The Sims 2 Troubleshooting (NEW thread)

ZEUS_GB · Joined: Jan 14, 2003 Posts: 5061 Location: UK

zemble91 wrote:

ok heres my system spec is that all u need or do u need more?-im not v.good with computers Smile

Windows: Windows XP5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 2
Internet Explorer: 6.0.2900.2180
Memory (RAM): 991 MB
CPU: AMD Sempron(tm) Processor 3000+
CPU Speed: 1797.3 MHz
Sound card: SoundMAX Digital Audio
Display Adapters: SiS Mirage Graphics | NetMeeting driver | RDPDD Chained DD
Screen Resolution: 1280 X 1024 - 32 bit
:
Network Adapters: IEEE 802.11g Wireless Cardbus/PCI Adapter - Packet Scheduler Miniport | SiS 900-Based PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter - Packet Scheduler Miniport
CD / DVD Drives: D: Optiarc DVD RW AD-5170A
:
COM Ports: COM1 | COM2
LPT Ports: LPT1
Mouse: 5 Button Wheel Mouse Present
Hard Disks: C: 232.9GB
Hard Disks - Free: C: 214.9GB
USB Controllers: 3 host controllers.
Firewire (1394): Not Detected
:
Manufacturer: Phoenix Technologies, LTD
Product Make:
:
AC Power Status: OnLine
BIOS Info: ATAT COMPATIBLE 100805 AWARD 42302e31
Time Zone: GMT Standard Time
Battery: No Battery
Motherboard: WinFast 760GXK8MC
Modem: Not detected

I've looked at your specs and it appears that you have SIS integrated graphics card. The game doesn't support that graphics card so you'll have to upgrade your card.

chopaface · Joined: Jan 03, 2007 Posts: 8

zemble91 wrote:

ok heres my system spec is that all u need or do u need more?-im not v.good with computers Smile

Windows: Windows XP5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 2
Internet Explorer: 6.0.2900.2180
Memory (RAM): 991 MB
CPU: AMD Sempron(tm) Processor 3000+
CPU Speed: 1797.3 MHz
Sound card: SoundMAX Digital Audio
Display Adapters: SiS Mirage Graphics | NetMeeting driver | RDPDD Chained DD
Screen Resolution: 1280 X 1024 - 32 bit
:
Network Adapters: IEEE 802.11g Wireless Cardbus/PCI Adapter - Packet Scheduler Miniport | SiS 900-Based PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter - Packet Scheduler Miniport
CD / DVD Drives: D: Optiarc DVD RW AD-5170A
:
COM Ports: COM1 | COM2
LPT Ports: LPT1
Mouse: 5 Button Wheel Mouse Present
Hard Disks: C: 232.9GB
Hard Disks - Free: C: 214.9GB
USB Controllers: 3 host controllers.
Firewire (1394): Not Detected
:
Manufacturer: Phoenix Technologies, LTD
Product Make:
:
AC Power Status: OnLine
BIOS Info: ATAT COMPATIBLE 100805 AWARD 42302e31
Time Zone: GMT Standard Time
Battery: No Battery
Motherboard: WinFast 760GXK8MC
Modem: Not detected

For sure that your PC is not the gaming type.

Okay your motherboard says it all.

The motherboard is the motherlode of everything. It holds what it can hold, and use what it can use. Your motherboard is not the gaming type of system to be using, despite the RAM and the hard drive space.

Motherboard Specs:

Processor
AMD Athlon™ 64 and Sempron, Socket 754 (754-pin), 1600MT/s

Chipset
SiS760GX + 964L

Memory
Single channel, unbuffered, 2.5V DDR266/333/400, (2) 184-pin DIMM sockets, max 2GB

Graphics
Integrated SiS high-performance graphics controller plus AGP 8X slot
Supports up to 128MB shared system memory
---------------------------------------------------
Your graphic card is integrated, means that the video card is built within the motherboard and cannot be removed or changed. And your motherboard is only using 128MB, which is considered to be low in your case.

What you said about yoru resolution is fine, 1280x1024 is a large resolution to have, you said that your gameplaying screen only goes up to 800x600, this is because that your video card cannot support any more than that, despite your monitor size. Because, if your game resolution goes any higher, the PC cannot support it anymore and will consider to crash or slow down the game's effiency.

AMD is considered to be better than Intel, in my opinion, it burns less slower than Intel, and it provides just the same amount of speed as Intel with low mhz. For instance, AMD 64 3000+ means 1.8ghz in Intel but it runs the same speed as a 3.0 ghz intel. Which is cool. Also, it's actually quite faster than Intel. When an intel processor says 2.4ghz, that's such a lie, it's not even fast at all. I know this because my brother uses Intel, because he's such a fan to it. I use AMD because it's long lasting for decades, and it burns much more slower so I can download overnight longer and longer without having to worry about my computer exploding (however, it did explode two times, once when my fan wasn't working and it overheated my power supply, second, when my fan was messing around with my power supply again... stupid fan). Asus has some crappy cool and quiet fans.

