RC1 and "loading data" crashes

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

Hello adamus,

Please see the screenshot for an example of forex spreads with Kinetick.

[adamus]

Thanks Jason

[Lee123]

Hi,

I use IB and experience a freeze sometimes when IB loses data and have been trying to find someyhing consistent about it. I am writing here because on thursday there was a crash again.

I have noticed (ver 23) that when IB loses data for more than a minute or so then Nt7 will reconnect properly. The same if the internet is turned off.

However the last couple of crashes that I have managed to observe has been when IB market data turns orange for only 1 or 2 seconds and then goes back to green - this will cause a freeze and a "windows message" that NT7 has performed some wrong operation and must be closed.

Hope this helps

Lee

[adamus]

I'll keep my eye on IB more then. Thanks.

[adamus]

This issue has resurfaced.

Since reporting this above, NT has been running fine but today it fell back into unstable mode.

I decided to delete and re-enter all my running strategies just now. That is the only thing that is different to the previous several working days. So there are new strategies in the strategies tab.

Now I am working my way through them one by one, enabling them and checking them. Twice now, NT hangs with a status message flashing in the bottom line of the Control Center saying "Loading data .... $EURCAD (20/11/2010 - 20/11/2010)" and previously the same for $AUDCAD.

The chart also says "Loading data" and I cannot use it any more.

From here I can only wait or restart. So I have to restart.

I'll post here how many hang-ups I get before it runs smoothly again.

[adamus]

It's taken me the best part of 2 hours to get the 20 strategies I run back up again without NT hanging on the data loading.

I think I've found the best way to handle it so that it doesn't take me so long in future but it's still obviously a major issue and it stops me enabling the strategies all in one go - I must do them individually.

It hung 9 times in this episode.

It is not random. I opened NT and connected to IB and to IQFeed for historical data. I then checked all the instruments one by one in the chart to make sure no data was missing, and on several instruments it did go missing repeatedly - the whole days data for 11/17 kept disappearing and I would "reload all historical data".

I went through the instruments in the order they appear in my Default list in the chart instrument dropdown.

If I decided to go back to an instrument I had checked already, NT would hang.

It did this repeatedly.

I finally managed to get NT to run all the strategies I have by checking the instrument on the chart and then enabling the strategy and then moving down to the next instrument. Now I am not going to use the chart for a while since that will presumably cause the problem again.

Hope that helps to reproduce it.

[adamus]

The instability caused by loading data has now gone. I am able to load charts and to stop and restart strategies without NT hanging.

The circumstantial evidence points to the new strategies that I set up as the cause of the instability. However now something has changed there and it's not happening anymore.

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

Hello adamus,

Does the trace file list the same crashes as per post #1 of this forum thread?

Ok, so NinjaTrader became unresponsive when enabled your strategies one by one.

However, unresponsiveness also occurs when you select an instrument, which you already had selected before. I cannot reproduce this on my end. Whenever I select a previous loaded instrument in a chart, it does get stuck on loading data.

As per the issue with your strategies, we would need your strategies to further troubleshoot the issue.

[adamus]

Does the trace file list the same crashes as per post #1 of this forum thread?

No. I did not wait for it to crash or to resolve itself. That takes over 5 minutes each time, and often 15mins or more or no resolution/crash at all, just loading freeze.

Ok, so NinjaTrader became unresponsive when enabled your strategies one by one.

That's incorrect. NT became unresponsive either when I was using the chart and selected an instrument that I had just previously selected, or when I enabled all the strategies in one go by selecting them all with the mouse.

However, unresponsiveness also occurs when you select an instrument, which you already had selected before. I cannot reproduce this on my end. Whenever I select a previous loaded instrument in a chart, it does get stuck on loading data.

Sorry, your statement seems ambiguous. Are you reproducing this? Does it get stuck or not? Can you expand on that.

Thanks.

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

I create a new chart which loads the requested data for the instrument selected. Subsequently I select another instrument, which loads data as well. Then, I select the original instrument again. The data is displayed as expected and does not get stuck on 'Loading data'.

I tested it with 2 to 5 different instruments in between on sereval occassions. I also briefly tested it using a windowlinked Market Analyzer.

[adamus]

Hi Jason,

what you need to do to reproduce the situation is:

- set up an IB connection with no historical data allowed
- set up an IQFeed connection.
- open a chart window and select the first instrument in your default list.
- open a market analyzer window and add all the instruments in your default list, plus an indicator column, e.g. ATR
- save your workspace.
- close NT.
- open NT and connect first to IB, and then to IQFeed
- set up a strategy on all the instruments in your default list. Configure them with at least 5 days data to load, and 50 bars required.
- now the strats are new, select all of them in a highlight and enable them in one go.
- if that doesn't hang already, then change to your chart window. This should show the first instrument in your default list.
- select the second instrument. And then select the first instrument again. This should hang, with the message in the Control Centre bottom right blinking at you.

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

Hello adamus,

Thank you for providing these steps. I will test it on my end and let you know.

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

Hello adamus,

I tested it on my end, but unfortunately I cannot reproduce the lock up.

I created both connections and saved a workspace with a chart and Market Analyzer. I added an ATR column in the Market Analyzer with a period type of 1 minute and I used 50 bars to look back at.

I connected to IB first and IQFeed second. Once connected, I see the requested data by the chart and Market Analyzer being loaded. My Default instrument list contains 36 instruments. Some are not authorized by both my connections. I receive error messages as expected for these instruments, but it continued to load data for the other instruments.

I continued by setting up the SampleMACrossover on all instruments in my Default instrument list. Once I had all strategies selected, it was loading the last 5 instruments in my default instrument list in the Market Analyzer. I enabled all strategies at once and data started being loaded for those as well. NinjaTrader did not get stuck on loading data.

Subsequently I selected the chart and switched instruments as you describe. When data was being loaded for instrument #2 (instrument #1 is still reflected in the chart at this point) and I select instrument #1 again, it generated an error message that states you cannot add/change/remove a Data Series until the prior request has completed loading historical data. However I was not able to reproduce the issue. All data authorized by my connections loaded without error.

[adamus]

Hi Jason,

that's disappointing.

A couple of things though - are you on Windows 7 64bit? I am, could it be relevant?

Also, please try it again but set your Market Analyzer ATR column to 1 day bar / 21 bars, and the chart to 60min bars and 14 days and then go like this:

delete the strategies, exit and restart NT, connect to IB and IQFeed and then recreate the strategies. This time, don't start them. Just change to the chart window, and select each instrument in your default list in turn. At least 5. And then reselect the previous instrument you selected.

It seems to me that there is a definite connection between new strategies even when not running, and the hang-ups that happen selecting the instruments.

At some point after setting up the strategies for the first time, this problem just disappears and I can use the charts again freely.

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

No, I am not on Windows 7 64 bit - I have Windows 7 32 bit. However I do not see it relevant.

I tested the new steps you provided. During the switching of instruments, data was being loaded in the Market Analyzer the same time. I selected 6 different instruments in the chart before I selected the initial instrument.

Unfortunately I did not experience the issue once I selected the initial instrument again in the chart. The Market Analyzer was still loading data at this point and eventually finished.