Forum Discussion

Rising Rookie

2 months ago

Help: Sims 4 Won’t Start on Mac – Game Installed Externally

Hello,
I recently got a MacBook (previously had an HP laptop) and wanted to install my Sims 4 games on it. However, I could only install them on an external hard drive because I don't have enough space on the MacBook itself.
I did this, but when I try to launch the game, I get the following error message:

"Unable to start:
Cannot start because game data is missing or damaged. Try repairing or reinstalling the game via Origin. [85262c58:29f00e76:00000000:00000000]"

What I’ve already tried:

Restarting the MacBook
Repairing The Sims 4 via the EA app (in the game library)

Can someone please help me?

For clarity: The game is installed on an external hard drive. I created a custom folder there which contains the following:

The Sims 4 (with the icon)
EA app
Blue folder “Electronic Arts”
Blue folder “The Sims 4 Packs”
Blue folder “The Sims 4.app”

external drive

launching

14 Replies

ChrissyV2704
Rising Rookie
31 days ago
Hi Bluebellflora , there's unfortunately no space on the internal drive to install the game, it has to be on the external.
On our earlier note about uninstalling the game: what's strange is that uninstalling it requires disk permissions the EA app should already have, yet it still complains about the lack of permissions.
Bluebellflora
Hero+
30 days ago
ChrissyV2704

It would definitely be worth posting that over in the EA App forum in the hope that someone relevant might see it - EA app Technical Issues & Bugs | EA Forums

What format is the drive? Did you reformat it before using it for Sims 4 stuff?
ChrissyV2704
Rising Rookie
29 days ago
Bluebellflora
OK, I'll post it there. Thans again so much for all your time and effort!
To answer your last question: The format of the drive is ExFAT.
It hasn't been reformatted since it's brand new. I've already put some files on it (regular files like invoices and such) for work purposes.
There are no games installed on it.
Bluebellflora
Hero+
29 days ago
ChrissyV2704

Hmm, I wonder if ExFAT is the problem? It's a format that both Windows and macOS can read but APFS is the Apple format that is preferable. Brand often bundle their own software/backup/other stuff onto the drive so by reformatting it straight out of the box you're getting rid of all that crap and starting fresh. ExFAT is not compatible with Mods when users store their Electronic Arts folder on the external and create a symlink in their Documents folder. That would be a really interesting thing to test and could also be fed back to the EA App team if it fixes the issue - back up your important stuff on the drive onto another one or on your internal drive then reformat the drive to APFS using Disk Utility