Stereo Won't Play

[Pam]

I've run into this problem more than once and I have no idea how to fix it.  The family stereo simply stops working.  It still shows the visual with the notes coming out and my Sims still get the moodlet from listening to music, but no actual audio.  I've heard that if you stay on one lot for a long time, it will get buggy and I'm wondering if this is something like that.  Also, the stereo was working fine on my most recent family until I did some upgrades and additions to the house.  I bought a new stereo and deleted the old one, and the new one doesn't play.  Neither does buying the cheap one again. 

Can anyone help?

[Carl]

As far as I know, it's an unfixed issue. A lot of people see it come up with televisions and stereos not playing sound. For me, this also affected the build mode music. It completely disappeared. I even noticed the sound effect for when you fast forward and pause the game had changed. There weren't as many 'clicky sounds' when it played.

 In searching all over the net the day this happened to me, I couldn't fix my problem. Some suggested going to other lots and seeing that any playing stereos and televisions were off, but I don't get why this took away build mode music. Also, it's said that turning off the televisions and stereos is only a temporary fix, as the problem may strike again. I'll attempt this next time it hits me and post my results.

Maybe it only happens once in a while when a television/stereo is on in another lot, and this causes something to go wrong with the audio in general.

The solution that worked for me: Thankfully, in frustration, I saved, exited and restarted the Sims 3 and it fixed my problem. Your results may vary. All we can do is wait on the next patch to reliably fix the problem. Hopefully they're aware -- there's a 9 page thread at the official forum with no resolution here: http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/90/2301.page

[Pam]

Thanks, Carl!  Oddly enough, the music came back on.  I haven't been able to figure out why, either.  Glad to know I'm not the only one having this problem.

[bshag]

Hi guys...I've posted several times on this subject on ts3 forum. 

First the stereo stopped playing right after I began playing the game, which was a bummer cause for the first time I really liked the music and would turn the stereo on myself, just to listen to the music. 

Then nothing played except the custom music.    Soon after that, nothing played.  Then they came out with the second patch.  In my games saved before the patch, stereo music is the same...pretty much nothing.  But in games I start and save after the patch, the sound of the stereo is back. 

I never had any problems really with the sounds during buy/build modes.

[Pam]

Thanks for the info, bshag.  I guess my legacy family started before the patch because it's the worst about not playing the stereo.  Like you, I was turning it on for myself more than anything.  It plays randomly now, but mostly it just doesn't play.  I'll just have to live with it because I've got 11 generations in this family and there's no way I'm going to give them up so I can play a new game for the stereo.  Lol.

[Carl]

Thankfully my problem hasn't repeated itself. But I must say it did happen after the patch. So the patch likely isn't helpful. Geez do we all have creative soundcards or something? I wonder if it could be a driver problem. The thread on the official forum about that problem wasn't so large that this seems to affect everyone.

[igzigpuff]

I had all the same problems with the stereo not playing and it seemed better after the last patch.  Although when I was playing my game and decided to remodel my Sims house and went into build mode I had no sound.  So I went back to live mode and my Sims radio was on and I could hear music playing, so I turned  off the radio and went back into build mode and now the music was playing in build mode.  So if my Sims radio is on, then I don't have music in build/buy mode.  I don't know if this is how it works for anyone else, but it is odd. 

[Carl]

I haven't had the problem lately, but nor have I used a stereo... seems I was when this happened, especially the build/buy mode music being off. There must be a connection..

[Pam]

I've been playing a new family recently and the stero plays fine for now.  I wonder if it might be a bug related to staying on the same lot for a long time.  The one where the stero won't play is an 11th generation family and has never moved from the original lot (Legacy Family Challenge).

[Kreathyr]

I'll keep an eye out for this 'Radio Bug'
I'll check if the radio stops working after a while or all I hear is still 'Radio GaGa' 

[Carl]

I look forward to updating this thread with "thread closed, the latest patch has fixed it"

[igzigpuff]

I agree...but who knows what new problems may come with the new WA EP. 

Pam brings up a good point...the family I was playing was the first one I created when I got the game.  So maybe it has something to do with existing families created before some of the patches???!!!

[Carl]

An interesting idea. If you come up with this problem with a new family, post-patch, let us know!

[Kreathyr]

Ok I installed the game with all of the patches at the same time.
This must mean if I get this problem it's not solved with the patch.
Unless I've missed one 

[Carl]

Cool Kreathyr, and with that legacy you're working on, it's sure to crop up if it's still buggy...