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Instructor
Original Poster
#1 Old 28th Jul 2008 at 11:37 AM Last edited by simsample : 8th Oct 2008 at 7:53 PM. Reason: Added information
Default Homecrafter not loading? Possible solution here
Huge thanks to Issanet! :D

Edit by simsample:

Quote: Originally posted by simsample
For others with Homecrafter issues, please try all of the suggestions in this article before posting:

http://www.sims2wiki.info/wiki.php?...elp:Homecrafter

Thanks to Issanet for the method and executable, and Cameronsnan for the written instructions.

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Lab Assistant
#2 Old 29th Jul 2008 at 1:43 AM
Same thing happening here!
I checked the logs:
C:/Program Files/EA Games/The Sims 2 HomeCrafter Plus/HCBin

In mine I have several TS2Uberkat files, one for every time I tried to start it. They are notepad documents with the following:


Exception time: 07/28/2008, at 20:11:26.
Exception code: 0xC0000005 (-1073741819) ACCESS_VIOLATION.
Current thread ID: 2640 (0x00000a50).
Version information:
Application/module path: C:\PROGRA~1\EAGAME~1\THAACC~1\HCBin\TS2HomeCrafterPlus.exe
Application/module version name: The Sims 2 HomeCrafter Plus
Application/module version: 1.0.0.988
System version: Windows NT 5.1
System memory: 1536 Megabytes total, 1084 Megabytes free.
Application/module configuration: ReleaseSRT

Exception module: C:\PROGRA~1\EAGAME~1\THAACC~1\HCBin\TS2HomeCrafterPlus.exe.
Exception address: 0x00402d27. Section:Offset: 0x01:0x00001d27.

Registers
EAX: 00000000
EBX: 009fca98
ECX: 00000000
EDX: 00000001
ESI: 0012f720
EDI: 00000001
CS:EIP: 001b:00402d27
SS:ESP: 0023:0012f41c EBP:0012f434
DS:0023 ES:0023 FS:003b GS:0000
Flags: 00010246
and then a long list of Loaded Modules.

What I don't get is the Access Violation. I only have one login on this computer, and it is obviously and administrater's login.
Whaaa??

I'm running a new install of Windows XP, have all the ep's and sp's installed. I did get it to run a couple of times by right clicking the shortcut, and choosing Run as.. and leaving it as Current User, with the Protect My Computer....thing checked. But then it shows floors from the base game only, and limited walls. NO custom content, and I have plenty.
So I tried the Run as..Current User, and unchecked the box to see if cc would show up, and I just get another file in the HCBin log, another access violation.

I just downloaded it today, too. Suppose it's a borked version??

Also, just saw your edit: I, too have Ikea installed.
Instructor
Original Poster
#3 Old 29th Jul 2008 at 8:19 AM
I have a load of those logs too Amysmom. There's only one administrator on my PC....me! Because you have XP, that eliminates the OS as being the fault. It must be Ikea, that's the only thing different to my old PC. I have googled this til my eyes popped and can't find anything related to homecrafter with Ikea. It's frustrating. If I do find a solution I will let you know
Test Subject
#4 Old 29th Jul 2008 at 8:33 AM
It wont work with me too. im running windows xp proff and on my older computer that was xp home edition it worked.
Instructor
#5 Old 29th Jul 2008 at 12:10 PM
Access Violation has nothing to do with the admin rights. It may be, for example, that program tries to access memory (in RAM) which doesn't belong to it, or something like that - that's program internal error, it has nothing to do with security settings.

Honestly, my Homecrafter doesn't work for ages, but I use SimPE and don't care about HCP, since SimPE is better
Instructor
Original Poster
#6 Old 29th Jul 2008 at 12:31 PM
Thanks Jasana. So I can use SimPE to make wallpaper? I didn't know that. Is there anywhere that tells how to do it?
Lab Assistant
#7 Old 29th Jul 2008 at 4:01 PM
Jasana-only reason I went and re-downloaded HC was that I couldn't find how to use SimPE for walls and floors!
Please spill it! I was in the Object Creator...should I be somewhere else??

