'Disc Authorisation Failure'

[Immortelle]

I've just started getting an Authorisation Failure for what seems no apparent reason.  I have added nothing to the game for well over three days.  The game has been working fine until now.  I have tried everything.  Removing ALL cc (both packages and Sims2Packs).  Deleting the four caches in the Document > Electronic Arts > Sims 3 Folder.  Deleting Options (yeah wierd, but you never know).  I'm buggered if I can figure out why its suddenly doing this.  I'm now starting to get serious withdrawal symptoms.

[BattyCoda]

Are you playing off a disc? Or are you using awesomemod? If you are using awesomemod and no disc, did you perhaps delete it?

[Immortelle]

Am playing off the disc.  I've got the legit store bought one.  And no Awesomemod. 

[kutto]

No idea why a legit copy would do that, but DRM is a funny thing. I suggest Awesomemod; it comes with a no-cd crack built in.

[Immortelle]

Well, the Awesomemod is clearly full of Awesomeness as the game now actually works again.  Still no idea why the game won't look at disc anymore.  That's just bizarre.

[Sparkles]

Are you playing on a Mac?

[Immortelle]

Yes.  Yes I am.

[PhantomNeko]

1. Get rid of your Fisher Price My First Computer. You are how old?
2. Google SecuROM removal.

[saraswati]

PhantomNeko, anyone who's got SecuROM on a Mac has a bit of an issue because the path to remove it isn't the same as for a PC. There is a removal tool on the SecuROM website, but as far as I know, it's just for PC. I did find a video that explains how to remove it for Mac on You Tube though, hopefully that can help Imortelle. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYKkYTUNX4w

[PhantomNeko]

Is using Google so hard?

[saraswati]

It's difficult when the information is thin on the ground, to almost nonexistant. I can't even say for sure that video I found is accurate but I hope it is.

We used to get people who use Macs turning up semi-regularly when I was running Reclaim Your Game, and it was extremely difficult to help them because SecuROM only started turning up on Mac very recently, so there wasn't the knowledge to draw on.

[Immortelle]

And thank you Saraswati, it was very kind of you to help me out. You see, I didn't even know that Securom could be removed from a Mac.  To me, it was just another problem PC's have, so I paid it very little heed.  Didn't EA say that they weren't going to put Securom in the Sims 3?  Just the regular disc detection software?

[uknortherner]

It's not SecuROM as we know it, but rather a simple CD check (albeit by the same people). The problem is, even this simple check is still as bug-ridden as SecuROM itself, although as Awesomemod shows, it's easily circumventable. It's almost as though EA just threw it on there because they were contractually obliged to.

[Immortelle]

Well, that does seem the case, as I am not able to remove Securom in the typical manner.  (Delete the Securom Folder from System Preferences.)  It doesn't even seem to be listed as Securom on the HD. (A scan for securom reveals no such files named such.)  I've been trying to think of another name it might go by.  I doubt Sony.  I suspect the troublesome little file is likely to be something a little less conspicuous than its file name in Spore or Sims 2 EPs, as the nature of it was a little different.

[Sparkles]

1. Get rid of your Fisher Price My First Computer. You are how old?
2. Google SecuROM removal.

It's not SecuROM.

Immortelle, I'm also on a Mac, and I had this same problem a few months ago. I asked EA for help because I couldn't find anyone else who had encountered this issue, much less found a solution. This was their response:

"If you have a variety of programs running in the background on your computer, they may be using a considerable amount of system resources. Closing these unnecessary background processes will help boost system performance in your game, as well as free up system resources which may be conflicting with the game.
1.   From the Finder menu open the Go menu and select Utilities.
2.   Open the Activity Monitor program.
3.   In the top right cornor, make sure the My Processes option is selected from the pull down menu.
4.   Highlight the programs listed one at a time and click the Quit Process button in the top left.
5.   When the confirmation window appears select Force Quit to close the program.
6.   Repeat those steps until only the following four are listed:

- Dock
- Finder
- Login Window
- Activity Monitor

Note: there will be other programs that either will not close, or will re-appear after being closed. Those processes can be skipped.

7. Close the activity monitor and attempt to run the game.

Be aware that this is only a temporary change, restarting the system will restore it to the default state. If closing these programs helps resolve performance issues you may want to go through them one by one to narrow down which program is causing the conflict."

It worked for me, so hopefully it'll work for you.

[saraswati]

Sparkles, that just sounds like their garden variety "end background processes" advice they give PC users too. I'd be careful when it comes to being sure it's not SecuROM, that error message is very similar to one we used to get with early forms of SecuROM. I'm not saying it absolutely is that, it's just something that's good to check off the list.

The information I've got when it comes to Macs is confusing, to say the least. While they said the disk version should be SecuROM free, around the same time we were getting information that the company that was going to port PC games to Mac was putting SecuROM on all of the games that it ported.

[Immortelle]

Trying to quit all processes in general is also a fairly dangerous suggestion to make, as some moron will try to quit operating processes as well.  Don't laugh, I've known people who've tried to do that, and got all upset when they couldn't.  But I'll try that, the 2 am lag I get from Awesomemod I am currently finding to be extremely unawesome.

[Sigmund]

Are you referring to the 1 am lag? I'm pretty sure that's from EAxis (though I haven't played without AM in ages, so I can't remember how noticeable it is in a vanilla game), it's when the game does all of the story progression calculations and so on.

Also, in reference to the Securom thing: I haven't been able to find any traces on my macbook yet, but I don't play from the disc. I have no idea if running from the disc would affect this or not.

[saraswati]

Immortelle, that issue used to drive me nuts, but when I turned on the Awesome Story Drivers, the issue went away. Maybe you could try that and see if it helps?