Insimenator.org

My game crashes whenever I load up a lot and click on any of the categories in the buy or build mode.

It doesn't crash when I just click on the buy or build mode buttons, but only if I click on things like chair, door, pool, misc.

I have tested my whole DL folder, I split them in half, I have removed mods and tested that way and it still crashed.
I have my objects folder organized by objects, then it goes into rooms. I have put each room folder in one by one and tested that way, and it worked fine, each folder worked fine alone.

I don't know what else to do now.

Have you downloaded plenty of new stuff lately?
Are you running Windows Vista (or Win7)?
Do you have 2GB memory or less on your computer (or have 4GB or more, but it still crashes)?
And do you have an overfilled CC folder? (I'm talking GBs of stuff here).

In that case you could have the same problem as I had with memory troubles. My game would crash at random times, without any good explanation. I found a fix for it, here (http://www.modthesims.info/showpost.php?p=2000628&postcount=12) (if you need the file, it's gone - but I uploaded it here (http://www.mediafire.com/?mzinrdgzznl)).

When my game started mesing around again, I also did this (http://www.sim-oasis.com/forums/index.php?topic=1798.0). Random crash problems disappeared like they had never even been there. I do recommend this fix before you start messing around with game files, though. I had some help with the how-to. Try this one first, and if there are no more random crashes, or at least fewer of them, then you've found the problem :)

I have windows vista.
I had been DL'ing alot to get old items back after a big crash before; and even removed the newer items from the crash date, and it still crashed.

I have 5GB of DL's (after being compressed already) all together.

And I have lots of space left over.


I will try this...I had just thought about taking all my 40k files out and putting each file in one by one to see, LOL..But I'll try this first :D

edit/

Ummmm I don't think I can use either of those..

The second one is regarding the sims 3, and the first one I don't even know..I don't use the sims 3, just the sims 2. ^^

It works for sims 2 too. 
I've got the memory manager running now, with the sims 2 game up (about 3-5GB of CC, in test mode), and everything is running like a dream.

I never had troubles on my XP laptop (except severe lagging, because I tried to run 9GB of CC with only 512 MB memory...), but after I got Vista on my new (and much better) computer, the crashing begun. Those two helped me, and like I said, I've not had random crashes after I started using the memory manager. (Sims 3 is a different story, though. It decides to crash, and does so with style... But that's most likely game bugs, since I don't have CC for it yet...)

How much memory do your computer have? (most have 1-4 GB, sometimes more, but that's usually special built computers)
Vista alone needs 1GB to run properly. Game often crashes if it uses more than 2 GB, non-regarding of how much you have. That's what happened to me.

my game is still crashing. It's not a space issue, I have over 40k files in my DL folder and my game takes barely 6 minutes to load up.

It's not crashing at random times,  it's crashing only when all of the object folders are in the DL folder and I load a lot, and click on any of the sub-categories in the build or buy section. If I remove all the object folders, it is fine. There is an object causing this but since I have removed and place each object folder in one at a time and it worked perfectly; I have no way of finding out what files are not working together apparently.

Hmm...

Have you checked for duplicate meshes? They can cause crashes as well.

I'm talking about memory/RAM. Not harddrive. People seems to be confusing those two quite a lot...
Harddrive is how much space you have, RAM is how much memory the computer have.
(On Vista it's "Start --> Control panel --> view amount of ram and processor speed", and under "Memory (RAM)" you find how much memory your computer have)

For me, my game crashed in any cathegory, both buy and build mode, and especially if there were new things inside. It also sometimes randomly crashed on heavy lots, often dumping memory first, so things started flashing purple (on really heavy lots, often when using weather like snow).
After I did the fixes, it only crashes when I try to open small electronics/phones, because I know there might be some files causing a crash in that folder (I just haven't bothered figuring out what it is, since with 20 GB to look through, that's not very tempting  :-\). The flashing purple has stopped entirely.