Also, I thought the Access violation may be because when I downloaded HC, I saved it to my "storage" drive, a large partition on my HDD. So I re-downloaded it and saved it to my desktop, and reinstalled, but same thing. WHAT memory could it be using that it's not s'posed to??
Just curious, if I can use simPE, I'm good. After searching the SimPE site, Quaxi told someone that you can do walls and floors, but only in Advanced mode. So off I go to learn how to do that.
Thanks all for your input, one would think that EA's tools would be up to date with their own products....oh, wait--*rolls eyes*--this is EA...
Eminence Grise
#8 Old 29th Jul 2008 at 10:02 PM Last edited by Srikandi : 29th Jul 2008 at 10:08 PM.
I've been having this problem too. Jasana provided the info here: http://www.modthesims2.com/showthre...371#post1993371

Hopefully now I can figure it out, lol!
Test Subject
#9 Old 30th Jul 2008 at 8:10 AM
Me Too
Quote: Originally posted by cameronsnan
I installed homecrafter today and it just won't load. This is a new PC running Vista Home Premium. It's exactly the same (running vista) as old one and I never had a problem running it before. I launched it almost an hour ago and it still won't start. Nothing in task manager either
Any help would be appreciated
Thanks

Edited to add: I just had a thought. I have installed Ikea SP, could it be that HCP is not compatible?
I have had the same problem in the past I run on Vista also. What I have found is if I don't use the shortcut but got to the file location which is easy just right click on the short cut if you dont know where it is then hit open it still takes time for it to open but not an hour. Make sure nothing unnecessary is running,hidden stuff like itunes or anything and it should work much faster. Also getting a registry cleaner might help if you are a big downloader. All the junk files tend to mess with that and bodyshop for some reason.Hope this helps!!! And the IKEA is probably not it. But who know with the new stuff.SimPE is not ready for that yet but since Homecrafter and bodyshop is an EA software that to me would seem highly unlikely.If nothing else redownload it...
Lab Assistant
#10 Old 1st Aug 2008 at 5:27 PM
I am having the same issue as well; much to my dismay.

In any case, I've tried all suggested in this thread and others here at MTS2 to no avail . . . Homecrafter when executed will show briefly as a process in Task Manager then disappear/ crash. I'm really not sure which EP or SP 'broke' my Homecrafter since it has been quite some time since I tried to use it last.

So, in a very desperate move I contacted EA for support; I have a very hard time just 'living with a broken app' . . . I must find the solution! Lol

I reported the problem with Homecrafter to EA, even sent along one of the TS2Uberkat text files to show them the full error report with exception codes, etc. But guess what!? EA replied with the following:

Quote:
Thank you for contacting Electronic Arts Technical Support regarding on your concern with The Sims 2.

As to your concern, we do not support or advice the use of this program (Homecrafter Plus) since it's considered as a game modifier. It may cause conflict(s) with the game itself.

Should you have any other concerns or problems regarding EA Games feel free to contact us or you can review our extensive Self Support Knowledgebase (http://support.ea.com).

Sincerely,

Jay P.
Technical Support
Electronic Arts™

WTH? LOL?

So, I replied back with:

Quote:
I'm not sure I'm understanding the reply I've received since Homecrafter Plus is a program offered by Maxis/EA on the Sims 2 Official Website: http://thesims2.ea.com/getcoolstuff/homecrafter.php.

Am I to understand by the reply sent to me that the official Sims Support Site doesn't offer support for a product produced/ distributed by Maxis/ EA? How strange . . . In any case, I would still be highly interested in a solution to the technical issue describe in my initial post; if one can be offered.


So, we'll have to wait and see what 'they' say about that . . . really, one would think that such a large company would have 'someone' on the support staff who at least is knowledgable about what software Maxis/ EA has distributed to the public. Really though, it is disappointing that in truth it seems they don't. Then again, the idea that EA produces/ distributes software that they won't support is an even more troubling thought . . .

If/ when I hear back from EA on this, I'll post back; I'm highly curious as to how they will respond!

~*~ Miska ~*~

* Sidenote: as an aside I am able to create wall/ floors with SimPE (thanks Jasana for the tip on that being possible), but I want Homecrafter to work! Lol It makes no sense to me that it doesn't. Doesn't EA/ Maxis update Homecrafter . . . ever? Nevermind, I can guess the answer already. *

"If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague."
Lab Assistant
#11 Old 1st Aug 2008 at 5:51 PM
Hold the Phone! :)
Everyone . . .

After the previous post I tried something that I recalled reading while looking for answers to the Homecrafter problem yesterday.

When executing the program from the Windows Start menu (via the shortcut) rather than just left-clicking on it and executing 'normally', right-click on the short cut and select RunAs. Doing this will bring up a box that asks which user you want to run the program as/under. Just check to make sure your Windows UserName is selected (it should be by default) and click the 'OK' button. When I did this Homecrafter loaded quickly/ appeared before my eyes. How strange, but it worked!

