My game is crashing to desktop with no error messages. I save often in fear it will crash again but the game will sometimes crash while saving and I have to load a backup save game. The patch did nothing!

The crashing is a common problem I see and happens with other games such as Spore. My crash log says:

[Instruction data]
005c423e => DasmX86Dll.dll not found.

(Google DasmX86Dll.dll and you will see it's common for Sims 3 and Spore)

I am running Vista and tried several things which did not help such as disabling desktop composition, running a chkdsk, scanning for bad RAM, running a defrag. My game either crashes 50% of the time when I save my game or just randomly while I'm playing. This makes the game unplayable and I am really dissapointed about this.

Yeah.. as far as I've been able to figure out it can't really tell us anything. Something about EA leaving some coding it shouldn't have, if what I've read is true.

If you have Norton, McAfee, or Windows Live One Care, get rid of it. Try Avast! or Avira instead.

Then try this: http://modthesims2.com/showpost.php...45&postcount=21

I would also recommend updating drivers, but if you want help with that then you're going to have to give us more info. http://modthesims.info/wiki.php?tit...lp:System_Specs

I think Calli meant to post this link? Game Help:System Specs^wiki

Just wondering, have you noticed anything in common that you were doing in game when it happens? I have been having the same problem and it's getting really annoying.

The last 2 times it happened to me I was playing on a big home lot with a larger family, with sims on multiple lots and my active sim had their queue pretty full.

I stumbled onto something a little bit ago, trying to figure out my problem, and I think I may have found something (then again it may be nothing In the deviceconfig.txt file, which lists your video settings and stuff (the similar file from sims 2 listed the number of sims per household, pets per household etc.), there is a line under default options that says "MaxActiveLots 3". I am wondering if this could be causing a problem. If this means you can only have sims at 3 lots at a time, big families could be causing the problem when they are all running about town. Just a thought, but like I said that could mean absolutely nothing. I'm gonna play around with it and see if it helps. I'll let you know.

Ok nevermind the MaxActiveLots 3. I figured out that that is just part of the graphics settings. It is the High Detail Lots setting.

I still think it either has something to do with a full queue or larger families though.

Another thought after reading an article about the .dll file, I have been running with testingcheatsenabled the last 2 times it crashed too. Once again, could mean nothing though.

My computer specs are way over the recommended spec for Sims 3. I also have the latest drivers installed, my computer is free from spyware, I only have the programs I need running at start up and I use Avira Anit-virus already. (Although I will try disable this if it happens again, see if it makes a difference)

The game crashes at random, it doesn't matter if I am in my own lot, or somewhere else. My family is small (1 male, 1 female and a child).

I am starting to think it's something to do with the Sims Launcher but not sure why. How can I elimimate this? Can the launcher be uninstalled but the Downloads folder still work fine?

I have the same problem.
Did you update your drivers?
(garpics card,sound card,etc.)
It didn't solve my problem but it's worth a try.

You don't need to start the game via the Launcher. Go to C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin and start with TS3.exe.

Please post your system specs - without them we can't rule out, or in, hardware issues. If you're right, and they are over requirements, then fine; we'll be able to see that too.

cool21games211, I already said my drivers are up to date

HugeLunatic, I do not start the game via the launcher, I use TS3.exe. I think someone with the same dll error log in the game Spore solved their problem by uninstalling the Spore installer. I was wondering if the same could be done for Sims 3 but still keep the downloads installed and allow new downloads to be added.

whiterider, ... ok sure

Intel Core 2 Quad 9450 @3.2Ghz - 2x2GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 (PC2-6400) 4-4-4-12 - XFX Radeon HD 4890 XXX 1GB - Abit IP35 Pro XE - Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000 750GB - Corsair HX Series 620W - Creative Sound Blaster X-fi XtremeMusic - Hyundai W240D-PVA 24" - Hauppauge WinTV HVR-4000 - Windows Vista Home Premium x64 SP1

Does your crash look like this? That's the voodoo crash that randomly happens at loadup when using mods. There's basically nothing we can do about it and it's totally random, so the only thing you can do is keep running the game until it works.

If your crash does not look like this, it may be brought on by overheating, or bad hacks.

Where did you go to download your drivers? Nothing personal, but you might be surprised at the number of people who think their drivers are up to date but they really aren't. It's quite rare that people post with updated drivers. You sound like you know understand computers pretty well, but I’ve learned not to assume anything.

If they're already up to date then that's great, but just know you can't use Windows Update to correctly update drivers, nor can you use the Device Manager update tools. These would be the most recent for you:

Motherboard: ftp://ftp-usa.abit.com.tw/pub/downl...nf_v9001007.zip
Graphics: http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_c.../common-vista64
Audio: http://support.creative.com/downloa...ownloadId=10969

Also make sure that your onboard audio is disabled in BIOS. I dunno about this error but I know that can cause issues if you don’t.

Have you used msconfig to disable necessary processes and programs and rule out software conflicts (Linked above)? If you haven't actually used msconfig to edit your services and startup processes, then you do have unnecessary stuff running.

Beyond that, I would try removing any cc/mods/hacks you have and see if that helps. If that doesn't work I would try removing user files and then finally doing a fresh install. Basically the game is trying to run a debugger that isn't included so it causes the game to crash. If we can figure out why the game is trying to run the debugger it will stop the crash. At this point I don't think we know how to stop the game from trying to access the dll file.. it would require editing of included code with the game. That's as far as I understand so far.

J. M. Pescado, if you read my original message you would know I am NOT suffering from the game crashing at loading screen.

callistra, I know a lot about computers and I appreciate you trying to help me but you're treating me like I am a computer newbie who doesn't know what he is doing. Looking at my computer specs, you should know I am not a newbie . The error caused by the game calling the debugger so your suggestions are really not going to help. I know I'm not the only one experiencing this either.

