Click here for help in resolving your Disc Authorization Error.
From EA:
We are in the process of researching possible causes of the Disc Authentication Failure errors that some of you are dealing with. While we don’t have one solution that will address everyone’s issue we have discovered a few things that we want to pass along to you. Hopefully this information will enable you to get started playing The Sims 3.
We’ve been able to identify a couple of causes for the Disc Authentication Failure message.
In many of the dxDiag reports we’ve received a specific DVD drive is listed. That drive, MATSHTA DVD-RAM UJ-841S, appears to be common to many users who are getting disc failure messages. This drive is also commonly used in Toshiba laptops. It is recommended that you visit the Toshiba or MATSHTA support forums to better understand how to fix this drive.
We will continue to research issues associated with this specific DVD drive and post anything conclusive on The Sims 3 forum.
Another potential cause that we are researching has to do with the existence of software that manages DVD drives. This software provides features such as the ability to drag and drop files directly on to a drive letter for the purposes of burning DVDs. Examples of software that we are aware of that cause problems include Sonic and Roxio and they use DLA (Drive Letter Access) applications. This software is known to cause issues with games and disc authentication.
Below you will find some things you can try if you have this software or something similar on your system.
- In My Computer, right click on the DVD drive letter that you are using to run your game. If you are running Sonic or Roxio you will likely see a ‘DLA’ tab in the properties panel. You should be able to disable the software from this panel. After you disable this software you will need to reboot your system for it to take effect.
- Updating the version of software that is used to access and use your DVD drive may help.
- Uninstalling the DLA software completely may help.
- DLA appears to be specific to Sonic and Roxio. Other DVD management software may be doing something similar and the steps above may apply to those applications as well.
This is what we know so far. We will update the forum as we learn more.
frances
December 22, 2011
how about mac they dont have DLA what should i do with the disc authorization failure help please
mikayla
February 21, 2011
when i click on that arrow to start playing it says no disk found disk authorization and i went on youtube but nothing helped and i love the sims can u plz help me
karlee
February 15, 2011
i am running a mac book pro and installed sims 3 world adventures as well as late night. how do i disable dla? i uninstalled the late night and just had sims 3 world adventure installed and it ran at first. i then reinstalled late night to see if both would work and i ran the world adventures disk while late night was installed and it worked. then the next day i tried world adventures and the disk authentication error came up?
valera huy
February 9, 2011
@help: IT WORKS FINE ON MACBOOK PRO UNDER WINDOWS 7. HELL YEAH!!!
Kriss
January 1, 2011
mine says disk authentication failure
nd the disk is in dere can u help ?
Grace
January 1, 2011
i have sims3 original cd and it works great! i actually downloaded the expansions pack ambitions to complement my game. i installed it thru magic isodisc software and i get the “disc authentication failure” game. can anyone help me about this problem?
dase
July 28, 2010
“we are unable to verify valid copy of the sims 3 high-end loft stuff.
Please contact customer service.” please help me
Lee
July 28, 2010
First, I’m assuming that IT IS a verified valid copy?
Junior
October 28, 2010
We are more concerned with people playing the game without paying than we are about giving paying customers a quality game.
B.B
December 27, 2010
I have the same problem but it IS a paid for game. We think we solved the problem but now it says that the disk cannot be read
I am using a mac.
dggtrghterh
June 30, 2010
I CAN’T FIND THE DLA TAB!!!
din
January 5, 2010
Mue, could you help me find that good EP crack?
i have 2.3.33 version and every crack i got from internet doesn’t work … i always got that authorization error
Lee
January 5, 2010
Bad idea because cracks don’t work or they just make the game worse.
Mushu
January 3, 2010
Great advice….new subscriber.
MistyJ
January 3, 2010
Thankz for da info lee!
Joansie
January 3, 2010
I love the sims part of your blog lee, its very helpful and the newspaper lot you made is beautiful!
Simmer
January 3, 2010
This helped me a lot…THANKs ASILEE!
rex
December 31, 2009
Hi, i’m getting ‘update error: invalid file found’ when i try and install the patch/update, so that i can play the world adventure add-on, has any one got any ideas for what i can do?
Lee
December 31, 2009
You might have to uninstall then reinstall the game.
Mue
January 3, 2010
I will help you, I was getting this invalid file found for ages (probably 100x
) so firstly tell me, which version do you have now (you can see it in skuversion.txt, important is all the number), and which one you want. Secondly, do you have original game or cracked? If cracked is it razor or reloaded?
Lee
January 3, 2010
There’s no point, that person won’t be back to answer your questions.
