Pets keeps crashing to desktop

[pdmk]

For months I have been trawling the internet trying to work out why Pets keeps crashing to the desktop. I know, I know, lots of others have issues, too. But...I'm getting a little tired of trying everything know to man and getting no results.

I downloaded the CLA and it told me, many weeks ago, that I needed more memory. So, silly me, went out and bought another 2GB Ram thinking it would solve the problem. Ha, didn't work....my humour is starting to dwindle; I don't think the situation is funny anymore. It's a bad joke.

Anyway, I have tried this, that and everything else. Please do not tell me to do the following because I have tried it: DEP, caches, deleting files in the sims 3 folder, using the command prompt and putting in useless information - I have tried everything listed under your crash help. Nothing is working. I am about to jam Pets where the sun doesn't shine. I have formatted my computer, reinstalled the expansions - other than Pets - and it works fine. BUT as soon as I install Pets it crashes. I uninstall Pets and the other expansions crash. I am definitely not formatting my computer again just to play the others!!

Here is the results from the CLA that I just did after trying to alter the memory through the command prompt:

Processor Name: Pentium(R) Dual-Core CPU E5400 @ 2.70GHz

Processor Architecture: x86 Graphics Processor: NVIDIA GeForce 9400 GT

Games Installed: The Sims™ 3 (1.29.55.014001), The Sims™ 3 World Adventures (2.17.2.011031), The Sims™ 3 Ambitions (4.10.1.011031), The Sims™ 3 Late Night (6.5.1.011031), The Sims™ 3 Generations (8.0.152.011001), The Sims™ 3 Pets (10.0.96.013001)

Custom Content: Yes (1 found)

[UNKNOWN] 11/02/2012 7:53:36 AM
OS Version: 5.1.2600 TS3 Path: C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3W.exe
TS3 Version: 0.2.0.164 Installed RAM: 3.00 GiB TS3
Free VM: 2.22 GiB / 3.00 GiB
Crash Type: ACCESS_VIOLATION reading address 0x69532000
Crash Address: 0x00d17143 "C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3W.exe":0x0001:0x00916143

[UNKNOWN] 11/02/2012 8:05:15 AM
OS Version: 5.1.2600
TS3 Path: C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3W.exe
TS3 Version: 0.2.0.164 Installed RAM: 3.00 GiB TS3 Free VM: 1.72 GiB / 2.50 GiB
Crash Type: ACCESS_VIOLATION reading address 0x69532000
Crash Address: 0x00d17143 "C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3W.exe":0x0001:0x00916143

Can anyone tell me what the text in Bold refers to? What the problem is because I sure as heck do not know! I have googled it and came up with nothing other than people with the same problem and no solutions. By golly, EA had better come out with a patch for it and pronto, so not happy :cry:

Also, please note I have no idea what the one mysterious custom content is.

When I bought this computer the guy told me is was specifically for gaming - is able to handle Pets? Is it good enough to run it?

[Ghost sdoj]

well, do you get the same thing if you move your my documents Sims 3 folder to the desktop and try again? That -should- be where the mysterious CC is hiding.

[VixenKitty]

Hi, I had the same problem and it turns out that more memory will not help as it hasn't with you. It is to do with the DEDICATED MEMORY available for the display devices and this needs to be at least 512mb and is separate from the display memory and RAM (or so I was told). This doesn't show up when you do a check to see if your computer meets the minimum requirements to run Pets.
So basically there isn't anything you can do besides get a new computer with enough dedicated memory -_-
I know so many people who are really disappointed and have wasted their money on this game.

Just to show you what I'm talking about here is the info for my laptop that the EA Tech guys got me to bring up to show them (part in bold under 'Display Devices' is the bit that affects the game):

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 12/28/2011, 00:52:01
Machine name: USER-PC
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6002) Service Pack 2 (6002.vistasp2_gdr.111025-0338)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard
System Model: HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook PC
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: AMD Turion(tm) X2 Dual-Core Mobile RM-72 (2 CPUs), ~2.1GHz
Memory: 3070MB RAM
Page File: 1489MB used, 4875MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 7.00.6002.18107 32bit Unicode

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip type: ATI Radeon Graphics Processor (0x95C4)
DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_95C4&SUBSYS_3600103C&REV_00
Display Memory: 1531 MB
Dedicated Memory: 252 MB <<<< MUST BE 512mb OR HIGHER!
Shared Memory: 1278 MB
Current Mode: 1280 x 800 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Generic PnP Monitor
Driver Name: atidxx32.dll,atidxx64,atiumdag.dll,atiumdva.dat,atiumd64,atiumd6a,atitmm64
Driver Version: 7.15.0010.0096 (English)
DDI Version: 10.1
BGRA Supported: No
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 3/28/2008 09:10:08, 1499136 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes

[whiterider]

The crash the OP reported is very common and could mean just about anything - not only insufficient system specs. :)

And, just for informational purposes, you don't need to get a new computer to fix that, in most cases - just a new graphics card. Unfortunately, that's not often possible with laptops.

[VixenKitty]

That is what I meant about a new machine. Since it is a laptop I have so I know on this machine I can't get a new graphics card. But to be honest if this person has tried everything else I strongly suspect it is to do with the specs. I had to try everything too and none of it worked. It has also been stated that the dedicated memory requirement is quite a bit higher than it has been for the previous expansion packs.

Ok how about this: Check the dedicated memory on your machine yourself (to the original poster) Go to > Start > Type in 'Run' in the search box at the bottom > Click it to open it and type in 'dxdiag' and hit enter > when the screen loads click 'Save all information' and save it to desktop. Open the .txt file you just saved and have a look at the Disply Devices section and see what the Dedicated Memory section says. That way you'll know if its that and may even find something else that could be causing problems if you know what to look for.

Hope that helps

[Ladynat]

I have exactly the same problem - I haven't tried all the things you have tried because, frankly, I am a long time sims fan and have been through CC problems in the past and I just think that this isn't related to CC.

One thing though, I know for a fact that my laptop (my s**t hot gaming laptop btw) definitely more than meets the required specs for the game. Pets seems to have a lot of errors and bugs...im just wondering if this is another one of those bugs?

blooming annoying though.