Anyway, sempron is considered to be a lesser value than the AMD Athlon 64 series, but it can work just as well with most things.

From all this talk, I'm sorry but I cannot help you with your graphic card.

Have you tried looking at the settings and try setting it high? Does it lag or slow down when you're trying to apply some graphic setting in Sims 2 or does it slow down and lag a lot when the video graphics are set to high?

I have a gaming system, although I don't really use it for gaming, no thanks to my cousin, who built it. But, even for my kind of system (not the best but considerably good) lags in sims 2, and I crash often, which is my main problem at the moment.)

chopaface · Joined: Jan 03, 2007 Posts: 8

ZEUS_GB · Joined: Jan 14, 2003 Posts: 5061 Location: UK

When you get an unsigned driver warning it means that the Microsoft Hardware labs haven't tested the driver yet because it's new.
Manufacturers don't release drivers if they don't work so it'll should be ok to install it.

Did a bit of digging on the error message and it appears to be a .NET error. Install the patches for .NET and see if that helps.

tarabella · Joined: Jan 05, 2007 Posts: 2

i too am having an issue with the sims 2 freezing at the splash screen..
it installs but gets to the same point at the splash and freezes.. here are my specs.. any help would be appreciated! thanks

Windows: Windows XP5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 2
Internet Explorer: 7.0.5730.11
Memory (RAM): 512 MB
CPU: Mobile Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.06GHz
CPU Speed: 1594.8 MHz
Sound card: SigmaTel Audio
Display Adapters: NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 | NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 | NetMeeting driver | RDPDD Chained DD
Screen Resolution: 1024 X 768 - 32 bit
:
Network Adapters: Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller #3 - Packet Scheduler Miniport
CD / DVD Drives: D: QSI CDRW/DVD SBW242U
:
COM Ports: COM4
LPT Ports:
Mouse: 3 Button Wheel Mouse Present
Hard Disks: C: 33.7GB | E: 149.0GB
Hard Disks - Free: C: 13.0GB | E: 136.5GB
USB Controllers: 4 host controllers.
Firewire (1394): 1 host controllers.
:
Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
Product Make: Inspiron 5150
:
AC Power Status: OnLine
BIOS Info: ATAT COMPATIBLE 121004 DELL 27d40c0a
Time Zone: Eastern Standard Time
Battery: High
Motherboard: Dell Computer Corporation
Modem: BCM V.92 56K Modem

ZEUS_GB · Joined: Jan 14, 2003 Posts: 5061 Location: UK

Hello tarabella and welcome to Lockergnome!

When it crashes on the splash screen that normally means that graphics card drivers are out of date or the card itself it out of date.
Your graphics card isn't the greatest but it's not too bad.

Try updating your graphics card drivers.

Download the drivers from Nvidia.com > uninstall your existing drivers via add/remove programs > restart your PC and install the new ones.

tarabella · Joined: Jan 05, 2007 Posts: 2

thanks for your fast response! i tried doing what you said and still it freezes in the very same spot at the splash. the only thing i can do is shut the game using the task manager and i notice that the cpu usage shoots up to 100%. I had played the game a few days ago and it was fine, then out of nowhere it wont get past that one part. I had in those days added some downloads to the game but that has never happened when i did it in the past. none were game hacks etc. just add ons. is there any more info you might need? again, thank you so much, i have researched on my own and still cant seem to correct this.

zemble91 · Joined: Jan 03, 2007 Posts: 3

Heya thanks for all your help! lol

chicchi · Joined: Dec 30, 2006 Posts: 2

Thank you. I (think) I did everything you told me to do but I still have the same problem. I assume I was not able to find all the previously installed items. I even tried to install SIMS in a different partition, but the installation software tells me that it will install some 312 (ore something like that) Mb in C:. If I could identify and kill those 312 Mb I am sure I will solve the issue, but I am not sure how to do it. Any further idea?
Anyway, thank you again.

Chicchi

B · Joined: Jan 18, 2007 Posts: 4

I've been trying for 4 hours to get Sims 2 to work. I installed it and now I keep getting a Direct X9c error. I updated all my drivers, did the trouble shooting and it still isn't working.

This is what I'm working with,

Windows XP Home Edition 5.1
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3200+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.2GHz
Memory: 1024MB RAM
Page File: 336MB used, 2124MB available
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Card name: RADEON X600 Series
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip type: RADEON X600 PRO (0x5B62)
DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Display Memory: 256.0 MB
Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)

I thought I would be able to play this game no problem, seeing as though I can play games that use more of my system than the Sims 2 should. Regardless, I'm pulling my hair out over here. Hopefully, there's a fix. Thanks for your time.

ZEUS_GB · Joined: Jan 14, 2003 Posts: 5061 Location: UK

Hello B and welcome to lockergnome!

Thre are a few things you can do.

First of all updating all your hardware drivers (graphics, sound, motherboard chipset).
Reinstalling DirectX.
Reinstalling the game.
Running the game in windowed mode (add -w to the end of the shortcut target path).

