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Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 4th Sep 2019 at 5:25 PM

This user has the following games installed:

Sims 3, World Adventures, Ambitions, Late Night, Pets, Showtime, Supernatural, Island Paradise
Default Launcher crashes when trying to uninstall CC a.k.a. the cursed dbc-file
Hello!
I am currently trying to uninstall unwanted CC that came with- well, I don't really know where its coming from. It was just there, I think it has been hiding in a zip file and I didn't realize it.
Since my launcher started crashing when I opened the Installed Content menu (I am using the german version, so I am not 100% sure what it is called, but I think you will know what I mean) sooner or later, I did a bit of research and found the Uninstall Method by Mell. I realized that it is the dcdb6.dbc file that seems to cause these crashes. Crashing means, the launcher would disappear without any error message or something.
It is quite frustrating.
I am pretty sure that it is one oft the new items that causes these crashes, but I can't uninstall them since the launcher will shut down after a few seconds or at least minutes. I do not want to delete the whole dbc file since there are some cc objects that are quite important for my gameplay and world building and I wonder, if there is any other way to disable or uninstall those unneeded and annoying items.
I have no gameplay problems though. It is just the launcher crashes and the nerve-racking fact that the new cc shows up in the wrong categories. The launcher even works as long as I don't try and open the Installed Content menu.
Thank you very much!
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Inventor
#2 Old 4th Sep 2019 at 9:43 PM
Not sure if you have tried this.
Copy the DBC folder to your desktop
Inside that folder I create a working folder
Clear out your DBCs from the game folder (very important to not alter the ones you have copied to your desktop, they will go back to the game folder when you are done)
Copy the .dbc6 and place the copy into your working folder
Change the name so it matches the name of dbc1
Put it in your actual game folder that you removed them from and run the launcher. You should now see all the CC in the dbc6
uninstall what you don't want
when done go to the game folder and grab that dbc and place back in your working folder on your desktop
rename it back to dbc6
take all the files from your desktop folder and place back into the game dbc folder.

I hope this helps. I was trying to find the link where I found these instructions. It has worked for me in the past.

Another thing I would do is make sure you clear your caches out of your game folder before trying to launch the launcher and see if that works.
Test Subject
Original Poster
#3 Old 4th Sep 2019 at 10:29 PM
Quote: Originally posted by marydehoyos
Not sure if you have tried this.
Copy the DBC folder to your desktop
Inside that folder I create a working folder
Clear out your DBCs from the game folder (very important to not alter the ones you have copied to your desktop, they will go back to the game folder when you are done)
Copy the .dbc6 and place the copy into your working folder
Change the name so it matches the name of dbc1
Put it in your actual game folder that you removed them from and run the launcher. You should now see all the CC in the dbc6
uninstall what you don't want
when done go to the game folder and grab that dbc and place back in your working folder on your desktop
rename it back to dbc6
take all the files from your desktop folder and place back into the game dbc folder.

I hope this helps. I was trying to find the link where I found these instructions. It has worked for me in the past.

Another thing I would do is make sure you clear your caches out of your game folder before trying to launch the launcher and see if that works.



Thank you marydehoyos,
Unfortunately, this is what I was doing all the time which helped me realizing that it was particularly dbc6 that causes the crashing.
I see all the cc in the launcher, the problem is the launcher crashing as soon as I try to tick or scroll or do anything with it. Most of the time the launcher disappears just moments after I clicked Installed Content, but only if the dbc6 file is placed in the DCCache folder, no matter the name.
I already cleared the cache files, tried to delete the missingidx and the dcdbt.ebc file.
Instructor
#4 Old 5th Sep 2019 at 2:09 PM
You can do it manually but you need to have the original cc files you want to remove and extract them to package. After you've done that, you open the offending dbc in S3PE (double-click should do it unless you don't have it set up as default program for those files, in which case go through S3PE itself and navigate to the dccache or right click => open with and select s3pe), might take a little while to load if you have lots of stuff in it. When it's loaded, drag and drop the package cc items you want to remove anywhere in the left side of the window. On the popup that shows up make sure that "Replace Duplicates" is ticked and on the autosave question click "No" - this step is crucial. Next on top of the left side click on "Chunkoffset" so everything's sorted by that, scroll to the bottom of the list then select and delete everything that has a chunkoffset of 0xFFFFFFFF. Save (not Save As), close and you're done. You can check with the launcher afterwards but assuming those particular items cause the crashing it should be good now.

