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ivory_sword's avatar
ivory_sword
12 years ago

Sims 3 Pets Disk Verification

I know other people have asked this question, but I didn't find any answers that would work for me. My problem is that every time I go to play the Sims 3 Pets add on, a message pops up saying that it cannot verify that it is an authentic disk. Please contact customer service. This is after the game loads but before I load my family. There is only one option to click and that just exits out of the game altogether. I have taken the disk out and put it back in and that worked a few times, but this time it did not.

I've tried literally everything. Uninstalling and reinstalling, doing the updates, not doing the updates. EA gave me a free digital copy, but I have a macbook with an OS 10.5.8 and Origin is not compatible so that was a bust. (And my PC laptop doesn't have a high enough graphic card so it crashed every time a horse even thought about running past my house.) I am so fed up with this. I literally spent days trying to figure this all out, and now it's doing it again. I just want to play the game I paid good money for. Does anyone have any solutions? I spoke with the EA help on the instant messenger thing for hours, but they couldn't solve it. They checked and said the disk was valid. No one seemed to know how to fix it which is even more frustrating. I'm done uninstalling and reinstalling. If I have to do that again, I'm seriously just done. 

pc
technical issues

6 Replies

  • RampageOUnicorn's avatar
    RampageOUnicorn
    12 years ago
    Where are you trying to install Sims 3 Pets? Mac and EA games are very picky about the file path and actually won't work properly unless the installer goes to /Library/Application Support/Origin/DownloadedCache and the game file goes to /Applications/

    Also the expansion has to be installed to /Applications/TheSims3

    Did you also check the system requirements against your computer? Your graphics card may not be supported and that could be what's causing problems

    Mac System Requirements
    OS: Mac OS X 10.5.7 Leopard or higher
    CPU: Intel Core Duo Processor
    RAM: 2 GB RAM
    DISC DRIVE: DVD
    HARD DRIVE: At least 3.5 GB* of free space with at least 1 GB of additional space for custom content and saved games.
    VIDEO: ATI X1600 or NVIDIA 7300 GT with 128 MB of Video RAM
    INPUT: Keyboard, mouse
    *9.6 GB of hard drive space if installing with The Sims 3
    Supported Video Cards: Nvidia GeForce 6 series or better, and all NVidia G, GT, GTS, and GTX video cards. ATI Radeon™ series card 9500 series or better, and all ATI X, X1, and HD video cards. Please note that the GeForce 6100 and 7100 cards are not supported. The NVIDIA GeForce 7300 series is unsupported under Snow Leopard. This game will not run on PowerPC (G3/G4/G5) based Mac systems, or the GMA 950 class of integrated video cards.


    Another thing to try is a program called CCleaner which should clean off your RAM cache which is another possible thing preventing a disk verification.

    Disk defragmentation might also be necessary (though Mac's are usually good about that unlike Windows since it uses HFS+)
  • ivory_sword's avatar
    ivory_sword
    12 years ago

    Well, I don't have the digital copy on my mac - origin wasn't compatible with 10.5.8, but the add on is in /Applications/TheSims3. Looks like the requirements are all met as well. I made sure there was plenty of room on the harddrive before installing, and everything else adds up. Graphic card looks good. 

    I did try playing again about a half hour after the disk authentication message came up, and it worked. It might just be one of those glitches that doesn't really have a clear explanation. As far as I can tell, the disk is fine, the computer is fine, but there's still a problem...

    I'll keep the CCleaner in mind, thank you!

  • ivory_sword's avatar
    ivory_sword
    12 years ago

    All good suggestions - thank you! - but my disk is practically brand new and the dvd drive works for other games and for cds. My friend who also has a macbook and has different, newer add ons has the same problem occasionally she said. I'm starting to think there isn't going to be a permanent, definitive solution. 


  • crinrict's avatar
    crinrict
    Hero+
    12 years ago

    Are you using Store Content in your game ? There seems to be an issue on Macs where certain Store Content conflicts with the disc authentification.

    To make sure that is your problem, move the folder DCCache in documents\electronicarts\thesims3 to the desktop (this will rid you of all Store & Custom content so start a new game for testing purposes). If the game then starts, you need to find out which stuff is causing the conflict. To do so, first put back all files that have the ending *.dbc (those are third party content so you may not have any). Start the game and see if it still works.

    If it does, start reinstalling the Store content. I would start with any premium content you might have. If it still works, go on installing the rest, in groups until you find the guilty party.

    If you do, PLEASE let us know what you found. Many have this issue and it would be instering to know WHAT is causing this conflict.

  • ivory_sword's avatar
    ivory_sword
    12 years ago

    I will try this as soon as I have the time (I'll be out of town for the next three days). I tried just now, but of course the game worked fine. I know the message will come up again. I do have custom content from the ea sims site and from sims resource. I did wonder if any of that was causing the issue. I'll fool around with that and will definitely reply back in regards to what I found. Thank you for the suggestion!

    I did notice a lot of people were having this problem too. Let's hope we can solve it! 

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