My computer was all new, special built to handle 3D rendering (which is very heavy), games and multi-tasking (I sometimes run Photoshop, 3D max, SimPE OR sims 2 windowed, web browser, Word, mediaplayer, and a whole array of folders, without too much lagging). And still things crashed, when I usually never had crashes on my much worse laptop (XP) while playing the game. The trouble turned out to have nothing to do with my computer itself, but with Vista and the memory leak issues.

If nothing crashes on its own, but only when everything is in, either two obects are conflicting, you have a bad file, or you have memory crashes just like I had. The memory manager is worth a try ;)

sorry for no reply!

I ended up deleting everything and starting over again. I have about 9.51GB (uncompressed) of CC all organized now.
And my computer stats. say this..

Used space ::74.5GB
Free space ::511GB



The error message I am getting in the logs from the crashing say this..


Exception time: 09/03/2010, at 23:14:53.
Exception code: 0xC0000005 (-1073741819) ACCESS_VIOLATION.
Current thread ID: 3864 (0x00000f18).
Version information:
Application/module path: C:\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 University Life Collection\EP99\TSBin\Sims2SC.exe
Application/module version name: The Sims 2 SC
Application/module version: 1.12.0.188
System version: Windows NT 6.0
System memory: 4096 Megabytes total, 948 Megabytes free.
Application/module configuration: ReleaseSRT



I downloaded the 3GB enabler thing, and now I am confused. I read the MTS2 thread and it said to copy each file from my folder into the folder there per process???? I don't understand what that means..

Can you please explain to me the steps on what to do now? ^^

It means that you have to copy all the game .exe files for each and every EP and SP you have (one set of backup that you don't touch, one set for editing).
The file you're editing, you have to rename to “supremecommander” (I think it keeps the .exe ending) and put inside the 3GB_enabler folder that you extract from the rar file. Do the changes, and rename it back to what it was called before.
When you're done with the editing, copy the edited .exe files, and paste them in where you first found them. Rewrite the old files (but keep the backup files, in case you did something wrong).

If you consider yourself more of a computer noob, then I'm not so sure I can recommend doing this. I had a bit if help myself to start the process, and it's quite a while since I did it. If you know a computer tech who can help you, then so much the better.

I see you have 4GB of memory (4096mb = 4GB), and it also looks like the game is trying to use more than 2 GB (Vista itself uses 1GB), so the 3GB enabler might be of help to you, too.

There are directions in the MTS thread, and also in the readme file included with the enabler. Make sure you read everything before doing anything, and follow everything if you decide to do it.
What the readme file says about the boot.ini file is what the MTS2 thread says about the “3GB switch” in step 2, with directions on what to do with 2, 3 and 4GB memory.

oh I just notice you say to try this one first..I'm gonna do this first then if it doesnt work i will do the other one ok!

http://www.sim-oasis.com/forums/index.php?topic=1798.0

with this if it doesnt work i can remove it and all my DL's will still be there??

The memory manager doesn't really have anything to do with the game itself. It just empties or compress memory that is not in use, and does so for all programs unless you set it to sims 2 only. I've got it set to all programs.
It won't delete any files you have on your computer, and won't mess up anything.

You have to either let it run at startup, or start it up manually before you start the game. If it's not running, it doesn't do anything.

I install it, and then I set it refresh 1 minute like the sims site says to.
then I clicked the X - does it only run when the program is up? or does it run while down also?


also which one do I set? I set the first one, and my game stilled crashed..

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/3200/kkkbx.jpg

(it was set to one minute before)

now I will try this one and see if it is the right one..^^

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/9049/uuuuc.jpg



*sigh* neither worked...my game still crashes...

I guess I'll try the first one later on when I have time to read through the MTS2 page and the file. ^^

Don't click the X. That shuts it down.

If you want it to still run when you click X, then in "configuration settings" (last button), set it to "show notify icon in system tray" and "close application to system tray". You'll find it in the task bar as a small icon to the far right. It'll look like a tiny green/yellow/red bar (depending on how much memory your computer is using).
If you want to change the settings while it's running, right-click on this icon, and choose "show/hide".