Good luck There was a very thorough tutorial with pictures for this somewhere and if I can find it I'll add it
Test Subject
Original Poster
#5 Old 5th Sep 2019 at 7:05 PM
Quote: Originally posted by enable_llamas
Good luck There was a very thorough tutorial with pictures for this somewhere and if I can find it I'll add it


Thank you (:
I am not quite sure if I can manage to use the correct CC since I installed a lot of stuff and the game created not only one but 7 new dbc files, so I am not sure which of the packages (I installed them as .sims3pack, so I will have to transform them to .package, right?) are the ones that are needed for this particular dbc-file.
Do you have an idea how I find the ones that I need?
Instructor
#6 Old 5th Sep 2019 at 8:47 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Constanzia
Thank you (:
I am not quite sure if I can manage to use the correct CC since I installed a lot of stuff and the game created not only one but 7 new dbc files, so I am not sure which of the packages (I installed them as .sims3pack, so I will have to transform them to .package, right?) are the ones that are needed for this particular dbc-file.
Do you have an idea how I find the ones that I need?

Here's the tutorial with pictures.

Sorry, I don't think there's a way to guess which is the bad one(s) if you've put lots of stuff at the same time... Your best strategy is to do the 50/50 method - pick half of all those new items and remove them, test to see if it fixed it. If it did, then your culprit is in that batch and you can start adding things back up and testing, again each time picking half of what's left until you're down to 1/few. If it's still crashing after the first half then it's the other one and you should do the same procedure with it. There really isn't any other faster way to narrow it down. Oh and yes, you will have to extract them all but that's pretty much the easiest part, just plop them down in a folder somewhere and use the Sims3Pack Multi Installer.
Site Helper
#7 Old 6th Sep 2019 at 4:15 AM
UMM... I'm not trying to be argumentative, but...

If the Launcher doesn't see package files, how can you use package files to see which one is crashing the Launcher in the Sims3pack version? It's not going to see them, so it's not going to be crashed by one of them, meaning that your binary search is not likely to show that particular problem with any of them... (Although this would seem to solve the problem, since the Launcher won't be crashing anymore. You just won't have that handy list of installed items.) It will find all kinds of other problems if you have them, but I've never had it work well for finding what was crashing my launcher.

Or, you could remove ALL the dbc files, then reinstall sims3packs a few at a time. If you make safe copies of the dbc just before installing a new batch of sims3packs you can restore the latest copy once you install a batch that causes the launcher to crash. Since this was made before installing the new files, it won't have them. This means that you don't need to worry about the Launcher not being able to remove them. Install everything else that was not in that batch. (And remember always to clear caches when adding or removing any content.) Then you can add the files from the suspect batch one at a time until you find out which one was the problem.
(Then I would extract that Sims3pack and use it from the Mods folder, unless it's something that breaks when extracted, or unless it's something that is required for something else. Extracting it will turn it into a new object which looks the same in-game but does not have the same object ID, so if something else is looking for it the ID it is looking for won't be there. If the creator is still active, it would be polite to let them know that it's crashing your launcher. )

I am Ghost. My husband is sidneydoj. I post, he downloads, and I wanted to keep my post count.
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Inventor
#8 Old 6th Sep 2019 at 10:45 AM
So I would suggest http://www.modthesims.info/d/390235...ck-cleaner.html and check your Sims3packs.

S3PW - http://prosims.ru/showthread.php?t=30687 - This viewer is a life saver. You can view the contents of Sims3packs and packages both with it. You can also extract them using this. It is one of the best tools I have found for cleaning CC as a first step.

In a final step when everything else has failed me. I found this works to find somethings. As enable_llamas was suggesting extracting and turning into packages the Sims3Packs. I do the same but my step is to turn them into packages, create one folder on my desktop, drop the extracted packages into it as well as all my packages from my Mods>Package folder and run http://www.modthesims.info/d/387006...4167-38743.html to see if I have a conflict somewhere.
Instructor
#9 Old 6th Sep 2019 at 2:16 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Ghost sdoj
UMM... I'm not trying to be argumentative, but...

