Troubleshooting expansions startup crash; blank error

expansions startup crash; blank error

I have been playing sims2 for a while and I finally purchased both expansions (nightlife and university). I installed them both and when I start them the game freezes. Usually it freezes during the opening animation. It brings up a blank error message with a red exclaimation point on it. I have already looked through the EA company FAQs and various forums and done many things to try to fix the problem. Here are the things I have tried: eliminated all background processes that I could, emptied the temp folders, installed 'Safedisk', scanned for viruses and spyware, put ATA/ATAPI controllers to PIO transfer mode, installed the sims2 patch, updated my dvd drives firmware, manually uninstalled and reinstalled the software a few times. I dont have any cd/dvd cloning/emulation software on my pc, and I don't have an extra dvd/cd drive to try to install it on. I did install and run the game/expansions on my friends computer successfully, so it's not the cds. Here's my computer stats (and yes I know they suck and I should get better hardware, but I'm broke). Everything meets minimum requirements and I was able to play sims2 okay.
1. Processor: AMD 900MHZ
2. System Memory RAM 512mb
3. Windows 2000pro
4. Free Hard Disk Space 8gig
5. Total Hard Disk Space 60gig
6. DirectX Version 9.0
7. Display Adapter radeon 9000 ati
8. Display Driver Name and Version Number & date
9. Approximate Total Video Memory 64mb

So! Anyone else getting a blank error with the expansions?

Linda

 

Hai Carumba, Linda!

First off have you tried to fully uninstall the games and then reinstall just The Sims 2 and get that running again?

Have you got back-ups of your original saved games? If not they will be lost forever ... if so, I'm sorry about that

Anyway, you mentioned manually uninstalling. Technically this shouldn't be needed but did you followed the steps set down in this thread?

Before you reinstall though there is something to deal with :(

Your specs show 6gig free disc space. That's very very tight for a system that is also light on RAM and processing power. TS2 demands 3.5 and each EP requires 1 so that makes 5.5gig needed and you have 6 ... erm

Clear out some of that clutter kiddo! I hope you have a CD writer

As a word of advice in general it is not wise to double install expansion packs because any problems arising from the first EP will not be apparent. It is less problematic if you are reinstalling a game and its accumulated EPs on the same computer after an overhaul, but a first time upgrade is best performed one pack at a time with a period of play to establish that all is working properly. (Also since TS2 EPs tend to change the saved games file structure a wise player makes back-up copies of his/her saved games between expansion installation ... and yeah, with only 6 gig at your disposal you're in shtook straightaway! LOL

 

Pleeeeze help with university startup crash issue!

Mirelly-
Thanks for replying. No one seems to be willing to try to work with me on this problem! Okay, I got rid of about 10 gigs of stuff on my HD. I manually uninstalled all of the sims2 stuff again, (yeah, I made sure I got all the regedit stuff out), then reinstalled the base sims2, played it fine. installed the update and christmas pack, again, played it fine. Then installed the university pack. It installed fine like usual, but still has the same problem, which is freezing at the load screen with the blank error and exclamation point. I tried running with -w and -nosound on the shortcut, still had the same problem. I did read on a forum that you should clear your download folder of any custom content before installing any expansions, otherwise they definitely won't work. But I didn't have any custom stuff.

As for the saved games, I actually wanted to kill off my saved games and start over from scratch. I could have backed them up if I wanted to, but I just didn't feel like it. I guess I'm probably the minority in that respect, that I'm completely addicted to the sims 2 game, but I'm not attatched to the families...

Oh, btw, I sent a message to the ea company on their website, stating I had a tech problem. But I did the same thing when I had a problem with the original sims a year ago or so, and they didn't reply for two months! Even then, they just directed me to one of their faqs that I had already read and followed. (And I had already stated in the message that I had tried that method). They are complete idiots! :(

So...what's the next idea for me to try from people out there?

Linda

 

It occurs to me to wonder still about your lightweight system, Linda. I'm not fully loaded with geekness so my suggestions are mostly based on hunches rather than intimate knowledge However with Uni installing apparently correctly I am wondering if the loading crash isn't something to do with the 9 (yes that's NINE) new neighborhoods that Uni makes. Each of the base 'hoods: Pleasant, Strange and Verona gets 3 university campuses that are full blown 'hoods in their own right (Academie Le Tour; Sim State; & La Fiesta Tech).