I also turned off the "show notifications in system tray" because when I'm not having a fullscreen program up, messages pops up all the time...

You can also set a hot key, so that if your game starts running slow or something, pressing the hot key will free memory. Just make sure you don't use a hot key that also does something ingame (like C, that takes pictures, or F1/F2/F3 that shows live and buy/build mode).

ohhhhh okay ^^
I'll keep it up this time and see again if it works. I was thinking maybe it's like fraps and only runs when its up haha :P
thank you! I'll go check it out now ^^

well it didn't work, my game still crashed. =(

*Admin note: Posts merged. Please use the modify button to edit your post instead of replying to yourself within a 24 hour period*

you are starting the game with the latest EP exe right?

This is one of those annoyingly ambiguous error codes that could mean anything from the issues already mentioned with too much RAM being utilized to bad RAM, graphic/sound drivers that need updating and even bad graphic cards or sound cards. It can even be caused with errors in your Antivirus program and the Sims games are notorious for conflicting with antivirus. As BlooM mentioned above me, this can also be caused by running your game with the wrong disk.

I've seen this problem caused by all of the above issues.  

If you have recently updated your graphic drivers and are seeing this issue since then, try rolling them back. If you haven't, then try updating your drivers. It wouldn't hurt to try running your game with you Antivirus disabled.

What OS/service pack are you running? This might be helpful too and could open up a few more possible solutions.  

I am running the right disk, the latest EP. If I had the wrong one the game wouldn't even start without telling me I think.
it's just soo weird because I mean when I first got this computer I had well over 100k files, messy and probably all sorts of crap in there yet I had NO issue with crashing or anything like that. Never had it crash once on me, and I was the type to DL tons of mods and junk. Yet it worked fine. I didnt even know what a patch was (like for the game lol).

Yet after I had some issues with another program and had to reformat my PC I am now having issues with the game..and I dont know why.

I don't think I have updated my graphics drivers, I don't even know what that is. And I wouldn't know how to.
And I don't think I can disable norton, it just sorta automatically runs. Unless you mean uninstall it o.0

And I don't know what an OS is...?? do you mean what kind of PC do I have?? I have a gateway, and use vista.

OS is your operating system. :)

What graphic card are you using?

I don't know...>.> lol

I don't remember ever putting a graphics card into my computer, do they just come with computers?? if so how would I find it? ^^

edit//

Can someone help me with the MTS2 memory 3gb enabler thing?? ;_;

Hmm... crash course in computer tecchie stuff, maybe? I sure could need one... I slept through half of the building and installing of my own computer (I did not do it myself - but I was supposed to keep some attention. Instead, I curled up in the tiny chair next to my quite big bed, and was woken up when my computer-tecchie (now ex-) boyfriend was tired enough to fall asleep standing, computer nearly done ;). He's the kind of guy who builds his own computer, mostly swears to Linux, and writes his own more or less advanced scripts... He was in my class at 3D anim/design, practically the only one who knew how to write scripts... after 3 years with script writing and computer tecchie stuff at uni. Need I even say more?)

If you go to the computer store and buy a computer (like I assume you did), then everything is already built in, including the graphics card. It's usually possible to change parts, but if you don't have a clue, you'll only mess up if you do it yourself. If you have no clue what to do, then you should try to find someone who can help you, or go to some sort of computer center where they can help. Computer/electro store isn't really recommended (unless they specialize in computers), as they're more interested in selling than actually knowing what they sell.

I'm not so sure you should be doing the 3GB enabler yourself... It might help for your game, but with little to no knowledge of this type of more advanced tecchie stuff, you could do more harm than good. If you decide to do it, find someone who can show you, or who can do it for you.
I got it explained, saw it done to one file, and did the rest myself.

Norton can be turned off.
I rarely do, though. My net tends to act weird when I turn it off, and is unsecured, so I want my computer protected... I actually have both Norton and Avast running. Doubly protected  :-\

And CC files comes in many sizes, anything from a few KB to several MB. 40k files can be just as hard for your computer as 100k files, if they're both 10GB in size.