It seems that Homecrafter now will only run under the default Administrator account, and not just an account with Administrative Rights. I don't run in default Administrator mode (as I keep that account for pure troubleshooting) and just use the account that I set up initially when installing Windows which by default has Administrative Rights.

Hope this Helps!

~*~ Miska ~*~

"If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague."
Test Subject
#12 Old 2nd Aug 2008 at 4:04 AM
I'm sorry everyone I have never posted before but I am desperate and EA will not help. Homecrafter use to work for me until I uninstalled and reinstalled my games. when I loaded base game I installed homecrafter and it worked and then I instaled University,Bon Voyage,Seasons ,pets and the homecrafter quit working . I have done the debugging instruction that doesn't workfor me I have done the left click run as adminstrator that doesn't work it shows up for a second on taskmanager and then goes away . I don't know what else to do please help.
Instructor
Original Poster
#13 Old 2nd Aug 2008 at 9:55 AM
I found out the probable reason why homecrafter does not work on some PCs. The ts2homecraft.sys (the driver) is seriously out of date. It is timestamped Dec 2004. So until they update, those of us who can't get it to work are stuffed, as the later versions of XP and Vista probably don't support this driver.

Miska, that RunAs option doesn't work in Vista I'm afraid, the only option I get is "Run as Administrator" in the right click menu, which doesn't work either.
Lab Assistant
#14 Old 2nd Aug 2008 at 6:30 PM Last edited by miska : 2nd Aug 2008 at 8:43 PM. Reason: Typo
Cameronsnan, Christa Boutique et al,

I was way too happy about the 'RunAs' workaround and later found that 'no' this doesn't work . . . you're right Cameronsnan. After being told numerous times by Homecrafter that "There is not enough hard disk space to support these textures" (when in truth I have way more than would be necessary for a measly texture (194 GB free space on one drive and 184GB free space on another) I gave up trying to track down the problem and waited for the response to my reply over at EA. This morning the reply from EA came in, and I have to say I was more than disappointed:

Quote:
Thanks for contacting Electronic Arts Technical Support. I do apologize for the inconvenience you're experiencing with The Sims 2 right now.

These tools & materials are provided "as is" without any warranties of any kind, express or implied. EA specifically disclaims any warranties of fitness for a particular purpose, merchantability and no infringement.

Any use you choose to make of these tools & materials is undertaken by you entirely at your own risk. EA does not warrant that these tools & materials will not cause damage to your computer system, network, software or other technology.

EA will not provide support for these tools & materials. Please do not call or send email to EA customer support regarding these tools & materials, as ea will not be able to answer these inquiries.

In no event shall EA be liable for any direct, consequential, incidental, special, punitive or other damages whatsoever, arising out of or related to this license even if EA has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

EA reserves the right to discontinue the availability of these tools & materials, or modify them, at any time, without obligation to anyone.

Hopefully these suggestions will be of service to you. Thank you for your time and patience.

Should you require further assistance about this or any Electronic Arts games in the future please visit our website and review our extensive Self Help knowledgebase (http://support.ea.com).

Thanks,

Rain
EA Technical Support


One just has to 'love' when companies produce a product, offer it to the public and then turn around and won't support it!

I have to agree with you Cameronsnan with regard to later versions of XP and Vista. I'm running XP Pro with service pack 3 and I'm guessing that this is the crux of this issue for me and Homecrafter. I remember some time ago before XP SP 3 was released that there were some aspects of that update that were based on Vista elements (for example, see: http://www.informationweek.com/news...leID=204700446).

I'm guessing (and this is ONLY a guess) that if I were to remove SP 3 that maybe, just maybe Homecrafter would run properly - since I know for a fact it has been quite a long time since I tried running Homecrafter - well before SP 3 was even heard of, and SP 3 is the only major change to my system I've made since that time. On the 'bright side' I suppose, indeed there is a way to remove SP 3 via Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel; however, I'm not sure I'm willing to 'take my system apart' just for the sake of running Homecrafter when really 'in truth' that shouldn't be necessary; EA should maintain its software - all of it - or not offer it for download.

In the end, I should have 'smelled a rat' somewhere when trying the 'RunAs' workaround and Homecrafter loaded so fast! It literally was way too good to be true!

I wonder if anyone would be able to work on/modify the ts2homecraft.sys (homecrafter's driver) to make it work? Just a thought . . .

At least in the end we still have SimPE, but this doesn't excuse/release Maxis/ EA from their responsibility to maintain their software or remove it from the public venue/ offering. Just my .02.

~*~ Miska ~*~

"If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague."
Lab Assistant
#15 Old 6th Aug 2008 at 8:44 AM
Can't get it to start either. Shitty of EA to not support it! Gonna check out that SimPE-tutorial...