All my drivers are up to date. I got my graphics card drivers from the AMD website, the crashing happened with Catalyst 9.5 and 9.6 installed. Motherboard drivers are up to date, so are audio (got them directly from Creative website). Yes, I run msconfig anyway to remove programs I don't want running at startup and yes, onboard sound is disabled in the BIOS. I tried running the game with no mods but it did not help.

It doesn't look like I am going to get an answer from here because no one knows What a waste of money, I think I will get a refund if this isn't fixed.

gohan2091, I'm sorry if you feel that callistra is talking down to you. Believe me, we are all trying to help.

Unfortunately, there's no way to tell how experienced someone is, except perhaps by frequent contact; your machine specs don't tell us anything about your knowledge level.

Because of this, people here have learned to try to rule out the simple explanations first. The more that you can tell us about what you've done so far, the more likely that we'll be able to help you.

Well you can all see my pc specs, it's a high performance machine, something the average user would not have. The fact that I can list my specs in detail and with confidence, plus the explanation of the things I said I already done such as chkdsk, defrag, driver updates etc should further show I am not a newbie. Furthermore, I was about to pick through my error log (and know I had an error log in the first place) and show the specific cause of the problem.

Anyway, no offense, and I mean no offense to anyone either. I am not sure what other information I can provide

I am way over minimum requirements too. I am still having the same problem. Today it crashed in the middle of a save and now the game that was saving won't load. It sucks. I have contacted EA, but am waiting to hear back from them. If I get any useful info I'll let you know.

I had the same problem. I googled it, and found that the particular file it lists as being missing is actually SUPPOSED to be missing, but another error is looking for that particular file to fix it (it's some form of debugging software used in the development stage, from memory. Something that isn't necessary to run the game normally, anyway). I got fed up with reading about Spore issues as this game had the same problem, so I just reinstalled the game. Works fine now.

Here is what I got from EA. So far windowed mode has not crashed. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Answer

If you are experiencing black screens, crashing or freezing while running The Sims 3, we recommend trying to run the game in Windowed Mode. While this fix is temporary, it might help resolve most crashing or freezing issues. To run your game in Windowed Mode, follow the steps below:

* Launch The Sims 3.
* Click on the '...' blue Options button on the lower left-hand side of the screen.
* Click on the 'Options' menu item.
* The 'Graphics' tab should be opened by default.
* Uncheck the 'Enable Fullscreen Mode' button.
* Click on the blue Check Mark button on the lower right-hand corner to save changes.
* Re-start The Sims 3.

Once you're in Windowed Mode, you can adjust the game's resolution to make the Window smaller or bigger as you see fit. The resolution can be changed from the same 'Graphics' tab location above.

If you start the game and only see a black screen (and thus can't switch to Windowed Mode from the Options menu), you can force the game to start in Windowed Mode by following the instructions below:

* Press 'Alt' plus the 'Enter' key on your keyboard.
* Pressing this combination of keys should toggle Windowed Mode. If pressing 'Alt' plus 'Enter' does not set your game to Windowed Mode, you can proceed to edit the game's settings.
* From the 'Start' menu on the Windows Taskbar, click on 'My Documents.'
* Double-click on the 'Electronic Arts' folder.
* Open 'The Sims 3' folder.
* Locate the 'Options.ini' file.
* Right-click on the 'Options.ini' file and select the 'Open with' option.
* Select 'Notepad' as the application to open the 'Options.ini' file.
* Search for the line 'fullscreen=1.'
* Change the value of 'fullscreen' to the number zero: 'fullscreen=0.'
* Save the changes you made to the 'Options.ini' file.
Note: If you are prompted to overwrite the file, click 'OK.' Make sure you save the modified 'Options.ini' file to the same location as the original file.

Keep in mind running the game in Windowed Mode does not fix the black screen issue, but it might improve the overall performance for the game.

Ok, thanks all. I tried running it in windowed mode but the game runs really slow, and is unplayable. I will reinstall the game and keep you people updated.

Charisa1114, if your save game is corrupt, there is a backup in the saves folder.

What a joke! Reinstalled the game but this time, installed the patch before putting any mods on. First time I tried to save, it just sat there saying "saving" forever so I had to ctrl+shift+esc to end TS3.exe. Loaded it back up, told my sim to go to another household, she was there for a few minutes, when she arrived home, I saved and the game crashed during saving!

004a454b => DasmX86Dll.dll not found. error.... Why are some people getting this error and others not?

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/findb...ssing-error.htm I found this. And also some possible solutions here: http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/s...p?topic=15258.0 But it appears to be random. I'm sure it is very upsetting for you, but EA sure doesn't seem to think it's a problem, as I don't see any solutions posted there. :/

Well the window thing didn't work either. It crashed today too. EA has now told me to make sure my drivers are up to date, which they are. They also said to change my sound settings in Direct X, but there is no way to change it the way they told me to. I have Direct X 10, what they are telling me to do works with 9. Had they bothered to look at the results from the DXDiag they told me to do, they would already know that

Charisa1114, the people at EA probably have a huge FAQ to look at. Someone asks a question and EA goes through their various tick boxes until they reach what the FAQ lists as a solution. What they do then is copy and paste to the customer... most gaming support is a joke, with staff not knowing what they are doing.

Canoodle, thanks for the 2 links but they did not help at all

I tried various other things such as installed EA Download Manager but it didn't help. Sigh....

If you have the SAU hair file...remove from your game. I took out my Peggy hair too because it showed up on the Indie compatability program. I searched all over and finally last night found this http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=356709 I did as Mangaroon said and game has been playing fine. Sucks to loose the hair, but sure beats the game crashing every 3 "sim hours"