High poly levels can cause memory crashes too (like mesh-detailed furniture, or peggy/coolsims/newsea hair, which are often very high in poly). Lots of new things that the game has to create thumbnails for, borked meshes or modded objects, mods and hacks... plenty of things.

Is it possible that you have some content for a pack that you don't have? I did that once and man, were the crashes ever epic.

I have all the EPs and SPs...and I have scanned my DL folders for duplicates and got rid of all of them.

So basically theres nothing I can do? I don't know anyone else that plays the sims 2 really and my parents are soo not computer people lol ;_;

my computer says I am using less than half of my 4GB, and the game only crashes when I click on sub-categories in the buy or build mode even though I have CUSTOM neighborhood objects and can access those without issue, I can't fix it? ;_;

Theres no way it's a file issue, I had ALL of the same exact files and programs installed when I first had this computer. All I was doing was simply putting my files back..the same ones as before >.< I don't even have any hairs or clothes added to folders yet, just the objects..I scanned everything with norton...and its all okay.


;_; oh well...I guess I'll stick to playing with bodyshop then :(



edit/

I found this and it looks like the problem I am having...I remember when scanning with SimPe before I got that system out of memory error also. Even though the files were taking up less than half of my PC's memory.

http://simpeforum.ambertation.de/sims2/What-to-do-if-you-get-a-SystemOutOfMemoryException-Error

what do you think??

That's basically what the 3GB enabler does.
You could try, but remember to back up the files you're editing, and it's probably a good idea to back up the rest, too. 

do you think you could add me on msn or whatever you use for IM to help me through it?? I dont want to mess up anything. I have all my DL's backed up already and am ready to try this out! ^^

So its most likely that 2 objects conflict.
Enable the popupscreen(done in the game options) wich let you view any conflicts when booting the game.

okay I will try that now..hope it works >.<


the game pointed out a few of the CEP objects..?

and two mods of mine, that anoneska whatever painting mod, and the towel mod.

I am not sure about the zCEP objects though. I will disable them all though and see what happens then..


edit/

nope wasn't the mods, I removed the folder altogether and it still crashes. -_-

You could try to load a little CC at a time. Put in some CC, click on every item so that the game generates thumbnails, go out, move out the CC, move in some more, and continue like this until you've gone through everything.

Takes time, but if it is memory crashes, the game might go less crazy if thumbnails are already created. If there are borked items in there, you might even find them doing this.

like Raven said but delete your caches first!

And probably thumbnail caches, too. They could be borked...

Path:
Your user name >> Documents >> EA Games >> The Sims 2 >> Thumbnails.
There are five files, and all are safe to delete, but the game will use more time when running, as it has to regenerate them.

The others safe to delete you find loose in the "The Sims 2" folder. Four files named Cigen, Accessory.cache, Groups.cache, and Contentregistry. They regenerate every time you open or close Bodyshop, or run the game. Tends to go borked a lot (I always delete them after closing Bodyshop and before starting the game)

I don't know what you mean ;_;

Load each of my object sub-folders one at a time, and click on each of the files then do it again? (they are package files, nothing happens when you click on them...?)



also I always delete my cache, even though my game and bodyshop loads fine with them there I just dont like looking at them lol..still crashes >.<

Put in some cc, go into your game and go into buy mode to generate the thumbnails and click on each item. Exit your game, put more in and repeat the process until you have everyhting loaded. In process, you mind find the exact object that's causing your game to crash. That's what theraven means.

if its an object causing the crash howcome I am able to load each file into the game alone and it works fine, but altogether it causes crashes...? ;_;

Objects can interfere with each other - like a duplicate GUID, borky texture files, duplicate meshes, duplicate file names, or whatever else might be wrong.

Try the thumbnail thing first. If everything loads perfectly while you're testing, you can see if you get troubles when loading all the CC. Notice where things go wrong if the game does crash.
Most likely it's either an object problem (same place every time), memory trouble (random places), or maybe even a corrupted object file in the game files or something like that.