Mue
January 3, 2010
His/her problem
I also found out how to “repair” disk authorization error 
) Just look for good EP crack 
jess
December 16, 2009
can someone please send a link for the patch!
Lee
December 16, 2009
WHAT PATCH!
Eva
August 24, 2009
@help – GREAT THANKS!!!
u saved me, i was fighting with that problem for like a month … and now it works perfectly!
amyy
August 18, 2009
I have tryed everything to get rid of this i havent even had a chance to play the game yet i saved up so hard now this it is realy frustrating i have not got roxio or dla or nothin i checked & i updated my dvd drives & software still nothing i followed loads of instructions that help some people but i ended up crashing my laptop & it took a few hours too fix i hope this gets sorted soon.I have a emachines laptop with windows vista
Justen
August 16, 2009
I was playing the game without a problem until it happened today for the first time.
AlejoSG
August 9, 2009
I have found a solution to that problem!!!!:D
just download this crack!
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=Y1QL84FA
It worked for me!
Eva
August 8, 2009
i downloaded it and im having the same problem. I dont have Roxio or Sonic on it and I tryed rebooting but that didnt do anything.
Lee
August 8, 2009
It could be your disc drive.
mollie
July 27, 2009
i got the sims 3 about a month ago, and it worked fine. now, all of a sudden, the disc authorization error pops up everytime i try to play. i have a new hp laptop, and i’m very bad at using computers. help please?
Lee
July 27, 2009
It could be the disc drive or the fact there are some incompatible drives that can’t work with the game.
steve
July 6, 2009
Finding a robust patch management solution is becoming more and more difficult as machines are less and less accessible to the management console. I have found success using patch management software from Kaseya. Because of the agent based framework, I have connectivity to every machine that is connected to the Internet, independent of location. – URL: http://www.kaseya.com/products/patch-management/features.aspx
bdub
June 26, 2009
I was having the disk error problem. EA has just (FINALLY) released a patch for Sims 3 to take care of this problem. I have a Toshiba computer and downloaded the patch thru EA’s download manager and it worked perfectly after that.
Lee
June 26, 2009
Wow, how did you download it through the manager? Its not there.
Lee
June 26, 2009
Never mind, I found it, it wasn’t in the Download Manager.
jillian
June 25, 2009
i would like to get in contact with EA via phone. If you have their number, please respond.
thanks!
Emily
June 22, 2009
Hey just wanted to say that for those who are having these problems and arent using DLA software, heres how to fix it.
I had the same problem, I knew exactly what was on my system as I built it myself.
Contact EA support providing your own serial number (or make sure youve registered it) tell them the problem, and they will allow you to download the sims 3 from the EA download manager.
It took a day for me to download the 5.6 GB’s of game, but in the end, when installed, it worked, and I now don’t need the disc to play the game.
Trying to tell everyone who may have this error. That way it can help others.
Computing Tips
June 22, 2009
I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
Leah
June 21, 2009
I’ve been having this problem, but I’m using a Mac and I have no idea what any of this is talking about. Help?
Help
June 19, 2009
hi i solved this disc authorization prob by mounting NS-SIMS3_DC-poseden
try to google : NS-SIMS3_DC-poseden
Lesley
June 18, 2009
I just bought a new dell laptop recently and it’s got Roxio software with it. I thought because it was to do with burning, copying, etc. cds that it would interfere with running The Sims 3 which I was correct on since EA said it themselves.
The thing is, I uninstalled Roxio (because I don’t need it) and I still can’t play The Sims 3. I have gone into Computer and clicked on the CD drive icon but it says to please insert a disk into drive F.
Am I doing something wrong?
I have all the specifications required.
Lee
June 18, 2009
When did that happen before or after you uninstalled Roxio? Then again, Sims 3 have a problem with certain disc drives.
Danny
June 13, 2009
I have this error everytime i try to play the sims 3! But i don’t know how to disable DLA or what is Sonic or Roxio Software
Lee
June 14, 2009
CD burning software. Thats what that is.
TinyPirate
June 11, 2009
Their fix doesn’t work for most people. Didn’t for me. Some websites advise registry fixers but I’m 90% sure that this advice, linking to software, will just burden you with ransomeware and viruses.
The only solution I’ve found so far is to install a no-cd EXE, which I use after loading the splash screen and getting any updates I want with the legit EXE.
Next time perhaps I should just pirate the bloody thing from the getgo. All of their advice makes me think they have some DRM protection running, but don’t want to admit it. Thanks for punishing us legit users EA. The crackers solved this problem for their ‘customers’ in minutes.