The Sims 3 Stops Responding & Crashes 5 Minutes into Live Mode

Thanks for the response, and thanks for your hard work on this @puzzlezaddict (and @Holger1405!)

I already did a clean install of my graphics driver about a day before making this thread. I followed this guide: https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/10/kw/remove and it didn't really do anything. Is this sufficient? Seems somewhat identical to what you're describing, just without the custom program to do the uninstall. I did the clean install afterward.

Do you think I should do it again with the program you mentioned? Would that be necessary?

@dentfaceah  A Control Panel uninstall will leave behind some files from the driver, which is why the DDU apps were created.  These leftover files might not be the issue, but for the sake of being thorough, it's best to remove them anyway.  If it doesn't help, at least we'll know the driver isn't the problem.

@dentfaceah  Sorry for the double-post, but I have another question.  Your first dxdiag showed a couple of BSOD (bluescreen) errors.  Do you remember the circumstances when those happened?  As in, what you were doing, what was open at the time, how long the apps had been running, etc.  It would be good to know, especially if the clean install of the graphics driver doesn't help.

Okay, @puzzlezaddict. Here's the rundown:

Did the fresh uninstall and reinstall via your instructions. Everything went well except when I installed, "ONLY the GPU driver and the PHYSX software" wasn't an option. The "HD audio driver" was checked by default and it wouldn't let me uncheck it. I doubt that'll make a difference, but I figured it'd be best to put it all on the table.

Went into TS3, played around. Switching the tabs didn't cause an immediate freeze/crash like before, but the game did eventually stop responding, as per usual, 2 min later while loading a residential lot.

For the blue screen errors, I have to say, I don't recall any recently. There was one like 6 months ago, and I don't remember the circumstances.

There was a graphics driver issue that I've been having on and off recently though with another game (like 1-2 times a month). This specifically: https://eu.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/17615272701.

My whole monitor would freeze, nothing would be clickable, then a black screen would flash, and the game would have crashed with that specific error. Everything functioned fine afterward and the game ran just fine after I relaunched it. This usually would happen when there's a lot of action on the screen, and only 3+ hours into running the application. At the same time, I probably had Discord open, as well as Google Chrome.

 But I'd wager that issue is due to overheating, and hasn't happened again since I adjusted my fans.

Outside of that and the current TS3 issue, I have had no issues with other games whatsoever.

Hi @dentfaceah 

You already, unnecessarily ( @puzzlezaddict  😉 ) heard of me.

I would like you to test a few things.

1. Set your "User DPI Setting" to 100% (96 DPI). > Test the Game.
   https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/5990-change-dpi-scaling-level-displays-windows-10-a.html
   
   
2. Please disable "Origin in game" > Test the Game.
3. Set your Monitor to 60Hz refresh rate. > Test the Game.
   
   
   
   

4. Preform a clean boot and test the Game in clean boot mode.

Hi! @puzzlezaddict & @holger1405:

1. Changed DPI back to 100%, game still crashed.

2. Disabled Origin in-game, still crashed.

3. Both the Nvidia Control Panel and Windows system settings only gave 1 option, 75Hz, so I wasn't able to change it.

4. Did the clean boot, game still crashed.

@dentfaceah 

OK, we need a few things:

First the "InstallLog.txt" You can find it under ">drive<:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\__Installer"

Load it up like the DxDiag.

Second, a crash dump of the game.

• Press the Windows key and "R" at the same time.
• In the new Window, type or copy and paste "%LOCALAPPDATA%\CrashDumps" (Without the quotation marks) > Press ENTER
• Look if there are any "TS3.exe.Xxxx.dmp" files in the "..Local\CrashDumps" folder.
• Upload all  TS3.exe dmp file at a free filehoster like Dropbox and post the link here.

