IB TWS "freeze" and Ninja Trader 6.5

[traderw]

Hi, all

I wonder if any IB TWS/NinjaTrader user has experienced the following TWS "freeze" problem (on Windows XP):

Out of the blue, TWS would just cease to function, with the TWS clock (not the computer/Windows clock) stopping as well. No action can be taken, eg, choosing a tabbed page, selecting a line, creating a order. TWS just freezes. The TWS clock would "jump" after 20 seconds or so. For instance, if the freeze happens at 10:05:07, the clock will freeze and then suddenly advance to 10:05:27.

The whole TWS freeze lasts 3 to 4 minutes.

At first, I thought the problem might be related to IB's daily server reset, when in the past a freeze usually occurred between 12:30am and 1:30am ET, but recently TWS has started to freeze at different times, eg, 9:30pm ET. On one occasion the freeze happened just before an 8:30am economic data release!

After doing some research online, one possible cause appears to relate to the use of third-party programs using IB's data. I use NinjaTrader 6.5 for charting by enabling "ActiveX and Socket Clients" under the TWS API configuration setting.

Has any IB TWS/NinjaTrader user come across a similar problem? If so, how do you manage to stop TWS from freezing?

Thanks in advance for your attention and feedback!

[NinjaTrader_RyanO]

Hello traderw,

Thank you for your post, and welcome to the forum.

Can you please check which version of TWS you are using in the Tools-->About menu.

Additionally, in NinjaTrader can you please check if there are any error messages in the log tab within the Control Center.

One thing with IB there is a limit to the amount of historical data you can request, and this may be occurring.

[traderw]

Hello, RyanOlson

Thanks for your reply.

I now use TWS 901.8 and java 1.6.0_18. Previously, I had TWS 898.4 and java 1.6.0_16 for a long time without any problems. When the TWS "freeze" started to increase in frequency, I uninstalled them (as well as NinjaTrader), and did a clean install using newer versions. Unfortunately, the problem persists.

I'll keep an eye on any NinjaTrader error messages in the log next week.

Can you elaborate on the following observation, RyanOlson?

One thing with IB there is a limit to the amount of historical data you can request, and this may be occurring.

Typically, I have 6 to 7 5-min charts open under NinjaTrader at any one time using IB's data stream. On each TWS page, the number of lines of real-time data items is less than 100, although the total number of lines in all pages add up to something like 600.

I switch NinjaTrader workspaces a few times daily. Are you suggesting that the IB TWS backfill might be related to the "freeze"?

I'll greatly reduce the data line number next week to see how thing go.

Thanks again for your assistance.

PS I forgot to mention one thing. During each TWS "freeze", the NinjaTrader charts continue to work, with prices being continuously updated.

[Harry]

I use NinjaTrader on TWS for years, NT never caused TWS to freeze. You might want to check

- Symbol limitation: TWS does not supply data for more than 100 symbols, data feed via the API to NinjaTrader counts on top, so if you have ES on TWS and ES on NinjaTrader, that is already two symbols. If you select over 100 symbols, data feed will not work properly.
- TWS logfile: You will find it under C:\Jts or C:\Jts2, it reads log. Fri for yesterday's logfile.