The Sims 4 CAS demo isn't working?

I have been through three of the advisors on Ea Help trying to get this resolved, but no one has been able to solve it. I'm growing increasinly more desperate and upset, because I have been ecstatically looking forward to this game for months. The last advisor I was in touch with attempted to transfer me over to tech support, but it was taking about a half an hour, and I had to disconnect so I could get some sleep before I went back into work.

Now, the issue is that the game loads--however, only the music plays, and the screen is black.

The first advisor I spoke to had me delete all temporary files on my computer, and update my driver. This did not work, and we got disconnected after I restarted my computer. The second advisor had me run my game as an administrator, as well as Origin. That didn't work, so she had me do it in compatibility mode--a technique the link she sent me with instructions clarified was ONLY for games made BEFORE Windows Vista. I tried it anyway, and my computer froze, crashed, and I got disconnected from her. The third advisor, after hearing what the other advisors had me doing, was stumped and decided to pass me on to tech support--which I disconnected from a half an hour later.

These are my following specs:

Operating System: Windows 8.1 64-bit (6.3, Build 9600) (9600.winblue_gdr.140330-1035)

Language: English (Regional Setting: English)

System Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard System Model: p6-2316s

BIOS: 8.06 Processor: AMD A4-3420 APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics (2 CPUs), ~2.8GHz

Memory: 4096MB RAM

Available OS Memory: 3554MB RAM

Page File: 2008MB used, 3594MB available Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS

DirectX Version: DirectX 11

Card name: AMD Radeon HD 6410D

Chip type: AMD Radeon HD 6410D (0x9644)

DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz) Device Type:

Display Memory: 2035 MB

Dedicated Memory: 499 MB

Shared Memory: 1536 MB

Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)

Monitor Name: Generic Non-PnP Monitor

I won't lie and say any of that really makes sense to me. I'm not that great with all the technicalities on computers, but I ran a test on System Requirements Lab and it said I could run the game. So I'm completely lost. Do I need to download a different graphics driver? Any help with this would be fantastic.

Thank you very much for your time.

18 Replies

ssgalucin
Legend
11 years ago
Move on http://answers.ea.com/t5/Origin/bd-p/O-2
rumbutter
Hero (Retired)
11 years ago
see this thread-common issues http://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-4/READ-FIRST-Sims-4-CAS-Demo-TECHNICAL-DIFFICULTIES/td-p/3111318

I'm getting a black screen/llama face problem.

if the spoiler is not open just click on it to open the spoiler to see some information that may help you
Anonymous
11 years ago
Approved
Yeah, I saw this thread after I had already posted...unfortunately, I tried it, and it didn't work. It really, really sucks.
Anonymous
11 years ago
Approved
Okay, so after two days, eleven different EA advisors, six breakdowns, and at least forty-three temper tantrums, my issue with the demo has not been resolved. I posted another thread about this--black screen, no llama face, just music playing, all that. After I had exhausted all possible fixes, tweaks, and sufficiently hassled the very helpful EA advisors--I even encountered the same one twice!--my problem changed.
Now, when I try to run in compatibility mode, or as an administrator, the game will load black, but as soon as I click or try to press the Windows key, it pastes the Demo screen to my desktop background, like I downloaded the JPEG of it, and then my computer crashes, and I have to do a forceful restart.
So anyway, while talking to the last advisor, who was extremely patient and helpful, he informed me that my 4GB of RAM just wasn't going to cut it--I needed 8GB. Now, I believe him, but at the same time, I've seen people's specs that are lower than 8GB, or even 4GB, and still run the game perfectly well. Before I go buy another 4GB slab of RAM, I need to know, is this true? I read somewhere else that, because the Demo and game are 32-bit, any RAM over 4GB will "cripple" the game, and make it essentially unable to run. Well, I already have that problem, but still. What should I do?
For reference, here are my specs:
-Operating System: Windows 8.1 64-bit (6.3, Build 9600) (9600.winblue_gdr.140723-2018)
-System Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard System
-BIOS: 8.06
-Processor: AMD A4-3420 APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics (2 CPUs), ~2.8GHz
-Memory: 4096MB RAM Available
-OS Memory: 3554MB RAM
-Page File: 2360MB used, 2794MB available
-DirectX Version: DirectX 11
-DX Setup Parameters: Not found
-User DPI Setting: Using System DPI System
-DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
-DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
-DxDiag Version: 6.03.9600.16384 64bit Unicode
-Card name: AMD Radeon HD 6410D
-Manufacturer: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
-Chip type: AMD Radeon HD 6410D (0x9644)
-DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
-Device Type: Full Device
-Display Memory: 2035 MB
-Dedicated Memory: 499 MB
-Shared Memory: 1536 MB
-Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
-Output Type: HD15
-DriverName:aticfx64.dll,aticfx64.dll,aticfx64.dll,aticfx32,aticfx32,aticfx32,atiumd64.dll,atidxx64.dll
-Driver Model: WDDM 1.2
-DMA Miracast: Not Supported
-Hybrid Graphics GPU: Not Applicable
-Driver Attributes: Final Retail
rumbutter
Hero (Retired)
11 years ago
@reionnalynne i'm just wondering do you have Bitdefender antivirus programme ? and if that could be blocking
Anonymous
11 years ago
Approved
No, I have McAfee Anti Virus. I disabled that. I have 4GB of RAM but apparently it's not enough.
rumbutter
Hero (Retired)
11 years ago
the ninimum specs for the DEMO and game upon release are as follows

REQUIRED: Internet connection required for product activation.

