I keep getting a message that doesn't make sense when I try to install an expansion for Sims 3. It says cannot install because power pc applications no longer supported. No Sims 3 games are power pc applications. How do I get around the apparent glitch? EA is clueless when it comes to Mac issues and is unable to help. Is there any way to install a Mac game from a disk when the disk install launcher doen't work?
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012), iOS 6.1
Unfortunately PowerPC indicates their software was designed for pre-2006 Macs. You can run Mac OS X 10.6 server in virtualization to allow you to enable Rosetta in Parallels virtualization as this tip explains:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-2295#ROSETTALION
Once installed in virtualization, you can probably share the drive with the MacBook Pro native operating system and move the files to their respective locations to enable it. That's only if the software is known to work with Mac OS X 10.7 or later. If they think it works with Mac OS X 10.6 and higher, that means only that it is compatible with 10.6 and 10.6.1. Even 10.6.7 and higher means 10.6.7 and 10.6.8.
If it doesn't work in virtualization with 10.6.8 Server, unfortunately you'll need a pre-2006 Mac to run the program.
The software was NOT created for pre 2006 Macs. It wasn't even created until 2012. So it was not created for Power PCs. It's an invalid message, meaning some kind of software glitch in the installer. I'm trying to figure out how to install the game without using the installer, since the installer seems to be the problem, not the game itself.
If EA is, as you say, "clueless when it comes to Mac issues," they may have used an old PowerPC-based installer program by mistake.
Probably nobody outside of EA knows enough about how the game and the expansion are structured to know how to install the expansion without the installer program.
http://www.macmaps.com/macgamepages.html is a bunch of Mac gaming resources at one link I compiled* while ago including some game specific forums. I would ask there, and see if anyone has succeeded in getting the expansion pack combined with the main application in one CD or download from EA.
* links to my pages may give me compensation
irishelf67 wrote:
The software was NOT created for pre 2006 Macs. It wasn't even created until 2012. So it was not created for Power PCs...
According to Wikipedia, Sims 3 was released on June 2, 2009 with both the Windows and OS X versions on each side of the same disc. The Expansion Packs were first released in November, 2009 and further ones were continued to be released through October, 2013.
In this forum thread, Understanding how the Sims 3 runs on a Mac, it is explained that the Mac version of the Sims 3 is just the Windows version running in Cider:
"Cider™ is an extremely powerful technology that allows games to be released day and date with their PC counter-parts giving publishers significant upside revenue potential and leveraging marketing and branding initiatives. Cider also allows publishers to release either dedicated Mac versions of their games or PC/Mac hybrid versions (i.e. both versions of the game in a single box)."
Chances are that Cider in 2009 has continued to use PowerPC code, since the relevant version of Mac OS X at that time would have contained the Rosetta translation software that allowed all Macs to continue to run most PowerPC apps after the hardware migration to the Intel CPU commencing in 2007.
Sims 2, released in 2005, would have for sure been written in PowerPC code. And an expansion pack for Sims 3 released later, may still contain PowerPC code in it or its installer application.
Due to the expiration of Apple's license to use the code underlying Rosetta, all versions of OS X since the release of Lion (and Mt. Lion and Mavericks) do not contain Rosetta.
Either run the Windows version with Windows installed in virtualization on your Mac or install Snow Leopard Server into virtualization (so as to regain access to Rosetta) and see if Cider will operate in that environment.
Since this is the only expansion pack I have this issue with, I think it unlikely it has a power pc installer (especially because I've seen threads where people with power pc Macs couldn't install sims 3 at all). It's definately some kind of glitch, which may have to do with one of EA's patches for the game or because they weren't installed in order. Since I do not want to run Windows on my Mac and I can't afford to purchase Snow Leopard to run in virtualization, I might just have to do the dreaded uninstall reinstall.
You are aware that Snow Leopard Server's price has been reduced 95% by Apple to the same $20 price (as Snow Leopard client) by telephone order only: 1.800.MYAPPLE (1.800.692.7753) - Apple Part Number: MC588Z/A
Some people report excellent results from installing SLS into a free virtualization program that I personally do not use; VirtualBox.
A quick way to determine if there really is any PowerPC code on your machine is read my tip here:
sims 3 expansion won't install
