Launcher issues

[Joria]

Sorry for a heading that isn't exactly to the point but I really don't know how to phrase what is going on.  Before I discuss the issues, here is what I do/did for my pc and game:

Log on to Origin and update it........check

Check files and delete all unnecessary cache/backup files NOT including ccmerged which is left alone.......check

Check Exports folder to make sure it's empty, nothing hanging to be uploaded........check

Restart my computer and double check to make sure I did all the above.

So everything is clean and clear before I click on the Supernatural Icon.  I have all EP/SPs up to Seasons but have only installed and played up to Supernatual.

I click on the SN Icon and after several minutes the blue launcher screen appears.  The latest issue is a little box that says there is a new patch for store items do I want to install it?  If I click install, it immediately, without obviously installing anything, says I'm up to date and the new patch is installed.  It isn't.  I then a get a white box that says the launcher has stopped working OR cannot connect to Origin.  Since I sometimes leave Origin open and running to avoid this issue I should not get this.  The next box I get says there is a problem and the whole thing is being closed and then it's all gone.

If I'm really fast and do not allow the "welcome" screen to fully load, and instead quickly click on the play button, my game will load and play can proceed as normal.  If I hesitate at all I either get the "Cannot connect to Origin" or "There is a new patch". 

If the game has loaded and is at the main, log in screen,  my avatar is there and I'm logged in.  From there I can access the launcher using the "Options Menu", go to the Update button, choose refresh, (I have it set for automatic updates), and at that point I will once again get the "There is a patch available for store items" box.  If I click update I immediately get the box that says it is updated, after doing nothing obvious, and all is well.  I can access anything I want on the launcher that way without it crashing or closing.  I just close it manually and can go play my game.  This should not be happening.

I know the work around for playing without the launcher.  I'm lazy.  I want a one click and your on deal not a, for me, laborious work around.  I LIKE reading the welcome screen messages and checking out what's new in the store and/or exchange.  What am I doing wrong that is causing this problem?  Am I going to have to do a factory reinstall or is there something more simple I can do?

Thanks for reading this and hopefully helping.

[Seabody]

Are you patched to 1.50?
Did you use the incremental or Super Patch?
Or did you patch through the Launcher, if so, when?
Are you on a Mac?

[Joria]

Are you patched to 1.50?
Did you use the incremental or Super Patch?
Or did you patch through the Launcher, if so, when?
Are you on a Mac?

I don't know.  How do you find out what you are patched to?  I am set for automatic updates so it should be patched to latest patch.  I updated Origin today.  I checked my updates on my launcher and that said I was up to date, again that was today.  I am on a pc windows 7.

Thanks, Seabody.

EDIT:  Just tried the launcher again and got, "Cannot connect to Origin" and boom, crash.  Origin was open at the time.  Tried with it not being open.  Same answer.

Bottom of launcher on extreme left says version 15.0

EDIT2:  Ok, extreme weirdness.  I clicked on the launcher again and THIS time the box said "Software update available", not store items update.  So I clicked it and it updated to 1.50.  I'm thinking, ok this is good.  But THEN "Launcher has stopped working" and crash again.  I am now going to restart the pc and try the launcher again.

[Seabody]

I don't know.  How do you find out what you are patched to?  I am set for automatic updates so it should be patched to latest patch.  I updated Origin today.  I checked my updates on my launcher and that said I was up to date, again that was today.  I am on a pc windows 7.

Thanks, Seabody.

EDIT:  Just tried the launcher again and got, "Cannot connect to Origin" and boom, crash.  Origin was open at the time.  Tried with it not being open.  Same answer.

Bottom of launcher on extreme left says version 15.0

EDIT2:  Ok, extreme weirdness.  I clicked on the launcher again and THIS time the box said "Software update available", not store items update.  So I clicked it and it updated to 1.50.  I'm thinking, ok this is good.  But THEN "Launcher has stopped working" and crash again.  I am now going to restart the pc and try the launcher again.

First of all, was it 15.0 or 1.50? Just checking, I think 15.0 is SN off the top of my head, which would be on the right of the icons, not the left.

I'm not 100% sure if the patch is the cause, but the incremental patch was a fail on EA's part, because they missed a file which causes everyone who ever updated to 1.48 to require the Super Patch to patch. It's possible it's the patch.

Can you try a Factory Reset? If it works all of a sudden after that, the cause is most likely a corrupted downloaded item or Mod, or possibly you accidentally deleted DCCache. If it doesn't, I'm afraid you may have to reinstall, as the problem would most likely lie in your Program Files folder, which isn't easy to troubleshoot.