If there aren't any dump files of TS3:

• Press the Windows key > Write: Command Prompt > Right click on "Command Prompt" in the search results > Run as administrator.
• Copy and paste "reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps\devenv.exe" /v DumpType /d 2 /t REG_DWORD" (Without the quotation marks at beginning and end of the line, so the quotation marks before HKLM and after devenv.exe need to stay in) into the command prompt Window > Press ENTER.
• Play the game until it crashes.
• After the game crashes, let all Windows crash dialogues finish.
• Press the Windows key and "R" at the same time. > Type "%LOCALAPPDATA%\CrashDumps" (Without the quotation marks) into the new window > Press ENTER.
• Upload the TS3.exe dmp files at a free filehoster like Dropbox and post the link here.
  
  
  If you want to undo the automatic dump creation, use the command below in a elevated command prompt (As in point 1) reg delete "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps" /f

Hi, @holger1405. Thanks for your patience. The past few days have been crazy and I haven't gotten the chance to sit down at the computer.

I've attached the installation log to this post.

I followed your instructions for the crash logs, and double checked to make sure I did everything right. I even got "The operation completed successfully." in Command Prompt after pasting in the string you gave. Unfortunately, no logs were generated for TS3.

I suspect this is why:

The game doesn't fully "crash." It just stops responding, and never becomes active again. It'll sit there for hours and hours - I've checked. And eventually I just tell Windows to close the program. Here's an exact example of what I'm talking about:



Interestingly enough, it froze during a different period today. I had my sim's radio on, and the game kept going through the radio playlist while frozen. No other sounds were played and it was clear the rest of the game was not doing anything.

Any other advice on this?

@dentfaceah 

No problem, I am very busy as well in the moment.

Could you reproduce the app hang at that specific point?

Did you looked if there are newer sound driver available?

@holger1405 

Turns out, I did have an audio driver that needed updating. I downloaded and installed the new driver, restarted my computer, tested the game, and I still have the same problem.

I'm unable to replicate the exact instance that this occurred from my last post because this app hang is completely random. It isn't connected to the fact I turned the radio on. The radio just happened to be on at that time.

I've had all sorts of things seem to "trigger" the freezing to the point that I think it's random. I used to think it was caused by loading a lot or several objects all at once, but I can spin around and hop to different points on the town with no issue, and then 5 minutes later have a random freeze.

Any other ideas?

@dentfaceah  Holger1405 asked me to let you know that he needs to rethink the issue, and he'll get back to you.  He hasn't forgotten or moved on (neither have I), just needs to work on it a bit more.

No worries. Take your time. The both of you have been so incredibly helpful.

@dentfaceah 

OK, lets try this:

• Press the Windows key > write "event" > Open the "Event Viewer"
• Expand "Windows logs" > Expand "Application"
• Search for a TS3 errors. (Check if the time of the event matches a crash.)
• Right click the "Error" entry > Copy > Copy details > past it to a text file.
• Check the "Information" entry next to the error entry. (It should have more info about the crash)
• Right click the "Information" entry > Copy > Copy details > past it to a different text file
  
• Check if the other TS3 errors are of the same kind. (If not load different errors up as well) 
• Load the text files up.

If there are "Attached files" shown in the "Information" entry look if a "*.dmp" file location is shown and load the dump file up to a free filehosting site.

@holger1405 

Alright. I've attached the two .txt error logs, one for the Error and one for the Information.

No .dmp files listed in either .txt file. Errors match older error logs as well.

@dentfaceah 

Ok, that was also not really helpful. The important info is missing from this files as well.

To fix the problem we could get trough all possible troubleshooting steps in order, or we could try to get a crash dump.

I can not promises you that a dump will contain the necessary info, but the chances are good.

But you would need to install a software package from Microsoft to obtain a dump in this case, because as you rightly assumed, it is not created because the game only hangs.

Let me know what you prefer.

@holger1405 

Let's get that crash dump. What program do I need?

