Forum Discussion

eeevamay's avatar
eeevamay
2 years ago
Solved

The Sims 3 quit unexpectedly - 64 bit, Mac OS High Sierra

I'm at my wit's end here. I run an admittedly very old MacBook Pro - 2010, operating High Sierra 10.13.6. Other specs listed below. I've had a hankering to play The Sims so I bought the Sims 3 start...
mac
technical issues
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    2 years ago

    @eeevamay  After installing only the base game, you now have a folder called "The Sims 3 Packs"?  That's not how things are supposed to work, although it's been a while since I installed the 32-bit version.

    At any rate, please do a clean uninstall of Sims 3, as described here:

    https://bluebellflora.com/how-to-do-a-clean-uninstall-and-reinstall-on-a-mac/

    I'd suggest manually deleting everything rather than relying on the built-in uninstaller.  Create a new admin user account on your Mac, download only the Sims 3 base game in that account, and try to run it without using the Super Patch.  Whether it works or not, run the Super Patch and try again.  Let me know how it goes.

    Your graphics card's device ID is not in fact in the game's database, so adding it may help.  But I'd rather see whether the new account works first—you could get another Unknown Error because the card wasn't properly added or because of leftover files in the current user account.  So it's best to isolate the potential issues.

    If redownloading the Super Patch would take too long, and it doesn't show up in Downloads in the new account, you can move it to Macintosh HD > Users > Shared, which all accounts can access.

eeevamay's avatar
eeevamay
2 years ago
@puzzlezaddict Hmm, I tried installing and patching the 32-bit version, but even with the patch the application won't open, just says 'Unknown error occurred'. Helpful huh?
To clarify, I used the third party digital download link for the patch as the 'Region 17' one didn't open to anything. In the screenshots it shows the digital download patch as ending with the extension '.tar', but the one I got through the third party link ended in '.tgz'. Just double checking that's right?
puzzlezaddict's avatar
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
2 years ago

@eeevamay  The patch should be fine; it's the same one I've always used with the 32-bit version.  Is the base game alone giving you the unknown error?  It's a common error with a lot of causes, but most of them are related to installing packs or trying to run the game on a Mac newer than yours.

At any rate, please post your Mac's graphics chip's device ID.  Open About This Mac > System Report > Graphics/Displays, and you'll find it there.  I specifically need the device ID, not the vendor ID or anything else.  If your Mac has two graphics devices listed, please provide both IDs.

In case you're wondering, this isn't a serial number, more like a product ID for the type of GPU.  One cause of the unknown error is the game not having this device ID in its database, and I want to find out whether that's the case here.

  • eeevamay's avatar
    eeevamay
    2 years ago

    @puzzlezaddict It's just the base game, I haven't tried installing any of the packs yet. Although there is a folder in Applications/The Sims 3 called The Sims 3 Packs?
    I've attached a screenshot of the ID.
    Thanks for all your help, it's much appreciated!

    • puzzlezaddict's avatar
      puzzlezaddict
      Hero+
      2 years ago

      @eeevamay  After installing only the base game, you now have a folder called "The Sims 3 Packs"?  That's not how things are supposed to work, although it's been a while since I installed the 32-bit version.

      At any rate, please do a clean uninstall of Sims 3, as described here:

      https://bluebellflora.com/how-to-do-a-clean-uninstall-and-reinstall-on-a-mac/

      I'd suggest manually deleting everything rather than relying on the built-in uninstaller.  Create a new admin user account on your Mac, download only the Sims 3 base game in that account, and try to run it without using the Super Patch.  Whether it works or not, run the Super Patch and try again.  Let me know how it goes.

      Your graphics card's device ID is not in fact in the game's database, so adding it may help.  But I'd rather see whether the new account works first—you could get another Unknown Error because the card wasn't properly added or because of leftover files in the current user account.  So it's best to isolate the potential issues.

      If redownloading the Super Patch would take too long, and it doesn't show up in Downloads in the new account, you can move it to Macintosh HD > Users > Shared, which all accounts can access.

      • eeevamay's avatar
        eeevamay
        2 years ago
        @puzzlezaddict Success! The base game worked on the new user account, both with and without the patch. So I should now try installing the packs on the new account? Will I just have to play on the new account from now on?
        Either way, hooray! Thanks so much!

About The Sims 3 Technical Issues

Get help with issues in The Sims 3 from fellow Simmers.82,865 PostsLatest Activity: 2 hours ago