I had the random crashing in buy/build mode first, after moving the CC I had used for my laptop to my new computer. Then I started having serious graphic troubles - things ingame just started flashing purple on random, getting worse and worse. That was both CC and maxis objects, mind. Anything but floors and walls. After I did the 3GB enabling it got much better, but still crashing when overworked. After I started using the memory manager, none of it has happened. Not long ago I even had the game running for almost a week in stretch, going in and out of it while doing other stuff too. Didn't have a single problem with crashing or things like that.

I mean like...if I put one folder in at a time, it works okay...but as soon as they are all together it doesn't work. So yes it is most likely conflicting files. I have also tested two folders at a time, to see and it works fine...so I don't know...I have no way of telling what files are confliting if they all work fine alone, but only crash while together, and work fine in pairs aswell..you know what I mean?? I don't know if I am explaining clearly sorry >.< lol ..I will test out everything later though, my game loads too slowly right now for me to do that >_< lol

something I notice also is when it crashes the game doesn't generate a groups.cache, if that means anything :P

I'm gonna try the thumbnail thing now ^^

----

Neither method worked. I deleted the thumbnails, added one folder at a time, checked out all the CC, deleted a few 'borked' ones (meaning those that were blue like I forgot a mesh, was only three). Still crashed.

I took out all the folder, paired them each in twos and made sure I had each folder paired with the others once. Still crashed.

I already knew it wasn't conflicting files if that makes a difference, I mean I have had these same exact files for two years now. And they've been tested and scanned since before the crashing started..

:( I don't know what to do now..all the borked files are gone now, and there are no duplicates. I guess the only positive is it took about half a second longer to crash on me this time :D yayyyy...


----------

No more suggestions..?? ;__;

Oh well....thanks for atleast trying to help me out guys :D

Finding Problem Custom Content (http://linna.modthesims.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Finding_Problem_Custom_Content)

Do everything, but the 50% method is the best way to find conflicting files.

I just did that 3GB enabler thing, followed all the instructions, had no issue with it. And it still crashed, I tried both "3072” and “2900" and it crashed both times. So I guess it's not a memory issue.  :-X :-\

And there is no conflicting files, this is how I paired my files up to test each pairing to see if there was conflict. Every file was paired with another atleast once. There was no crashing when done like this. Only crashing when ALL the object files are together.  :'( :'(


Bathrooms - Bedrooms*
Bathrooms - Building*
Bathrooms - Ect.*
Bathrooms - Garden*
Bathrooms - Kitchen*
Bathrooms - Living*
Bathrooms - Walls*

==============
Bedrooms - Building*
Bedrooms - Ect.*
Bedrooms - Garden*
Bedrooms - Kitchen*
Bedrooms - Living*
Bedrooms - Walls*

==============
Building - Ect.*
Building - Garden*
Building - Kitchen*
Building - Living*
Building - Walls*

==============
Ect. - Garden*
Ect. - Kitchen*
Ect. Living*
Ect. - Walls*

==============
Garden - Kitchen*
Garden - Living*
Garden - Walls*

==============
Kitchen - Living*
Kitchen - Walls*

==============
Living - Walls*




Anyways thanks alot for helping me out guys! But there isn't anything else I can do I guess. There is no issue with the files, or it would have came up when I was testing every single file with the other files, theres no duplicates, and I have plenty of space on my PC. I don't even have my hacks or default replacements in. And it still crashes. So I give up ;_; I guess I just have a screwed up game or something. =_=

Did you follow the 50% method outlined in the help page I linked to? That method is the one that meets with the most success.

I've done 50/50 before actually I had made a thread on BPS and someone suggested that to me, both halves worked fine alone, but again; crashed when put together again. That is when I tried breaking the files down into pairs and paired up each to test them that way, which is less than 50% and they worked fine in their pairs, but crashed when all together..


Also I found my graphic card info..