B · Joined: Jan 18, 2007 Posts: 4

Thanks for the welcom Zeus and sorry for the double post. I have 1 question. How do I figure out what type of mother board I have? So I can download the drivers. Is the AMD my mother board or just processor, or are they the same thing?

ZEUS_GB · Joined: Jan 14, 2003 Posts: 5061 Location: UK

Hi,

Download Everest > install it > run it > click motherboard > click motherboard again > under motherboard properties should be the motherboard name.

B · Joined: Jan 18, 2007 Posts: 4

I downloaded Everest, went to motherboard then motherboard again but my the motherboard name is listed as "unknown". Wow this game is a headache! Who would've thought it would be this hard just to play the Sims 2? I can pretty much play any and everything else, execpt for the Sims 2.

ZEUS_GB · Joined: Jan 14, 2003 Posts: 5061 Location: UK

Check under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers in device manager. That might give us a manufacturer.

steve01 · Joined: Jan 26, 2007 Posts: 3

hi, ive got a problem i havnt been able to solve 4 days and im beggining to lose my mind. i bought a new computer and sims 2 for my kid for his birthday. problem is i cant install the damn thing. the pc exceeds all the game requirements. everytime i get to CD2 it gets stuck at 47% and then the following pops up. 'A PROBLEM OCCURED WHEN TRYING TO TRANSFER THE FILE "TSDATA\RES\SIMS\3D\OBJECTS09. PACKAGE FROM THE MEDIA DO YOU WANT TO RETRY TO COPY THE FILE, OR CANCEL THE INSTALLATION?
aaargh wat the hell does this mean please tell me you know how to fix it. please help me before i smash my kids computer to pieces Sad

many thanks, steve, ohio.

ZEUS_GB · Joined: Jan 14, 2003 Posts: 5061 Location: UK

Hello steve01 and welcome to Lockergnome!

First thing to try obviously is to check the CD/DVD for scratches or marks and clean it/them.
Try renaming the InstallShield folder.

Double-click on the My Computer icon.
Double-Click on the C:
Double-Click on Program Files then on Common Files.
Right-Click on the InstallShield folder.
Select Rename.
Rename it to InstallShieldOld.
Start the installation again to reinstall the InstallShield components with the newest version.

Try installing the game in Windows safe mode.

If that doesn't work try a copying the files to your hard drive and installing from there.

FOR CD:

Go into My Computer.
Open drive C.
Right-click inside the window and select New, and then Folder.
Name the folder as Disk Images (it is important that the name has a space in it).
Open the disk images folder.
Right-click inside the window and select New, and then Folder.
Name this folder Disk1.
Repeat steps 6 and 7 while substituting Disk1 for Disk2 and so on until there are 4 'Disk' folders followed by a number 1 through 4. it is important to note there must not be a space between "Disk" and the number.
Insert Disk 1 of The Sims 2 into your CD-Rom drive and if the autoplay starts, cancel it.
Go into My Computer.
Right-click on your CD-ROM drive and choose Open.
When you see the contents of the disk in the Window, click on Edit at the top of the window and choose Select All.
All the contents of the disk should now be highlighted, click on Edit at the top of the window again and choose Copy.
Open the Disk1 folder you created under C:\Disk Images; click on Edit at the top of the window and choose Paste. This will copy the contents of the CD into the Disk1 folder.
Repeat steps 9 through 14 for the remaining disks until you have copied each disk into its appropriate folder.
Once all the disks have been copied, remove ALL CDs from any drives.
Open the Disk1 folder under Disk Images and double-click on autorun.exe to start the installation.
To save disk space, you can delete the Disk Images folders after the installation is complete.

FOR DVD:

Insert the DVD into the DVD-rom drive. Exit the startup menu when it comes up.
Double click My Computer, then right click on the DVD-rom drive with the game DVD in it and select Explore.
Hold the CTRL key and then hit A. That should select all the folders and files.
Then hold CTRL and hit C. This will not look like it does much, but it's preparing to copy the files.
Close that folder and go to your desktop. Right click anywhere BUT on an icon, and Select New, then Folder. Name the folder Sims2 DVD.
Then double-click that folder, and hit CTRL and V. This will begin copying the files from the DVD.
Once the files are copied, remove the disc from the drive.
Double-click on the Setup icon in the folder.
You may delete the Sims2 DVD folder once the installation is complete.

If it stills refuses to install try changing the transfer mode of the CD/DVD drive to PIO only mode. Also try updating the firmware of the drive.

skeletonkiss · Joined: Jan 28, 2007 Posts: 1

Whoops, figured it out on my own. Sorry.

steve01 · Joined: Jan 26, 2007 Posts: 3

hey zeus i tried what you said word for word but it still didnt work. got any more ideas?

ZEUS_GB · Joined: Jan 14, 2003 Posts: 5061 Location: UK

So you tried everything on the list?

Including safe mode, firmware update and PIO only mode.