Re: Mac Sims 3 EPs say they're installed when they aren't

I've had them installed on my computer. I had the base game, WA, Gen, and Amb all installed in probably the wrong order. It didn't work and I deleted the folder instead of using the uninstaller tool. I completely forgot about that until now. 

Do you think it could be, like, a product registration problem with EA/Origin?

@CPUGenuis

Using the Uninstaller leaves behind files that you MUST get rid of before attempting a new install. You have to uninstall it manually 🙂

I've done that too (great website btw).

I'm on support with EA right now. If they can't figure out what is going on I'll go ahead and retry that again.

@CPUGenuis

Cool, let me know if they get you working again. I would be inclined to completely uninstall the whole game and Origin and start all over again.

It turns out that despite my hardest efforts to delete every library file for Origin/Transgaming something must have made it's way through. EA had me create a separate user, sign into origin, and start the download from there. I figure I'll be able to download and install everything from the other profile and then play from my normal profile.

Have you had that happen before, @Bluebellflora ?

@CPUGenuis

Only when I missed a file behind. It can be time consuming but if you get rid of every single file, empty the Trash and restart your Mac it works again. You did look in both Libraries, the Macintosh HD one and your user one?

Let me know if it works - good luck!

@Bluebellflora

That is strange. I do remember in some of the folders that folders/files were jumping around as they were being changed by the OS. I must have missed one because of that. 

Either way, the secondary profile thing seems to be working. I'll let you know if I'm able to play the game from my original profile after it finishes.

@Bluebellflora

I found com.trans* files in the User/Library/Cookies folder. Do you think that could have been it?

I don't see the /Cookies folder mentioned on your site at https://bluebellflora.com/how-to-do-a-clean-uninstall-and-reinstall-on-a-mac/

@CPUGenuis

Very interesting, yes, I have that too for EP11 (Into The Future). I wonder if that's new, it was never there originally. I just opened it using TextEdit and it shows all my product codes. What EP number does yours say? Absolutely delete it.

Thank you so much for flagging it, I'll add it to the guide and credit you 🙂

@Bluebellflora

That is strange. I noticed that there were some ep## files and folders that weren't from packs that I've purchased. Maybe they are from the updates as they try to unify updated DLL's/EXE's between the franchise? That is the only reason I can think of.

And you're welcome! 👍

@CPUGenuis

Oh that's great news but a pain that you have to log in and out of user accounts just to play! Is the cookie file the same?

Thanks for the update 🙂

@Bluebellflora

Well, the only time I have to log out of my standard user account is to download and install new EPs. I can play, update, and add new content from my standard user account without issue. 

And there are actually two cookie files now. 

"com.transgaming.thesims3.binarycookies" & 

"com.transgaming.thesims3ep04.binarycookies"

I assume there may be more cookie files for more expansions.

@CPUGenuis

Bizarre. I have all the EPs installed, apart from Showtime, and the only cookie that shows up for me is the Into The Future one. The file name is com.transgaming.thesims3ep11.binarycookies

What EPs do you have installed?

So just to clarify, you have to log out of your Mac's normal user account (an administrator account) and log into a new administrator account you set up just to install EPs. But you can play in both accounts? Are the cookies the same in both accounts?

Can you see all your game codes if you open the cookie with TextEdit?

I have the base game, World Adventures, Ambitions, and now Generations.

So, Base, EP01, EP02, and EP04.

And may I ask why you don't have Showtime? I played a lot during the first few expansions but I stopped playing for a few years. I'm wondering which packs are awesome and which aren't worthwhile.

And just to be clear I had my main administrator Mac account ("CPUGenuis") and I created a secondary administrator Mac account ("Sims"). You can have multiple users concurrently logged in on Mac. So, I would log in as CPUGenuis and do my usual stuff, switch user and log into "Sims" and open Origin. I would start the downloads and switch back to CPUGenuis and do whatever while the downloads were going. I would then switch back to "Sims" to install them. Since the Applications folder is shared between users the core game and expansions work just fine. The individual saves as well as caches and some cookies are stored in the local user's documents folder and Library folder. So, I can play from either account but they would have different saves.

The cookies are different in each account. The "Sims" account only has the base game com.trans* cookies. The CPUGenuis account has the base game com.trans* as well as the ep04 cookie.

Also, terminal shows all 4 product keys for CPUGenuis but only the base game key for "Sims".

I'll have to check with text edit in a few hours.

@CPUGenuis

I did have Showtime installed but could never get it to run, no matter what I tried it just crashed at the Launcher every time. I will probably try again at some point but not much in it really appeals to me so it's always been at the bottom of the To Do list 🙂

I understand how user accounts work. What I'm interested in is why your main account will not download and install the EPs if you completely cleared out Origin and all residual files from that user Library but the new account will. This indicates an issue in the CPUGenuis user Library as the Sims user Library is behaving properly (all Sims and Origin files/folders are brand new).

Thanks so much for your continued feedback, it's really helpful!

The cookie is interesting too, especially as you seem to have a base game one and your most recent EP one, yet they are different in each Library folder. I would have thought that the cookie would just be to keep you logged into the Launcher. I tested it last night by opening the Launcher and the cookie didn't update. I logged out and deleted the cookie. When I logged back in the cookie appeared.

@Bluebellflora

Ah. That makes sense. I'll put that at the bottom of my buy list. Lol.

Sorry if I was over-explaining user accounts. I figured you knew, but you never know where people will get lost!

So, here's the most recent update. I deleted the cookies while I had everything installed that I mentioned in the previous post. From my CPUGenuis account I used the Sims 3 uninstaller and renamed my EA documents folder to save my saves. After everything was uninstalled using the official uninstaller I opened up Origin and everything behaved as expected! It said that those EPs were uninstalled and ready for downloading from the master profile!

I'm not sure if it was deleting the cookies or some weird product registration error. It was probably a combination of both held by the information in the cookie. This makes sense to me since the Sims 3 download page in the Origin app acts and responds like it was coded with HTML. I'm guessing the EP04 cookie went stale (lol) when I deleted the game without using the installer initially. It then added a base game cookie but kept reading the newer EP cookie.

At least, that is my best guess. It is still a very interesting bug. Either way, everything is now running as expected!

And it is my pleasure to keep providing feedback. I know that the game is no longer officially updated, so the best way to help the game community going is to help people fix bugs before they start. I was honestly elated when I saw that there was somebody on the forums running precise and concise guides for fixing problems. The help that you've provided has been much appreciated.

@CPUGenuis

So pleased I can help - or try to!

The cookie thing.... it does make logical sense that it's the issue, you're so right. It contains product codes which may be coming from registered games over at the old Sims 3 website (not Origin, you don't need Origin to play the game, only to download). However, Origin is looking at this cookie, seeing the product codes and assuming they are installed already? I'm just hypothesising but something is broken in there somewhere and I think the cookie/Origin/Launcher combo is maybe to blame.

@Bluebellflora

That is, in a nutshell, what I'm thinking. Is there any way to send this off to EA so they can see if it is anything that they can fix?

@CPUGenuis Bluebellflora has been keeping me informed on this thread and I do agree something strange is going on here.

I don't know if this was caused by the cookie or something else, but I'll do my best to dig around a bit and see if we can shed some light on this 🙂

If I find out anything more, I shall update this thread.

Regards,

Kristi

@EA_Kristi

Awesome! Thank you!