If the Launcher doesn't see package files, how can you use package files to see which one is crashing the Launcher in the Sims3pack version? It's not going to see them, so it's not going to be crashed by one of them, meaning that your binary search is not likely to show that particular problem with any of them... (Although this would seem to solve the problem, since the Launcher won't be crashing anymore. You just won't have that handy list of installed items.) It will find all kinds of other problems if you have them, but I've never had it work well for finding what was crashing my launcher.

Or, you could remove ALL the dbc files, then reinstall sims3packs a few at a time. If you make safe copies of the dbc just before installing a new batch of sims3packs you can restore the latest copy once you install a batch that causes the launcher to crash. Since this was made before installing the new files, it won't have them. This means that you don't need to worry about the Launcher not being able to remove them. Install everything else that was not in that batch. (And remember always to clear caches when adding or removing any content.) Then you can add the files from the suspect batch one at a time until you find out which one was the problem.
(Then I would extract that Sims3pack and use it from the Mods folder, unless it's something that breaks when extracted, or unless it's something that is required for something else. Extracting it will turn it into a new object which looks the same in-game but does not have the same object ID, so if something else is looking for it the ID it is looking for won't be there. If the creator is still active, it would be polite to let them know that it's crashing your launcher. )


I meant using the 50/50 method on the big batch of new items that are suspect when removing manually via the method linked above As in extract half of those newly installed stuff, unmerge from dbc in one go, check if launcher now works. If yes - start narrowing it down from there, if no - do the second half. Oh, btw, always make backups of dbcs before fiddling with them. Of course you can always just use this method to unmerge all the new stuff and the just start manually adding them back through the launcher again in single/smaller batches but that would be much more tedious and annoying since it sounds like there were a lot of items.

Also about the launcher and package files - when you extract the s3pack you get a package file that has all the resources with the same instance numbers as those that the launcher stores into the dbc when a cc piece is installed so it can successfully be used to remove it if necessary. I personally use this all the time and it works, I've also used it to changed clothing/object categories of already installed stuff, add/replace thumbnails, replace objd resources, remove objects that the launcher had refused to uninstall due to "dependencies", etc. The dbcs are essentially big merged package files and can be manipulated as such. I hope this helps

Your suggestion also would work, Ghost sdoj but I'd suggest just removing the dbc6 since they know that's causing trouble. Then see what's missing and start adding it in again in smaller groups till you find your borked item(s). Also I strongly agree about extracting and using package files, causes so much less headache and you can make a "test" folder where all the new stuff goes to see how it looks/behaves in game before you decide on keeping it permanently. Much easier to spot problems and remove faulty cc without having to redo all of your other installed stuff, too.
Test Subject
Original Poster
#10 Old 9th Sep 2019 at 12:12 AM
Quote: Originally posted by enable_llamas
Also about the launcher and package files - when you extract the s3pack you get a package file that has all the resources with the same instance numbers as those that the launcher stores into the dbc when a cc piece is installed so it can successfully be used to remove it if necessary. I personally use this all the time and it works, I've also used it to changed clothing/object categories of already installed stuff, add/replace thumbnails, replace objd resources, remove objects that the launcher had refused to uninstall due to "dependencies", etc. The dbcs are essentially big merged package files and can be manipulated as such. I hope this helps



Can't I just take the .package files from DCBackup and put them in my packages folder, and then use the 50/50 method with these? I found an earlier version of my dcdb6, so I wondered wether it would be easier to use the old one and the .package files.
Instructor
#11 Old 10th Sep 2019 at 4:05 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Constanzia
Can't I just take the .package files from DCBackup and put them in my packages folder, and then use the 50/50 method with these? I found an earlier version of my dcdb6, so I wondered wether it would be easier to use the old one and the .package files.

