Forum Discussion

6 years ago

Solved

Unknown error occured, service initialization failed, and there is a problem con

I recently bought the sims 3 on my mac and tried to play it. I launched the game, and I got the "there is a problem connecting to the server" error. So, I tried bypassing the launcher and I got the "...

mac

technical issues

puzzlezaddict
6 years ago
@70ws0xszpbo6 App cleaners are always a bad idea in macOS: they often delete essential system files along with the ones they're supposed to be removing. Please use this guide to delete all Sims 3-related files from your computer:

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

Install the base game, then run the Super Patch (digital download version) to manually patch the game. If it tries to patch itself later, it will undo the fix for the license server error.

https://bluebellflora.com/sims-3-manual-super-patch-for-mac-1-67/

Once the Super Patch as run, right-click (or hold the control key and click) on the green Sims 3 icon in Applications\The Sims 3 and select Show Package Contents. From there, follow this path:

Contents\Resources\transgaming\c_drive\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\Packs\TS3

Right-click on the paul.dll file inside the TS3 folder and select Move to Trash. Then go back one level, to the Packs folder, and open TS3EP03. Right-click on the paul.dll file inside this folder and select Copy, then go back to the TS3 folder, right-click inside and select Paste. (All this right-clicking is necessary because Macs are particular about how you move files from within Applications.)

Now your game should get past the connection error. Let me know if it doesn't.

puzzlezaddict

Hero+

6 years ago

@70ws0xszpbo6 App cleaners are always a bad idea in macOS: they often delete essential system files along with the ones they're supposed to be removing. Please use this guide to delete all Sims 3-related files from your computer:

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

Install the base game, then run the Super Patch (digital download version) to manually patch the game. If it tries to patch itself later, it will undo the fix for the license server error.

https://bluebellflora.com/sims-3-manual-super-patch-for-mac-1-67/

Once the Super Patch as run, right-click (or hold the control key and click) on the green Sims 3 icon in Applications\The Sims 3 and select Show Package Contents. From there, follow this path:

Contents\Resources\transgaming\c_drive\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\Packs\TS3

Right-click on the paul.dll file inside the TS3 folder and select Move to Trash. Then go back one level, to the Packs folder, and open TS3EP03. Right-click on the paul.dll file inside this folder and select Copy, then go back to the TS3 folder, right-click inside and select Paste. (All this right-clicking is necessary because Macs are particular about how you move files from within Applications.)

Now your game should get past the connection error. Let me know if it doesn't.