After the inital activation, Origin can be put in offline mode but you can't turn of or uninstall Origin.

OS: Windows XP (SP3), Windows Vista (SP2), Windows 7 (SP1), Windows 8, or Windows 8.1

PROCESSOR: 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, AMD Athlon 64 Dual-Core 4000+ or equivalent (For computers using built-in graphics chipsets, the game requires 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.0 GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-62 or equivalent) MEMORY: At least 2 GB RAM

HARD DRIVE: At least 9 GB of free space with at least 1 GB additional space for custom content and saved games

DVD-ROM: DVD ROM drive required for installation only

VIDEO CARD: 128 MB of Video RAM and support for Pixel Shader 3.0. Supported Video Cards: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 or better, ATI Radeon X1300 or better, Intel GMA X4500 or better

SOUND CARD: DirectX 9.0c Compatible

DIRECTX: DirectX 9.0c compatible

INPUT: Keyboard and Mouse

Also see this for further details: System Specs and Platform Information

im still looking around to see if something come sup to help you
crinrict
Hero+
11 years ago
@reionnalynne wrote:

Okay, so after two days, eleven different EA advisors, six breakdowns, and at least forty-three temper tantrums, my issue with the demo has not been resolved. I posted another thread about this--black screen, no llama face, just music playing, all that. After I had exhausted all possible fixes, tweaks, and sufficiently hassled the very helpful EA advisors--I even encountered the same one twice!--my problem changed.

Now, when I try to run in compatibility mode, or as an administrator, the game will load black, but as soon as I click or try to press the Windows key, it pastes the Demo screen to my desktop background, like I downloaded the JPEG of it, and then my computer crashes, and I have to do a forceful restart.

So anyway, while talking to the last advisor, who was extremely patient and helpful, he informed me that my 4GB of RAM just wasn't going to cut it--I needed 8GB. Now, I believe him, but at the same time, I've seen people's specs that are lower than 8GB, or even 4GB, and still run the game perfectly well. Before I go buy another 4GB slab of RAM, I need to know, is this true? I read somewhere else that, because the Demo and game are 32-bit, any RAM over 4GB will "cripple" the game, and make it essentially unable to run. Well, I already have that problem, but still. What should I do?

For reference, here are my specs:

-Operating System: Windows 8.1 64-bit (6.3, Build 9600) (9600.winblue_gdr.140723-2018)

-System Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard System

-BIOS: 8.06

-Processor: AMD A4-3420 APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics (2 CPUs), ~2.8GHz

-Memory: 4096MB RAM Available

-OS Memory: 3554MB RAM

-Page File: 2360MB used, 2794MB available

-DirectX Version: DirectX 11

-DX Setup Parameters: Not found

-User DPI Setting: Using System DPI System

-DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)

-DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled

-DxDiag Version: 6.03.9600.16384 64bit Unicode

-Card name: AMD Radeon HD 6410D

-Manufacturer: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

-Chip type: AMD Radeon HD 6410D (0x9644)

-DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)

-Device Type: Full Device

-Display Memory: 2035 MB

-Dedicated Memory: 499 MB

-Shared Memory: 1536 MB

-Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)

-Output Type: HD15

-DriverName:aticfx64.dll,aticfx64.dll,aticfx64.dll,aticfx32,aticfx32,aticfx32,atiumd64.dll,atidxx64.dll

-Driver Model: WDDM 1.2

-DMA Miracast: Not Supported

-Hybrid Graphics GPU: Not Applicable

-Driver Attributes: Final Retail

When I look at this, it feels something is off with your RAM. You don't need 8 GB. 4 GB should be fine for the demo.

Your specs give this

-Memory: 4096MB RAM Available

-OS Memory: 3554MB RAM

So there's like 500 MB missing just like that so it looks off to me. I would run a hardware check on your computer. Maybe something is bad on there. Not sure though.

Also make sure your graphics drivers are updated. You didn't post that part.
Anonymous
11 years ago
Approved
Okay, I will do that. Thank you. I have done a driver update, I'm sorry I didn't mention that. I downloaded the AMD graphic driver update from the Hewlett-Packard website, and it had me do a restart on my computer but I didn't see any difference--in other words, the game still didn't load.

Besides from the missing memory, does it appear that my specs should be able to run the game? Are my processor and graphics card up to par?
crinrict
Hero+
11 years ago
It's a bit weak and you might run into issues with the game itself, especially when you add expansions but it's better than what I tried it on and that work (on low but it works).

If you buy the game on Origin, you have 24 hours to try it out and if doesn't work, you can give it back.