The one suggestion I can think of at this stage is to delete the save games folders and see if loading the game will remake them as it is supposed to. If you wanna give that a go, just delete the folder: My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\

Try running the game again and ... if it crashes ... look for the folder and see:

(a)what is in it
(b)what size it is (right click the folder and choose properties and look for size in bytes and contents: number of files and folders)

Tell us what happens ...

 

university still not starting

ManagerJosh- That was the first thing I did, to install all of them together and get the nightlife update. It didn't work. That was how I first got the blank error message.

Mirelly- It's understandable that you're concerned about my crappy (!) system stats. Wow, I had no idea that there was 9 new neighborhoods created! that's a bit much! Unfortunately, I read about deleting the whole mydocuments/eagames/sims2 folder and already tried it. Okay, actually I just renamed it sims2backup, but it has the same effect. Same exact problem. <sigh> My birthday and christmas isn't for quite a long time yet, so I can't ask for better hardware from my boyfriend or parents... Do you know how many new neighborhoods nightlife installs? Maybe I should try uninstalling university and install nightlife alone and try starting that?

Linda

 

Actually I wanted to know the statistics of the remade folder after trying to start the game ... like I wanna know how far it gets ... I have other ideas if you're patient enough to try 'em

 

Arrrggh! EA support is evil incarnate!

I am so pissed. I got a timely response from the EA support, surprisingly. They gave me two links to a sound and graphics driver that was newer than the ones I was using. (I had updated my drivers to the newest ones I could find!) So I install the sound driver and it completely kills my sound. None at all. I tried to fix it, but I ended up having to just reinstall the old drivers. Then I install the new graphics drivers and now the computer is crashing every 15 minutes or so with the monitor giving a status of 'no signal'. I looked it up and the company said it's not the monitor dying, it's a problem with the graphics card. Also, when I try to scroll on the internet pages now it's soooo slooow. I tried playing the sims2 (just regular) and every 5 minutes the screen reboots and then the graphics are all ...uh...don't know how to describe...cut up or something. I haven't uninstalled the graphics driver yet, but I'm just so frusterated and lost I could kill someone. I am very grateful for your attention Mirelly, otherwise I might just freaking sell the expansions back to ebay. I'll get you the folder info in a day or so. First I think I should email the EA guys about this graphics issue.
Linda

 

nothin like a nice Sims 2 tech issue to brighten up my day.

alright reality, you have a tough problem. I dabble in programming, and the name of that game is tough problems all over the map. The first thing that I did when I began was to get frustrated. Believe me, when you are upset, things dont get done right, as you (or at least I)have a tendency to rush. Best solution when you get frustrated? Grab a pop/juice/milk/water, and watch a half hour of TV, or exercise, or hit up the old PS2. Do whatever it takes to get calmed down, and the easiest way is to do it somewhere that isnt in your office chair.

I'm not trying to guilt you, and you dont have to be defensive, because I'd be willing to bet that everyone here has been hyper-frustrated at tech problems with their computer at one time.

There, now that step one is over

I'm somewhat stumped about your problem as well. Your graphics card seems well up to snuff, but i'm a bit worried about your computer not welcoming drivers with open arms. The sound card could be a fiend. It depends on weather you bought your computer new recently, or have been upgrading it slowly over time. If you did the second, one of the hardware components that tends to get overlooked is the sound card (because, hey, sound comes out, good enough right? wrong, or at least when it comes to games). If you bought a computer recently, the sound card shouldnt be too bad. The only reason that it would be is if it is an onboard sound card (meaning, its built into the system, not its own seperate card).

I realise that I havent done much to fix your problem, but hopefully Ive taken us closer to figuring out exactly what the problem is

 

Good post, Joe. You're talking my kinda language. Been there myself and I have advised similarly in the past.

 

Purchasing new cpu/motherboard to hopefully fix problems

Kungfu Joe- Thanks. I appreciate what you wrote. I have decided to upgrade my system finally even though I really don't have the money. I also ordered DSL today from yahoo sbc. I'm going to get a new case, motherboard, and cpu- probably an intel 3.0ghz. Not sure which motherboard yet. I hope not to spend more than 350$ on the whole mess. I'm also going to remove my smaller HD, format and reinstall windows on my larger HD. What this means is that I probably won't be responding with useful info on this problem for a week or so... I hope when I reply to this message later, you guys will still be willing to help me. There shouldn't be so many side problems to deal with then!

Oh, my sound card is just built into the motherboard. It's a Via AC'97 enhanced audio controller (WDM), according to my device manager. You're completely right, I don't really care about the sound, and I'm not willing to spend money on a seperate card.

Thanks again, and I'll talk to you guys in a few days!
Linda