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Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 26th Jun 2016 at 2:18 AM

This user has the following games installed:

Sims 3, World Adventures, Ambitions, Late Night, Generations, Pets, Showtime, Supernatural, Seasons, University Life, Into the Future
Delphy's Dashboard Help
Hey There,

So a while ago I downloaded this dashboard to hopefully get a look at the custom content I was using, and if it was damaged, corrupt etc. The first time I used this program it worked no troubles, now it's a few weeks later and I cannot seem to run the program without this message;

"bad compression flags at
MadScience.Wrappers.DatabasePackedFile.Read(Stream input, Boolean throwError)
at MadScience.Wrappers.Database.readDatabase(Stream stream, Boolean readExisting, Boolean throwError)
at MadScience.Wrappers.Database..ctor(Stream stream, Boolean readExisting, Boolean throwError)
at Sims3Dashboard.Form1.checkPackage(String filename, ListViewItem item)
at Sims3Dashboard.Form1.ProcessFiles()"

Now, I've read a little online about a "Bad Compression" issue, and I can't seem to find anything related to this. This message will appear in a popup window which will reappear almost instantly after I press "OK". I can't use the Dashboard without this message appearing ever 2 seconds (literally) and I don't really know what else to do about it. I've deleted the file from my downloads multiple times and re-downloaded it but still no luck unfortunately.
I have a mountain of CC I would love to sort through so I can either delete some if they're wasting space or if they're making my game lag and occasionally freeze.
I do have some Mods installed such as NRaas_Overwatch which removes unroutable Sims/Pets, unused vehicles and turns off electrical appliances such as TV's and Stereos. I also have a Core Mod which is just for new and different locations for tattoos and this is only available in CAS obviously. My game will pause/freeze for a few seconds and then continue on, but on the occasion where I tried to change the colour of a Kettle, my game crashed. This is why I would like to sort my CC out, as I believe there is something around 3GB installed. I also have a crappy laptop which I plan to ditch toward the end of the year which could be causing these problems with a low processor and outdated CPU.

If anyone has any suggestions it would be awesome to know, as there are quite a number of issues in my game which I can hopefully solve to an extent using this tool.

Thank you!
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Inventor
#2 Old 26th Jun 2016 at 8:53 AM
I recall a similar message I've seen a time (or three), it happened when I'd mistakenly downloaded some Sims 4 cc thinking it was for 3. There may well be other causes for that message, or similar, as well. I'm not sure if I'm understanding the next part correctly though? Do you have Dashboard in your dl folder? Is that what you keep replacing? I just have my shortcut to the program on my desktop and run it from there. I know it doesn't need to be in the Mods folder and probably shouldn't be. You may want to try the 50/50 method with your cc to see if you have a culprit there ( pull half your cc, test the rest to see if things work, if they do your problem is in the rest of the cc, repeat with that batch and so on until you can narrow down the problem(s). I'd do that with a fresh test game after you've saved your "real" games to a safe place so those don't get messed up.

Overwatch ( and everything from Nraas is awesome, no worries there. The XCAS mod is gold as well. The crashing could be caused by problematic cc or other issues as well. If you can post your dxdiag that ( maybe under a spoiler, so it doesn't consume half a page ) that may be helpful as well to some of the more tech savvy that stop by here. This doesn't sound like that sort of a problem to me at this point though.

Back to the initial problem of running the Dashboard, if you have your cc organized it'll definitely make it easier to find problems. You can do the 50/50 thing with that as well and won't need to make a backup game folder since the game doesn't start for that. If you don't already have one you might want to consider a subfolder in mods called testing ( or anything similar) to keep new cc apart from the stuff that you know is working as intended.

Shotgunning bland cucumbers since 1974
Test Subject
Original Poster
#3 Old 26th Jun 2016 at 10:49 PM
Thank you so much! I just moved the file from my downloads onto my desktop and it worked perfectly, I had no idea why I didn't think of that before! I spent an hour or so yesterday finding more CC only to realise in game that they were for Sims 4 only. Now I can run my .package files through the Dashboard again, you're a lifesaver! I also read about the 50/50 thing, and came across something along the lines of catagorising both .package files and .sims3packs. If I make multiple subfolders in my Downloads folder for the game, will they still work? Just curious, because I mainly use CC for my games now. On another note as well, I also use lots of CC when I build houses, I've recently designed two and tried to upload them to the Sims 3 Exchange to My Studio. Its been 4 days since I uploaded them, however in my Launcher it says they're already uploaded online and I can't see them in My Studio? If I use CC too much, will it just take extra time?

Sorry to ramble on lol. Thanks!
Inventor
#4 Old 27th Jun 2016 at 12:01 AM
That's wonderful that you're up and running again, great! Subfolders are essential to me, they're so handy to have. I used to go very deep with them in Sims 2, I don't go nearly as far in 3 because I convert almost everything to packages and then merge those. For an example in my Mods folder , under packages I have a folder called CAS stuff, within that is a folder called female hair, inside of that is a folder called Newsea, so I guess 3 folders deep? No problems there at all and i imagine you could go at least a bit deeper with no troubles as well. Might depend on your OS and what type of file reading system it uses.

The more cc you use ( and the more EP's and SP's you have) the longer the game/cas etc will take to load, yes. It'll depend greatly on your comp specs, but other posters here ( like Nitromon and others) know infinitely more than I do about that and settings that may help your performance. I have just under 16 gigs of cc merged into just less than 500 packages and my comp handles that fine. I barely have anything in downloads just worlds and about a dozen other items. Not a fan of sims3packs. I can't help you with the exchange stuff, I don't use that at all, but I recall Igazor, a most helpful individual both here and at Nraas, commenting on another post recently and saying the exchange ( and I think other features) were down for maintenance.No worries on rambling at all and hopefully other posters may have helpful advice for you as well. Really glad I can help, many others have helped me over the years , it's a "pay it forward" kind of community

Shotgunning bland cucumbers since 1974
Lab Assistant
#5 Old 19th Mar 2021 at 1:20 PM
hi there

i keep getting the Boolean throw error. it did tell me which files it was but now i just getting the boolean error with no detail.
my game is working as i threw the package files out that where the culprit but im still getting a few boolean errors and my sim CANT GET INTO HIS HOUSE , AND THE CAT CANT GET OUT! Can you help me pls?

thanks for a fantastic utility! its saved my bacon many times
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