4 Complete reinstalls and still no luck! Please HELP!

hey mac users, I really need your assistance! :newfag:

I had the sims 3 up and running (just the base game) for a few months, then I got greedy and downloaded every expansion pack besides world adventures from G4TW

first tried installing on top of my already existing sims 3 game... ran into way to many errors so I decided to get the base game from G4TW as well.. figured all the games would work together.

so i restarted with the G4TW base game... a few expansion packs installed but for the rest i kept getting a "the sims 3 is not updateable" error and it would not let me install the EP. I did some searching and found this update: SORRY CAN POST LINK FOR THE FIRST 7 DAYS

once i applied that update i could install all the EP... then i applied the Ultimate fix (for step 11 the launcher said i was already up to date, so i used the recommended patch which turned out to be the same patch i had just used, [link right above]). when i went to start the game i got a "Service initialization failed" error. did some more searching and found out that this error has something to do with a bad install, so I uninstalled and started over just incase i messed up the ultimate fix or if it had something to do with using the patch twice.

This time I installed the G4TW base game and applied same that same patch mentioned above (i relized i had to or some of the EP wouldn't install). after that i installed all the EPs and the ultimate fix (using the same patch again). the game STILL refused to start... this time it was an error about debugging or something

so i went back to google and dug some more.... i found out by an admin here that the G4TW base game doesn't work with mac

I uninstalled everything once again, started over with the RELOADED base game from here: SORRY CAN POST LINK FOR THE FIRST 7 DAYS

First problem with this install was that the game was version 1.0.615 (a non-retail un finalized version, EPs cant install on it) i looked everywhere for a mac patch to 1.0.631 (the original retail release)... NO LUCK! (only pc patches). I was forced to use that same patch mentioned above to get the EPs to install. once they were installed i used the ultimate fix with the patch for step 11 again.

---WHERE IM AT RIGHT NOW----

Game still wont load! i kept getting "an unknown error occurred"
tried to fix it by bypassing the launcher, but now im just back to the "Unable to start game Service initialization failed (0x0175dcbb)" error

HELP HELP HELP HELP! i really wanna get this working and i have a feeling it has something to to with that patch to 1.39... i mean it says in bold on that page that mac users should not use this patch at this time because it might cause errors

Hi there and welcome! Don't worry, its NORMAL to have so many problems when you want to install EPs..

First things first, the games4theworld base game does not work for mac! That was why you got those errors. The RELOADED one should be fine though.

Please make sure you have the following:
1) Base game that is NOT downloaded from games4theworld
2) At least one of the following Expansion Packs --> [Supernatural, Diesel Stuff, Katy Perry Sweet Treats, Showtime, Master Suite Stuff, Pets, Town Life Stuff, Generations]
3) Make sure your EPs have been converted to .dmg files (If you don't know how to do this feel free to ask again)
4) The latest version of Ultimate Fix (https://games4theworld.forumotion.com/t752-the-sims-3-ultimate-fix-should-fix-most-of-your-problems)

After that's all settled:

1) Update your base game to v1.39 (from the launcher under Game Updates, not from the pop-up prompts)
2) Install the expansion packs
3) While installing expansion packs, do not apply any cracks that comes with the download.
4) After installation, copy the two files from #Crack folder (inside LATEST version of Ultimate Fix) to your base game's Game>Bin folder.

Please try that out and let us know if it helps!!

EDIT//

Also, if you experience the error "Unknown Error Occurred" after updating the base game, do this:

From Macintosh HD > Users folder > home folder (your mac username) > Library > Preferences> The Sims 3 Preferences

Delete the file 'system.reg'

That would clear up the error =)

I have all of the things in your first list

The first problem I WILL run into is step one in your install instructions, i know this because i have tried to update using the launcher after installing the reloaded base game and it just said that "there are no patches available for your game"

i think it is because it is a non-retail release (v1.0.615).... i looked everywhere for a way to patch up to ANY higher version for mac..... couldn't find anything

I should also mention again that you CANNOT install any EPs to v1.0615


EDIT//

I have heard of that solution too but i cannot find the Library folder inside my home folder...


thank you for helping me so quickly BTW i really appreciate it! thought no one would respond till tomorrow lol

Well if it says that "there are no patches available for your game", just press the refresh button at the bottom of the page.

If there is a pop-up prompt to update, click cancel first. You will the realise that the Launcher says that the latest version is 1.39. NOW, click the update button.

Let me know if that helps!

ya i just did a full search of my Hard drive for the "The Sims 3 Preferences" folder... its nowhere to be found :/

//EDIT

ok ill try that

also the uninstall program does not work... it
ran all night 2 days ago so im just uninstalling by deleting "the sims
3" folder in "aplications" is that ok?

Try the full uninstall method here:
https://help.ea.com/article/how-to-uninstall-the-sims-3-on-a-mac

Delete what you can find since you happen to be missing some files.

Btw, please use the edit post function on the top right of your post if you have something to add =)

EDIT//

Oh and yes, deleting the folder is okay, but don't forget the Electronic Arts Folder in Documents too!

Ok sorry about my noob forum mistakes, this is the first time i have ever actually posted in any kind of forum... read a lot, never actually posted lol

- i just uninstalled everything again and deleted all files attached to the sims, now im re installing reloaded base game.

- Ok so this version of the launcher and/or the sims (1.0.615.00107 <- located in the bottom left corner of the launcher) has no refresh button in the game update tab... i find this odd as i know once i update with the manual 1.39 patch there is a refresh button. eather way im stuck at the base game again with no way to update besides the (apparetly not working) 1.39 manual patch found on this site.

EDIT//

there is also no custom content tabs... just "welcome" and "Game Updates"

Try this base game then (:



For this version there's no need to install. Just unzip and drag TheSims3.app to your applications folder.
Then try updating from the launcher again (:

ok ill do that if my newest plan fails lol

I have somehow started to install the EPs with out updating the base game! i just installed them in order they were released

edit - just got stuck on pets, got "The version of The Sims 3 installed is not updatable and is not compatible with The Sims 3 Pets."

edit - THE LAUNCHER UPDATER IS WORKING!! Downloading the 1.39 update now, hopefully i can resume installing pets and later EPs after the update

That's great news!

Do update us on the progress =)