[Pam]

*peeks in and waves at Joria*

Hi Joria!  It's so nice to see you. 

[Joria]

First of all, was it 15.0 or 1.50? Just checking, I think 15.0 is SN off the top of my head, which would be on the right of the icons, not the left.

I'm not 100% sure if the patch is the cause, but the incremental patch was a fail on EA's part, because they missed a file which causes everyone who ever updated to 1.48 to require the Super Patch to patch. It's possible it's the patch.

Can you try a Factory Reset? If it works all of a sudden after that, the cause is most likely a corrupted downloaded item or Mod, or possibly you accidentally deleted DCCache. If it doesn't, I'm afraid you may have to reinstall, as the problem would most likely lie in your Program Files folder, which isn't easy to troubleshoot.

It was 15.0 and yes that's SN.

I'm very careful when I delete so pretty sure haven't deleted DCCACHE.

I'm thinking it may be a mod that snuck in with a download.  I myself don't do any mods, even the "good" ones by Twallen, for fear I'll mess something up.  I've done a lot of downloads from the EA site working on Barnacle Bay makeover, and even though the folks I downloaded from say no 3rd pty cc, etc., even they could have something they are unaware of.  I particularly like LariFari2009's stuff and a few others.

Once I restarted the pc after the patch installed, I was back to having to quickly click on the play arrow in order to play the game.  If I let the launcher totally load up it just crashes everything.  I'll try a factory reset.  Can't hurt, might help.  If not, well I still have Seasons to install and I could just do a complete uninstall/reinstall everything.  I save my downloads folder to my desktop and the games I'm playing so with a complete reinstall I could then see if there is a particular game that is messing things up.  It would have to be the Barnacle Bay makeover. 

Thanks so much for your help.

*waves back at Pam*

Hugs,
Joria

[Joria]

First of all, was it 15.0 or 1.50? Just checking, I think 15.0 is SN off the top of my head, which would be on the right of the icons, not the left.

I'm not 100% sure if the patch is the cause, but the incremental patch was a fail on EA's part, because they missed a file which causes everyone who ever updated to 1.48 to require the Super Patch to patch. It's possible it's the patch.

Can you try a Factory Reset? If it works all of a sudden after that, the cause is most likely a corrupted downloaded item or Mod, or possibly you accidentally deleted DCCache. If it doesn't, I'm afraid you may have to reinstall, as the problem would most likely lie in your Program Files folder, which isn't easy to troubleshoot.

Looks like I'm going to have to reinstall.  It's time consuming but if it makes things work I don't mind.  However, I don't want to lose all my work on my remake of Barnacle Bay.  What, where, and how do I save things before I uninstall everything?  Second problem is I can't find my disc for Supernatural anywhere.  (takes deep breath and tries not to panic.  fails)   I order from Origin and I've been playing without the disc in anyway but if I uninstall it then what happens?

[Seabody]

Looks like I'm going to have to reinstall.  It's time consuming but if it makes things work I don't mind.  However, I don't want to lose all my work on my remake of Barnacle Bay.  What, where, and how do I save things before I uninstall everything?  Second problem is I can't find my disc for Supernatural anywhere.  (takes deep breath and tries not to panic.  fails)   I order from Origin and I've been playing without the disc in anyway but if I uninstall it then what happens?

You should save everything in the Saves and Downloads folders, userpresets.package and options.ini. I think that's it. I like to save Screenshots, Mods, Exports (posterity ), Custom Music, Videos and CurrentGame.sims3.

[Joria]

Thank you Seabody.  I think I may have found at least one problem and it's in my remake of BB.  I really have to trash the entire thing I think, except for what I exported before things went bad.  Here is what I found when I was checking one of my Community lots:



This is Kon Fusion which I created for Union Cove.  It is perfectly fine in UC and it WAS fine in BB.  It is the only one of the lots I created that are like this but most of the community lots I got elsewhere are like this.  As a matter of fact, it started with just one lot, created by another member, but I thought at the time I had done something wrong so I just deleted all the spawners and figured it would be ok.  When I checked that lot today it was even more covered in spawners than before, so obviously deleting them doesn't do the trick.

Some of the spawners cannot be deleted.  Here's how many were left after I removed everything else:



Here's her lot when I checked it today.  Mind you, I had removed everything once before.



