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Re: Growing Together - Download Stuck at Preparing

My game is working.  I came back to tell the solution that worked for me in case it helps anyone else.  Troubleshooting makes me want to die and is very hard while I'm crying so if it helps even one person, I'll try.

Original situation from yesterday: "I did NOT pre-order. I bought the game 3:44pm and it's now 7:32pm; you have my money, but I don't have my game. I ordered through this new EA app, the same way I always ordered through Origin; I don't have any physical copies nor used any other vendor. My order status is Completed and has been that way for hours. I've never seen a pending status and I have no options to cancel the purchase. The pack says "installed" under Manage Add-ons, but the content isn't in the game. I also watched it download after I purchased the pack and updated the game. Within the game it still says I need to download to use. I have restarted this EA app multiple times along with my game. I've followed years old tutorials for deleting the cache. I've read dozens of pages trying to find my exact situation. What is going on? !? This is ridiculous and I'm beyond angry."

Solution step by step (on PC):

1. Sign out of EA App and close it

2. Go to Task Manager and kill EA Background Services (I think that's the name, but it definitely says EA)

3. Uninstall EA App

4. Go to http://origin.onl/download/ and install Origin

5. Open Origin and log in

6. Wait.  EA App puts a pop up over Origin, so I couldn't interact with it at all.  While waiting, my games library downloaded and updated everything.  There were 2 overriding popups during the downloads.  They were for user agreements on 2 different games, agreeing to them didn't make the EA App start anything, so it was okay to click them.

7. Wait until the download manager stops.

8. Click that EA App popup to download that program.  It will uninstall Origin and install itself.

Absolutely everything looks the same as the last time I was in the EA App, but now I have the EP.  In the game, it says Owned, instead of Download to Use.  And I have the Growing Together CAS items.  I'm not sure if I have any other issues in game.  My PC is very old, so I had to shutdown the game to set up my disabled packs anyway (I improve performance by disabling some packs every time I play).  Good luck, guys!

16 Replies

  • waspokey's avatar
    waspokey
    Rising Traveler
    3 years ago
    @k1tt3n5u5hi Thanks. I tried this. I uninstalled Origin a long time ago, but I tried and it did download all my existing packs just not Growing Together. I think because when I look in EA app, it doesn't even recognize that I purchased it, even though I did and my payment is marked complete in EA. I am wondering if it's an issue they have with Paypal? A lot of people who have the same issue as I do, paid with paypal
  • Tsirkurod's avatar
    Tsirkurod
    Seasoned Newcomer
    3 years ago

    @k1tt3n5u5hi You're a saint, thank you so much. My game is working now! Anyone who is having the issue where the EA app claims the game is downloaded should try this.

  • @k1tt3n5u5hi Thank you for providing the origin download link. (origin never let us down like this. at least I think) Origin downloaded and installed Growing Together for me whereas EA App is only downloading the game. 

    It's really a shame my excitement over my most highly anticipated pack was overshadowed by this hot mess. 

  • @waspokey I paid with credit card through EA App, so it's not just a paypal thing. It's also not just a pre-order thing because I bought the pack hours after it was already released.
  • I finally got mine to work. I uninstalled ea app and reinstalled origin. When I opened origin it automatically started downloading and I ignored the prompt to download ea app and let it finish downloading. Once done I went ahead and got ea app back. When I started sims my expansion pack was finally there. Conclusion: the new ea app sucks.

  • @k1tt3n5u5hi I was in the same boat. I had to reinstall origin and let it update on there and then download ea again and it was there.
  • ipsychotica's avatar
    ipsychotica
    Seasoned Traveler
    3 years ago

    This finally worked for me after trying 4 times it installed the expansion which now works in my game. However my library still says I don't own it when clearly I do. By this I mean the origin solution someone posted earlier. For some reason it did not reply to the original poster.

  • MarciShaun's avatar
    MarciShaun
    Rising Novice
    3 years ago
    @k1tt3n5u5hi
    Thank you sooo much! I have been troubleshooting since yesterday afternoon, and this actually worked for me! Omg, thanks again!!!
  • MarciShaun's avatar
    MarciShaun
    Rising Novice
    3 years ago

    @k1tt3n5u5hi wrote:

    My game is working.  I came back to tell the solution that worked for me in case it helps anyone else.  Troubleshooting makes me want to die and is very hard while I'm crying so if it helps even one person, I'll try.

    Original situation from yesterday: "I did NOT pre-order. I bought the game 3:44pm and it's now 7:32pm; you have my money, but I don't have my game. I ordered through this new EA app, the same way I always ordered through Origin; I don't have any physical copies nor used any other vendor. My order status is Completed and has been that way for hours. I've never seen a pending status and I have no options to cancel the purchase. The pack says "installed" under Manage Add-ons, but the content isn't in the game. I also watched it download after I purchased the pack and updated the game. Within the game it still says I need to download to use. I have restarted this EA app multiple times along with my game. I've followed years old tutorials for deleting the cache. I've read dozens of pages trying to find my exact situation. What is going on? !? This is ridiculous and I'm beyond angry."

    Solution step by step (on PC):

    1. Sign out of EA App and close it

    2. Go to Task Manager and kill EA Background Services (I think that's the name, but it definitely says EA)

    3. Uninstall EA App

    4. Go to http://origin.onl/download/ and install Origin

    5. Open Origin and log in

    6. Wait.  EA App puts a pop up over Origin, so I couldn't interact with it at all.  While waiting, my games library downloaded and updated everything.  There were 2 overriding popups during the downloads.  They were for user agreements on 2 different games, agreeing to them didn't make the EA App start anything, so it was okay to click them.

    7. Wait until the download manager stops.

    8. Click that EA App popup to download that program.  It will uninstall Origin and install itself.

    Absolutely everything looks the same as the last time I was in the EA App, but now I have the EP.  In the game, it says Owned, instead of Download to Use.  And I have the Growing Together CAS items.  I'm not sure if I have any other issues in game.  My PC is very old, so I had to shutdown the game to set up my disabled packs anyway (I improve performance by disabling some packs every time I play).  Good luck, guys!


    @iizardboii @bailey_joe I followed these directions from @k1tt3n5u5hi and it worked for me. I had the issue where my order & download was listed as Complete & installed, but the Growing Together content wasn't in my game.

  • @k1tt3n5u5hi I was coming here to give this exact solution.  I tried that myself, and it worked for me also.  As soon as I signed into Origin, I got the EA pop up, but I noticed that Growing Together was downloading.  So, I waited until it was done, then I installed the EA app, and everything works fine.

  • Stavrikat's avatar
    Stavrikat
    3 years ago
    @k1tt3n5u5hi I am trying this, the first time it worked but it downloaded everything but growing together. The second time it does not start the download....at this point i have become so desperate that I reset my whole Operating System to factory settings....

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