@dentfaceah 

• Go here.
• Download "ProcDump v9.0"
• Unzip the file.
• Copy "procdump.exe" and "procdump64.exe" into the "C:\Windows\System32" folder.
• Press the Windows key > write "CMD" (Without the quotes) > right click "Command Prompt" in the search result > Run as an Administrator.
• Copy and paste "procdump -h TS3.exe hungwindow.dmp" (Without the quotes) to the command prompt. > ENTER.
• Play he game until it hangs.
• You should find the dump under "C:\Users\>your user name<"

@holger1405 Okay, I followed the instructions, but it doesn't seem like the dump file is actually being created. Searched everywhere for it.

According to this, the file should be in my system32 folder, but there is no .dmp file to be found there or in my user folder as you suggested. Am I doing something improperly?

@dentfaceah  Is File Explorer set to show hidden and system files?  If not, that could be why you aren't seeing anything.  Here's how to change the setting:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4028316/windows-view-hidden-files-and-folders-in-windows-10

@puzzlezaddict @holger1405

Nope, that's already been checked for months. I even tried checking and unchecking it.

@puzzlezaddict @holger1405 

I moved Procdump out of System32 and into its own folder and the dump was created without issue.

Here it is, it's a bit beefy, 21 MB. Let me know next steps whenever you can.

https://mega.nz/#!iaIVTYDS!NObNvSaZ5lQHfbrN4sZDTirGg8DSO35Gjf4PZAc3uZw

@dentfaceah 

---

Dentface-ah wrote:

I moved Procdump out of System32 and into its own folder and the dump was created without issue.

---

OK, that is strange.... but great that you found a workaround. 👍

This is the error:

FAILURE_PROBLEM_CLASS: BREAKPOINT

FAILURE_SYMBOL_NAME: TS3.exe!Unknown

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: BREAKPOINT_80000003_TS3.exe!Unknown

A breakpoint error means, in simple terms, that a point was reached at that a normal execution of the program was not longer possible.

This error is normal caused by a Registry mismatch and/or drivers missing/corrupt/not compatible with the hardware running the program.

You wrote on the first side that "Disable Game Mode" doesn't show up as an option in the game mode settings area. There's no switch to tick it on or off. I ticked "Disable fullscreen optimizations" as suggested in the link you gave."
Could you provide a screenshot of the entire "Gaming" page in WIndows settings?

You don't use a Windows "N" version?

Run "chkdsk /r" on your C: and D: drive.

• Hit the Windows key and "X" at the same time > choose "Power Shell (Admin)"
• Type or copy and past "chkdsk /r c:" (Without the quotes) into the Power Shell Window > Press ENTER.
  (You will have to reboot to run chkdsk on the C: drive, so don't do that if you have important stuff open) 
• Do the same with the D: drive.
• Here is a guide how to find the chkdsk logs.
• Upload the log files like the DxDiag in text file format.

Furthermore:

• Hit Windows key and X.
• Choose either “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Command prompt (Administrator),” whichever option is offered.
• Inside the PowerShell or CMD, enter “DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth” without quotes. > ENTER.
• The system will start validating soon. If it throws an error, please tell us.
• After it reaches 100%, hit Windows key and X again.
• Again, choose “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Command prompt (Administrator)”
• Inside the PowerShell or CMD, enter “sfc /scannow” without quotes. > ENTER.
• Post the message you receive at the end of the processes here.

Hello, @holger1405:

Here's what I see in the Windows Game Mode settings. As you can see, there's no option to turn it on or off.



Windows "N" version is exclusively sold in Europe, I believe. My computer model is GL702VSK Signature Edition by ASUSTek Computer Inc. Other specs were listed in my first post in this thread.

I have attached the logs of chkdsk for both the C drive and the D drive. Both appear normal.

For the DISM Restorehealth, there was this error:

I looked in dism.log and there's just tons of stuff going back to May 2018. If there's anything you need to see from inside there, let me know.

Here is the sfc / scannow log. No issues here.

Let me know if there's anything else you need.

@dentfaceah 

Do you have a installation medium for Windows Build 17134? (Version 1803)

@holger1405 

I'm not entirely sure what an "installation medium" is. Could you explain further please?