Installing the game on an external drive, which is set up through Origin, and creating the symlink to store the Electronic Arts/The Sims 4 folder on an external drive are two very different processes and should not be confused with each other.
The game already running message is a permission error and linked to the symlink creation (in your situation), not the game installation through Origin. It is extensively covered in my guide and here https://answers.ea.com/t5/Mac/-Creating-a-symlink-in-macOS-to-store-the-Sims-4-folder-on-an/m-p/12329439 Possible causes are:
The DiP-STAGED error is also a permissions error and is as a result of attempting to install or update the game in a Mac user account that was not originally used to install the game. It is extensively covered here - https://answers.ea.com/t5/Origin-Mac-Client-Technical/Download-error-Origin-is-not-able-to-download-Sims-4-quot-DiP/td-p/8948916
Hi there, thank you for responding so swiftly!
So I went over the possible issues you mentioned and double-checked them all. My external drive is completely mounted, and I have granted Origin access to both the documents folder and the detachable volumes. Just double-checking, by the game you meant Origin, not The Sims game, right? If not then that may be the root of my problems. I also disabled automatic iCloud storage of my documents, so now I have to manually put stuff on iCloud. And I don't have any other accounts on my Mac (and the guest account option is turned off). So I'm not quite sure what to do or where this leaves me, as I'm still getting these errors.
Sorry if I sound stupid and thanks again!
Okay, I've completed the list. Everything was installed without any pop-ups or complications. What should I do now?
