Showtime: service initialisation failed.

[DigitalSympathies]

Hey all.

So I got ShowTime, the Katy Perry edition (it was all they had in stock) and jumped through hoop after hoop to patch the launcher as I've only ever patched twice (Late Night and once accidentally during a reinstall, I hate patches as a principle) and everything's been gobblygook'd around. Anyways. So I finally use SuperPatcher or whatever it's called (forgive me, it's a bit late) to get the patches working as my region codes are all muddled and then, when I get SHT installed . . . the damn thing won't run! Service initialisation failed! I've done everything right, and I should mention I've installed it on my external harddrive. I have only a few mods (some Twallan ones and the hospital overhaul mod) but removing them causes no changes.

Moved the exe to the desktop, no luck. Went to the install folder, no luck. Launcher, no launcher, reinstalling EADM (Origin, is that what they call it now?) and the LAST thing I want to do is reinstall as I just got it running with Master Suite Stuff perfectly YESTERDAY! Sigh. I'm on a computer that beats the specs by a mile and can do maxed out settings with no lag or rendering. I don't have the exact specs as I'm not using it right now (my brother is) but what am I doing wrong here?

All of these are disc copies, I've got every EP and SP, some Store content too, and I'm on Windows 7 Home Premium with three harddrives and a decent amount of free space.

[ellacharmed]

Sims 3 - Installing / Patching / Uninstalling
Whether you are Installing for the first time or Reinstalling, be sure to read the Game Help:Install FAQ.
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This Game_Help:TS3_Uninstall link has the step-by-step instructions to guide you through uninstalling The Sims 3,
and its (EP/SP) packs. As well as removing any leftovers after uninstalling.
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The Game_Help:TS3_Patching Guide provides information on:
Tips Before You Begin
Patching Common Errors
Manual Patch Downloads
Invalid File Errors and more



I don't suppose you want to hear my suggestion then. ;)

You have 3 HDDs and you install Sims on the external? Via USB or Firewire? Isn't it slow? Is the external plugged out and re-plugged in during the course of the day? I'm trying to determine if the Drive letter changes...

If you don't want to uninstall, I suppose you can test first if CCleaner can clean up any registry messes. But if that doesn't work, all your moving about of files likely mess things up too. And the only cure is the FULL uninstall, as the patch is now at base game paths.

Why would you move the .exe to the Desktop anyway? You create a new shortcut! Never move files from Program Files (or god forbid, Windows path) to anywhere else. Even if you think you know what you're doing.

[DigitalSympathies]

I'm on a USB and no, it's not slow at all. It's not unplugged, ever, and the drive letter's never changed since I bought it two years ago. I've used CCleaner and I moved out all my files.

That's what I meant by the shortcut thing with the .exe by the way. :P It's a shortcut that I'm using, I'd never mess with Program Files.

Sigh, I just uninstalled ShowTime. All my problems went away. Might try using my sister's copy.

[ellacharmed]

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Did I read somewhere that you're no longer playing Showtime? So no longer interested in solving this, and I can close it?

Can we see specs? Either way, it would be interesting to collect statistics on what machines have issues with the EP. If Showtime does not work for you, does it mean patch 1.32 is OK or are you also back to an older patch version? If so, which?