   Display Memory: 1024.0 MB
     Current Mode: 1440 x 900 (32 bit) (60Hz)
          Monitor: Plug und Play-Monitor
Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
      Driver Name: ati2dvag.dll
   Driver Version: 6.14.0010.7267 (English)
      DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 7/4/2012 06:37:10, 306176 bytes
      WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
              VDD: Nicht zutreffend
         Mini VDD: ati2mtag.sys
    Mini VDD Date: 7/4/2012 08:54:32, 7874560 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B71EE2-D702-11CF-9868-0EC1A1C2CB35}
        Vendor ID: 0x1002
        Device ID: 0x9442
        SubSys ID: 0xE104174B
      Revision ID: 0x0000
      Revision ID: 0x0000
      Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_C ModeMPEG2_D
Deinterlace Caps: {6E8329FF-B642-418B-BCF0-BCB6591E255F}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
                   {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
                   {6E8329FF-B642-418B-BCF0-BCB6591E255F}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
                   {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
                   {3C5323C1-6FB7-44F5-9081-056BF2EE449D}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,2) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
                   {552C0DAD-CCBC-420B-83C8-74943CF9F1A6}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,2) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
                   {6E8329FF-B642-418B-BCF0-BCB6591E255F}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
                   {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
         Registry: OK
     DDraw Status: Enabled
       D3D Status: Enabled
       AGP Status: Enabled

technical issues

crinrict
13 years ago
Your computer is generally a bit low in specs for the game but I don't see that being the cause for the issue your seeing. Your graphic card should be ok (unless it's a hardware problem in general).

I assume you've never played the game or had it installed on this computer before ? Did you patch to 1.55 (it's a bit strange that you're talking about ts3.exe and not ts3w.exe) ?

8 Replies

Anonymous
13 years ago
LiveChat told me the 'outdated' graphics driver is the cause. I told him I strongly doubt it's the cause.
He insisted on me installing the driver and restarting the PC eitherways.
Surprise, it wasn't the cause, back into the support queue.
As of current, EA's support holds a 100% streak of "If the advisor tells you everything will be fine after restarting your PC, it will NOT be fine".
Anonymous
13 years ago
Csrss.exe infinite loop can be caused by the graphics card/drivers, it also could be because of a virus, there's a multitude of things that can cause that... Hope you get your issue with your computer resolved 🙂

🙂

Google it, see what you can find ... never know...

Good Luck!
Anonymous
13 years ago
I spent some time googling into this issue. I do NOT have the more or less common issue that the CSRSS goes into overdrive and hogs the entire CPU due to a malfunctioning user profile. It only occurs upon starting Sims 3 and does merely drain 20% CPU and only as long as the sims.exe is present to be started.
Drivers are updated now, so I sincerely hope it's not the graphic card itself.
On a sidenote, googling for this issue gave me this very thread as 5th most likely entry :P
Anonymous
13 years ago
Next liveChat (5th or 6th now, stopped counting). Je, issue is really tricky, forwarded to specialist team, might get an response in 2-3 buisness days (anybody noticed WE is up ahead?).
If anybody has other solutions to offer, I'll gladly accept them.
crinrict
Hero+
13 years ago
Your computer is generally a bit low in specs for the game but I don't see that being the cause for the issue your seeing. Your graphic card should be ok (unless it's a hardware problem in general).

I assume you've never played the game or had it installed on this computer before ? Did you patch to 1.55 (it's a bit strange that you're talking about ts3.exe and not ts3w.exe) ?
Anonymous
13 years ago
Je, my hardware is a bit on the low side, but as you said, it should in worst case merely cause some performance troubles.
I didn't have the game (or any other Sims for that part) installed beforehand and did literally nothing but installing Sims 3 via origin. I was told it might want to auto-update itself upon first game launch, but so far it doesn't seem like I've even gotten to the point where it can check for updates.
But the idea isn't bad, I will look for manual patches.
Anonymous
13 years ago
Hahaha, the best EA support is no EA support after all.
Thanks for the tip, manually updating Sims 3 to version 1.55 fixed the issue, the game starts fine, checks for updates fine, etc.
Anonymous
13 years ago
I had the same problem until i patched it to 1.55.4 today, now it seems to be working.