Ambitions will not launch
I've owned and played the Sims 3 Starter Pack (physical copy) for a few years now. I recently bought a physical copy of Sims 3 Ambitions and installed it to my Mac. Ambitions said it needed an updat...
Forum Discussion
Oh that's great that you have it in Origin now!
Did you get rid of the installed files from your disc copy and download and install the digital version from your games library? It's opening LN because that's the most recent - it can't see Ambitions because it didn't install properly. Not sure if I've already given you this link but here's how to manually uninstall an EP, or the remnants of an EP. Once you're happy that Ambitions doesn't exist anywhere on your Mac you can go ahead and download and install the Origin version 🙂
So I just manually uninstalled Ambitions, restarted my computer, and opened Origin and it's stuck "Preparing Download" for about 10 minutes now. I also noticed when I hover over the gray Ambitions picture in my library, it says "Download Sims: Ambitions for PC" - does this mean the customer support membergave me the PC version and I now have the wrong one for my Mac?
(Sorry this is taking forEVER!)
No worries, it's a challenge to get it up and running for you now 🙂
The code is valid for both Mac and PC so no issue there.
Are you running any antivirus or a 3rd party firewall? If so disable them. Do the same if you're using a VPN. Also, close Origin then download and run the reset Origin tool, you can find it here - https://help.ea.com/uk/article/how-to-reset-origin-on-mac/
Once that's finished (you'll get a little pop up telling you it's done) open Origin, go back to your games library and try downloading again.
Fingers crossed......
I used the Reset Origin tool and now when I look at my library, nothing comes up at all. It just says "Show your Library some love"
**EDIT** I did the "reload my games" tab and now it says "Preparing download" for Ambitions.
Log out and log back in again.
No antivirus/firewall? Is your internet speed relatively fast?
I've never installed an antivirus/firewall myself, so I don't think I have one. And yes, my internet speed is usually pretty fast.
Ok. Open System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Firewall. Is it on? If so click on the lock in the bottom left corner, enter your password when prompted, then click on Firewall Options. Make sure Origin connections are allowed:
It says it's off
Ok. Try flushing the DNS - http://help.ea.com/en/article/connection-troubleshooting-advanced-mac/
You could also try this specific Origin build for Mac users - eaassets-a.akamaihd.net/Origin-Client-Download/origin/forum/34349/Origin.dmg it's different from the one available on the Origin website and has fixed a few issues for others.
You'll need to run the reset tool again before doing it though.
Try enabling safe mode downloading too. Origin > Preferences > Advanced then enable Safe Mode Downloading.
Ok so I did that and was able to successfully download Ambitions on Origin, then it told me to install and gave me an installation code. But then the installation window came up and it had the code from my physical copy already typed into it, so I hit install. It's now in the process of installing. Did I just mess that up again?
No, that sounds promising!
Which step did you do that helped with the download - safe mode downloading?
It was the DNS flush that initially worked. I tried to hit "play" on Ambitions after it finished installing, and the window came up again that said there was an update available for Ambitions. I hit "Yes" to download the update, and once that was done it said "An unknown error occurred" again.
Now every time I hit "Play" it just says "An unknown error occurred"
Oh no.....
You don't have one of the newer Macs with Intel Iris or Intel HD 6xxx graphics do you?
No, I bought this Mac in 2013.
I just closed Origin and opened it again to see if that helped, and it said an unknown error occurred again when I tried to hit play. I noticed, though, that instead of just opening the Sims 3 to play the game, it opens Sims 3 Late Night. Is that something that could be causing a problem?
Hmm, so it's still trying to launch LN? It can't see Ambitions. Is Ambitions showing at the bottom of the Launcher window? This is weird...
Which exact Mac do you have?
Can you move your Sims 3 folder out onto the desktop so we can try a clean, new game? Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3
The launcher still doesn't work and won't open. I've changed it so it's S3Lancher instead of TS3 and it still won't open.
I bought this MacBook Pro in spring of 2013, OS X 10.8.5 with 4GB memory.
And in response to your last post, would starting a new game clear all my current games I have saved to my game? Because I just recently built a house I'm really proud of and would hate to give that up (lol)
It will start a brand new game but all your data is still safe in the folder you move onto your desktop. We need to rule out an issue with your user data.
Ok, moved The Sims 3 folder to desktop.
Now try and launch your game again......
It says "an unknown error occurred" again
Right, I think you have to do the last resort, completely uninstalling and reinstalling everything. Follow my link to make sure you get rid of everything and do it in this order:
- Uninstall everything, empty trash and restart your Mac.
- Install the base game and patch manually using the link in my signature below.
- Launch your game without bypassing the Launcher to confirm it will launch properly.
- Install your EPs/SPs in the order they were released, up to but not including Ambitions. Patch the EPs if prompted and ignore any warning messages about the base game being a newer version than the EP. Run your game after installing each EP/SP to confirm it still runs.
It would probably be a good idea to register all your product codes on Origin so you can install the base and all EPs and SPs digitally.
Edit - It's late for me now but let me know how you get on and I'll catch up tomorrow 🙂
I can't register my games to Origin because the codes have already been used. And won't uninstalling everything delete all my stuff?
All your saves, downloads etc. are in the Sims 3 folder in Documents > Electronic Arts. So long as you move that out onto your desktop before or put it somewhere else before uninstalling you'll be fine, you can put it back after you've done a clean install and your game is launching properly. But you've already moved it out right?