:)
Lab Assistant
#16 Old 7th Aug 2008 at 9:58 PM
Quote: Originally posted by cameronsnan
I installed homecrafter today and it just won't load. This is a new PC running Vista Home Premium. It's exactly the same (running vista) as old one and I never had a problem running it before. I launched it almost an hour ago and it still won't start. Nothing in task manager either
Any help would be appreciated
Thanks

Edited to add: I just had a thought. I have installed Ikea SP, could it be that HCP is not compatible?

I have the same problem. Only thing new in my computer, is Bon Voyage. I tried all tricks, and it still will not load
Test Subject
#17 Old 8th Aug 2008 at 11:31 PM Last edited by seventh-key : 9th Aug 2008 at 12:06 AM.
Quote: Originally posted by miska
Everyone . . .

When executing the program from the Windows Start menu (via the shortcut) rather than just left-clicking on it and executing 'normally', right-click on the short cut and select RunAs. Doing this will bring up a box that asks which user you want to run the program as/under. Just check to make sure your Windows UserName is selected (it should be by default) and click the 'OK' button. When I did this Homecrafter loaded quickly/ appeared before my eyes. How strange, but it worked!

~*~ Miska ~*~


Thank you, Miska - that worked!!
(i have only the nightlife ep but a load of custom stuff so had fear that might cause the problem, even with the game and bodyshop running fine)

EDIT: cheered too soon - when i try to import a wall into the game i get the "nort enough hard disc space" error... probably another write permisson issue..
Test Subject
#18 Old 9th Aug 2008 at 11:13 AM
First time I ever posted on here and having exactly the same issue!!!

Me thinks its time to say goodbye to the Homecrafter and look for the SimPE alternative. (unless I can work on a patch)
Test Subject
#19 Old 9th Aug 2008 at 11:22 PM Last edited by IssaNet : 9th Aug 2008 at 11:32 PM. Reason: updated location
Default Finally got it to LOAD!
Please excuse me as this is my first ever post. I had the same issue today as I tried to install the Homecrafter Plus. I am running XP Pro SP 2 with every Sims 2 Expansion pack and CC pack thru Ikea. Here is what I came up with. I happened to have a previously used version of the TS2HomeCrafterPlus.exe that was modified in 2006 instead of the default one that comes with the download installation.

I used it to overwrite the default one located here: C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 HomeCrafter Plus\HCBin

I then deleted all the error files located in this folder.

When trying to execute the TS2HomeCrafterPlus.exe I noticed in task Manager that TeaTimer.exe was pinging out my machine. I ended that process as it is only associated with SpyBot. (sounds like SpyBot didn't like it to me)

I executed the exe from within the c drive folder and....

It took a little time and lag to load but it finally came up and I am in like flynn.

I am trying to attach the exe in a rar file (hope it works). If anyone else can help by placing it into a zip file for those that don't use rar it would be greatly appreciated.

Hope this helps anyone.....
Attached files:
File Type: rar  TS2HomeCrafterPlus.rar (2.49 MB, 2161 downloads) - View custom content
Instructor
Original Poster
#20 Old 14th Aug 2008 at 11:19 PM
Issanet, I could kiss you! it works, it really WORKS!!!!!!
Thankyou sooooo much :lovestruc :lovestruc :lovestruc
Test Subject
#21 Old 15th Aug 2008 at 4:19 AM
Oh my goodness! Works for me too! Thank you soooooo much.
Lab Assistant
#22 Old 16th Aug 2008 at 1:05 AM
IssaNet . . .

THANK YOU!

It works for me as well . . . it's good to finally have a functioning copy.

I'm attaching the file 'zipped' to this post for those who don't do 'rar'.

Many Thanks Again.

Regards,

~*~ Miska ~*~
Attached files:
File Type: zip  TS2HomeCrafterPlus.zip (3.14 MB, 595 downloads) - View custom content

"If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague."
Test Subject
#23 Old 16th Aug 2008 at 11:21 AM
Thank you so much! TS2 HCP finally works! *bounces around*
Test Subject
#24 Old 16th Aug 2008 at 11:40 AM
Oh my! Yes! You. Are. The. Equivalent of love. Right now. ~<3<3<3<3

This fix got mine working. (Twas my first time downloading it. =3)

Awesomeness!

~<3
Field Researcher
#25 Old 17th Aug 2008 at 1:02 AM
Thank you so much for your help IssaNet. I followed your directions to the letter and my Homecrafter works perfectly. Also, thank you Canoodle for sending me here.

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