Why would lots all of a sudden start placing spawners in areas where they had never been before?

I guess this means my files are corrupted and I need to reinstall?

Should I remove all my downloads that are not store items?

How can I reinstall Supernatural without the disc?

Thanks so much.

[Seabody]

That's a lot of spawners.

Have you deleted anything that was on that lot (ie, through edit town)? If so, how many times?

I'm not sure if your files are corrupted, is there anything at all that you could have possibly done that would cause corruption? CFE, MOO, TCE, Delete Object (through TCE), BuyDebug?

As for SN, I don't use Origin, Steam, or anything of the sort, so I can't help. Sorry.

[Joria]

Yeah I've used MOO and buydebug and who knows what else.  I just decided I've had enough.  I deleted all the stuff I did for BB but saved some of the best things, (because they were exported to my studio so I can access them when I want them).  I also just went through and deleted everything anyone else made that had not already passed the test of time, mostly things from this forum.  Your Simself for one.  I rather like him.  Agneza's stuff is always good and has passed so I still have a lot of great stuff.  I know who my favorites on the EA forum are so can redownload one at a time to make sure they are safe to play.  I'm pretty sure Larifari's stuff is ok and a couple of others.

I'll try signing on and see if I still get the crazy can't connect to Origin or any of the other fails.  If I do I'll just go ahead and do a complete uninstall/reinstall.

If you don't use Origin, Steam, or anything else, how do you play?  Do you use discs?  I despise electronic downloads so always get a disc, (and then went and lost one). 

I really appreciate all your help, Seabody, and the fact you stuck with me.  Made a trying day much easier, so many thanks.

Hugs,
Joria

[RainBeau]

I have been having Launcher issues too, though of a different kind. My Launcher just plain won't work. I have to use the workaround to start my game. This is in addition to not being able to open save files, new or pre-patch. Not sure if the patch caused this issue, if it was the re-install, or the new operating system. I do wish all of these things hadn't happened at the same time, makes it really difficult to pinpoint a cause.

[Seabody]

Yeah I've used MOO and buydebug and who knows what else.  I just decided I've had enough.  I deleted all the stuff I did for BB but saved some of the best things, (because they were exported to my studio so I can access them when I want them).  I also just went through and deleted everything anyone else made that had not already passed the test of time, mostly things from this forum.  Your Simself for one.  I rather like him.  Agneza's stuff is always good and has passed so I still have a lot of great stuff.  I know who my favorites on the EA forum are so can redownload one at a time to make sure they are safe to play.  I'm pretty sure Larifari's stuff is ok and a couple of others.

I'll try signing on and see if I still get the crazy can't connect to Origin or any of the other fails.  If I do I'll just go ahead and do a complete uninstall/reinstall.

If you don't use Origin, Steam, or anything else, how do you play?  Do you use discs?  I despise electronic downloads so always get a disc, (and then went and lost one). 

I really appreciate all your help, Seabody, and the fact you stuck with me.  Made a trying day much easier, so many thanks.

Hugs,
Joria

It could be the BuyDebug causing the spawners, but I don't build much these days, and when I do, it's in my Dynasty. Glad you like my Simself.

I play with Discs, and download SuperPatches manually (I'm due a reinstall sometime soon, I get File not Found/Invalid File errors all the time when patching via Origin or incrementally). Before you uninstall, you could contact EA to see if they can give you a copy. As far as I know, if you register the game on Origin (or thesims3.com - I'm not sure, I don't use this service), you get a digital copy of the game as a backup.

[MrsFlynn]

Hi Joria,

If you still can't find your Supernatural disc and you've registered your games via Sims3.com open the Origin program and all your games should be listed. Follow the instructions with the link below to download your games via Origin.

How do I download my new game on Origin?
https://help.ea.com/article/how-do-i-download-my-new-game-on-origin

Something else you could do to save your Sims 3 files is to save the folder called The Sims 3

Libraries > Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3

Hubby and I usually back up our Electronic Arts folder. When we either do a  Factory Reinstall or a full reinstall.

Hope this helps,

MrsFlynn

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Looks like I'm going to have to reinstall.  It's time consuming but if it makes things work I don't mind.  However, I don't want to lose all my work on my remake of Barnacle Bay.  What, where, and how do I save things before I uninstall everything?  Second problem is I can't find my disc for Supernatural anywhere.  (takes deep breath and tries not to panic.  fails)   I order from Origin and I've been playing without the disc in anyway but if I uninstall it then what happens?