(http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/5280/69289289.png)


And I guess this is why that 3GB enabler didn't work for me. I don't have 2, 3, or 4GB of ram, I have six. And used the second step for "4GB"...but there is no 6GB option there =( GRRRRRR................. :( :-\ :'(

(http://i55.tinypic.com/mjbnev.png)

My advice? Take out ALL custom contents and hacks and play vanilla because obviously a higher being has decided that you aren't one of those that are allowed to have the perks for the game.

:-(........................It certainly seems that way....lol

the 3GB enabler should work even if you have 6GB. Sure you did it right?

I am sure >.< it said after each SP or EP that the large..whatever (o.0) was enabled ...then I did the second step, it crashed, so I tried the next number and it still crashed. =(

I just uninstalled completely, and re-installed, and put my object folder back in...and it still crashes ;_;

Probably a stupid question, but you did of course replace the original files with the edited ones, right? (remember the backup!)
And you also did what the readme file said while you edited the files?

So it crashes when you open buy/build mode, or just a certain cathegory?

Since you have everything sorted into folders like this, you could try to put in a little at a time, a new folder each time you start up the game. Then notice when the crashing begins. Most likely the last folder you put in has something to do with the crashing.

Yepp I made sure to replace with the edited ones.  ;D I was being super anal about it since I was so certain it would work ;_; lol

It crashes only when I click on a sub-category in the Buy or Build mode...actually only the sub-categories with CC in them (except when in neighborhood mode) - because obviously I don't have custom walls or decks, so those work fine...But every other sub-category in the buy/build mode with CC causes crashes.

Thats why its kinda confusing since my custom neighborhood objects can be accessed just fine :S


It doesn't matter which folder is last, it will crash with any folder being last really :( it's just them all together regardless of what goes in first or last...I really think it's a space issue because of that..but I have no way to fix that except to delete everything =(

I think I'm gonna try to seperate by creator name if I can, and then maybe I can just put sets in one at a time and check every thing to be sure....that's gonna take sooo long though ;_;

Maybe a stupid question but you do have CEP installed?

yepp ^^

edit/

I should add also that I have two of the 'newer' EP packs, you know "university life" and "fun with pets" they both have two stuff packs installed.
When I say my game worked perfectly fine with all the crap I had on it before; I didn't have those two EP packs, but I did have the stuff packs and EP seperate ...but my cousin lost them, and I ended up having to replace them with these newer combo packs.

Do you think maybe EA added something to the game..? because there is something called a download manager, and sims 2 store edition, although I don't install either..

I have been wondering if this is the difference, because theres no reason at all that my game should be acting so differently now unless these two newer combo packs have something different added to them. =O

Hacks and mods need updating for new EPs. That sometimes includes objects - especially the objects pets can interact with (read: scratch to pieces). Don't know if it should in any way cause the game to crash, though. Usually it's just jump bugs when the pets try to use the objects, or they simply can't use them. 

EA are known for their stupidity and greedyness, so I wouldn't be too sure they didn't add in something. They do love their SecuROM, for instance, and the download managers has caused plenty of troubles...
But I've never had any of the combo packs, so don't know exactly how that works. I bought the separate EPs and SPs...

eh Im not gonna worry about it anymore >.< I just wont play anymore  :-\

thanks for trying to help me out though.  ;D I appreciate it!  :D

You could go through your downloads, put in those you're certain of, and re-download other things.

too late XD lol I deleted all my DL's and uninstalled ;__;

oh wells..=( atleast I'll be able to focus on school work until I can find a fix haha ^^

I'm going to go ahead and lock this. Ancabee, don't take this the wrong way, but I've noticed you have posted this exact problem on at least on other forum and had members jumping through the same hoops beating their heads against their desks trying to help you, only to have you constantly misinterpret what they're suggesting, or not following the instructions properly. You would do yourself a huge favor by learning a bit more about how your computer works and what all this stuff we're talking about means before trying to adjust or fix anything there and, when people suggest you take certain steps to try fixing a problem, actually do all those steps. Otherwise you could be completely missing a fix that might actually work.