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m1ss_anthr0py's avatar
m1ss_anthr0py
New Novice
8 months ago
Solved

Black screen as soon as the sims 4 starts up


Hi,

I've read through the other posts of this nature and did everything that was recommended - disabled mods, repaired the game, cleared the cache, updated drivers, deleted the files from OneDrive, reinstalled, generated a new game folder (now there is no saves or tray files that could be corrupted) and I'm at a loss for what to do. I've attacked my dxdiag file but my computer can run much more graphics-heavy games so I don't think its that. The only thing I haven't done is shut down all the background processes but I was hoping someone knows which are the ones that you can't shut down or it'll crash your computer. If not, that's okay.

pc
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    8 months ago

    @m1ss_anthr0py  Sorry for the late reply; I've had a lot going on.  It's worth running a couple of tests just to see what happens, even if they're not exactly solutions.  First, force Sims 4 to use DirectX 9 mode.  Open the EA App, select Sims 4 > Manage > View properties, and add -dx9 to the command line box.

    If this doesn't help, are you willing to temporarily remove your graphics card and try running Sims 4 on the processor's graphics chip?  Performance would be much worse, but for testing purposes, it would be useful to know whether you saw the same problem.  If yes, it's a more global system issue; if no, it's limited to the Nvidia GPU or driver or something that only it's using.

    If you'd prefer to try a clean boot first, here's how:

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows-da2f9573-6eec-00ad-2f8a-a97a1807f3dd

    The one service to leave enabled is the EABackgroundService, which the EA App needs in order to run.  Disable the rest as described.

    When you reboot your computer, go through the Task Manager's background processes list shutting down any service that doesn't absolutely need to be running, for example anything from MSI Afterburner to RGB software might still be enabled.  If you accidentally kill a critical process and it doesn't restart on its own, just reboot your computer again.

    Don't open anything other than Sims 4 and the EA App while testing, not even a browser window.

    If that doesn't help, repeat the test, but with your computer offline.  You can sign into the EA App and put it in offline mode, then disable wifi and/or disconnect the ethernet cable before pressing Play.

5 Replies

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    8 months ago

    @m1ss_anthr0py  Your dxdiag lists some generic Windows update errors, so please start with a couple of basic checks of your Windows system files:

    • Hit Windows key-X
    • Choose either “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Windows Terminal (Administrator),” whichever option is offered
    • Inside the window that appears, copy and paste “DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth” without quotes, and enter
    • The system will start validating soon. If it throws an error, please list it here
    • After it reaches 100%, hit Windows key-X again
    • Again, choose “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Windows Terminal (Administrator)”
    • Inside the window, copy and paste “sfc /scannow” without quotes, and enter
    • Post the message you receive here

    Restart your computer, hit Windows key-i, select Update & Security, and click the box to check for updates.  If any install, restart again afterwards.

    Your dxdiag also shows a component of the Nvidia graphics driver is crashing, so please do a clean uninstall and reinstall of the driver, as described here:

    https://crinrict.com/blog/2019/02/clean-re-install-of-graphics-drivers-with-display-driver-uninstaller-ddu.html

    If you still can't play, please look for new errors in the Reliability Monitor.  Hit Windows key-R and enter "perfmon /rel" without quotes, and you'll see a chart of errors and updates with a column for each day.  Today is on the right.

    Look for an error that happened at exactly the time of your most recent attempt to launch Sims 4, specifically after you've done the steps I listed.  If you find one, double-click it to see more details, then copy that info and paste it into a reply here.  If you don't see a new error, check back in an hour or so—the Reliability Monitor doesn't always update right away.

  • m1ss_anthr0py's avatar
    m1ss_anthr0py
    New Novice
    8 months ago

    Okay so I did all of those things and it still won't run ☹️ Powershell said that it fixed the updates, I forgot to get a screenshot. But here is the reliability report. It doesn't actually say the game crashes but i left it running for a long time and its frozen on the black screen. The details of the error are just that it was shutdown unexpectedly since that's the only way I can restart my computer. Any other ideas of what I can do? Thank you so much for all of your help thus far!

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    8 months ago

    @m1ss_anthr0py  Sorry for the late reply; I've had a lot going on.  It's worth running a couple of tests just to see what happens, even if they're not exactly solutions.  First, force Sims 4 to use DirectX 9 mode.  Open the EA App, select Sims 4 > Manage > View properties, and add -dx9 to the command line box.

    If this doesn't help, are you willing to temporarily remove your graphics card and try running Sims 4 on the processor's graphics chip?  Performance would be much worse, but for testing purposes, it would be useful to know whether you saw the same problem.  If yes, it's a more global system issue; if no, it's limited to the Nvidia GPU or driver or something that only it's using.

    If you'd prefer to try a clean boot first, here's how:

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows-da2f9573-6eec-00ad-2f8a-a97a1807f3dd

    The one service to leave enabled is the EABackgroundService, which the EA App needs in order to run.  Disable the rest as described.

    When you reboot your computer, go through the Task Manager's background processes list shutting down any service that doesn't absolutely need to be running, for example anything from MSI Afterburner to RGB software might still be enabled.  If you accidentally kill a critical process and it doesn't restart on its own, just reboot your computer again.

    Don't open anything other than Sims 4 and the EA App while testing, not even a browser window.

    If that doesn't help, repeat the test, but with your computer offline.  You can sign into the EA App and put it in offline mode, then disable wifi and/or disconnect the ethernet cable before pressing Play.

  • m1ss_anthr0py's avatar
    m1ss_anthr0py
    New Novice
    8 months ago

    Somehow before these steps and after the others it started working again. I'm expecting it will randomly stop working so if it does I'll do the next steps! No worries about not replying and thank you so much for your help, hopefully it will continue to work so I won't have to do anything else! No clue what's going on but I'm just happy I can play for now!

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    8 months ago

    @m1ss_anthr0py  It's certainly possible that a subsequent Windows update and restart cleared out some remaining issue, but it doesn't really matter why the game was fixed as long as it continues to behave.  If you need further help, please do let me know, and if not, I'm glad you can simply enjoy your game.

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