Sorry I'm not sure I get exactly what you're asking but if understand correctly - you can't find the package files as whole inside the dbc to take them out as standalone objects, they're in as loose resources merged together in one big file. Since you have an older dcdb it might be easier to back up your current faulty one somewhere and then replace it with the older one. If there are no issues with that one you can go in game, see what's missing from the newer stuff you put in and then add them back in gradually until you find what's tripping the launcher up. Or, alternatively, don't bother with it again and install them just as packages since you said they didn't cause problems in the game.
Test Subject
Original Poster
#12 Old 10th Sep 2019 at 6:45 PM
Quote: Originally posted by enable_llamas
Sorry I'm not sure I get exactly what you're asking but if understand correctly - you can't find the package files as whole inside the dbc to take them out as standalone objects, they're in as loose resources merged together in one big file. Since you have an older dcdb it might be easier to back up your current faulty one somewhere and then replace it with the older one. If there are no issues with that one you can go in game, see what's missing from the newer stuff you put in and then add them back in gradually until you find what's tripping the launcher up. Or, alternatively, don't bother with it again and install them just as packages since you said they didn't cause problems in the game.


When you install .sims3packs, the game creates .package files that are placed in the DCBackup folder. These are needed as resources to make the used .sims3pack CC exportable. My question is: Do these .package files in the DCBackup folder work just as the usual .package files and I can move them from DCBackup to my mods/packages folder so they would appear in my game as .package objects? Unfortunately I can't find all the sims3packs I installed since I usually delete the files from the downloads folder after installing and for some reason I am missing some of the .zip files they came in.
Instructor
#13 Old 11th Sep 2019 at 10:30 PM
The extracted "packages" that the launcher merges together in the dcdb don't exist as a whole, they are just a bunch of loose resources that put together make up the item, so no, unfortunately you can't take out a working package file out of the dcdb like that. I generally can't think of a way to fix it (short of just deleting it) without having the original files of the objects... You may want to go in game and check out the names of the items and redownload them.
Test Subject
Original Poster
#14 Old 12th Sep 2019 at 12:57 PM
Quote: Originally posted by enable_llamas
The extracted "packages" that the launcher merges together in the dcdb don't exist as a whole, they are just a bunch of loose resources that put together make up the item, so no, unfortunately you can't take out a working package file out of the dcdb like that. I generally can't think of a way to fix it (short of just deleting it) without having the original files of the objects... You may want to go in game and check out the names of the items and redownload them.


I know that, but I am talking about the DCBackup folder. Not the dbc6 file, which is in .dbc format and placed in the DCCache folder.
The files in DCBackup are .packages that are created when you install a .sims3pack. They are not merged.
I thought that I could open them with S3PE and find out, which ones I want to keep in my game and move these to the mods/packages folder. I tried it and to me they looked like valid package files.
Instructor
#15 Old 12th Sep 2019 at 5:41 PM
Oh, yeah, you could totally do that. I forgot it generated packages there cause usually people delete them right after installing (and also I haven't used the damn launcher in about a billion years). They work fine
Test Subject
Original Poster
#16 Old 13th Sep 2019 at 10:22 AM
Thank you a lot (:
Instructor
#17 Old 13th Sep 2019 at 1:54 PM
You're welcome, I hope you get it sorted out
Field Researcher
#18 Old 22nd Sep 2019 at 7:01 AM
I had the same problem several months ago when I was adding stuff in from a hard drive replacement. And yes, because it crashes the Launcher when you go to the Installed tab, it's difficult to get rid of. I would suggest that you visit Crinrict's site because they've put a lot into figuring out what files are buggy. Seems like most bugs have been removed but one I keep running across is the Arezzo Bathroom cabinet.

See this: https://sims3.crinrict.com/en/2014/...unterright.html

Essentially, just do a computer search for this: 0xee20737c7dc80e00dec6ef0b2c262a36.package

If you haven't ever deleted the content in your DCBackup folder, and you have this bug, it will be there. You can try to remove it via the Launcher but I know it's very difficult because of the crashing thing. But at least you'll know what you're looking for.

If you've kept the .Sims3pack files you've installed somewhere (I hang on to them and "zip" them until I get enough to burn), you may end up having to uninstall all of your custom content, looking through your pack files, removing the offending cabinet (perhaps in more than 1 file), and reinstalling everything. Hopefully, if you identify this offender, you can get to it through Launcher. I seem to remember that you need to go slowly.

I had a worse problem because I didn't have any files that were affected EXCEPT for a WORLD file, and I didn't think to check it until months of frustration had me going crazy!
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