Connection problem with brokers data feed.

[shawnj]

Twice in the last 3 days and 4 times in the last month I've had problems establishing a quote feed with my patsystems broker data feed.

When I initiate the Connect command, the connection establishes as normal with no errors in the log. However, no quotes come in. Each time, I tried disconnecting and reconnecting, then exiting ninja and restating, then exiting ninja and rebooting. None of this helped.

Each time I then called my broker's tech support who stated there were no problems on their end. Each time, the tech "reset" my account and on restart of ninja everything worked correctly.

This is very frustrating to start each day with this type of random technical problem. Any thought on what is causing this or how to proceed to troubleshoot this?

[NinjaTrader_Ray]

Unfortunately not. I could speculate that there is something wrong on the brokers end. I state this since between not working and working, you have not changed anything in NT. What's changed is a reset on the brokers end which points to something on their servers changing that would cause this problem.

[shawnj]

So I'm stuck with a situation where the broker says its NinjaTrader and NinjaTrader says its the broker. sweet.

[NinjaTrader_Ray]

I am sincerely sorry you are in that position but from a logical standpoint the only possible source of the problem is on the brokers server.

- If you do not touch NinjaTrader (make any changes)
- Then it connects fine
- The it no longer connects
- Then you have your broker reset your account
- Then NinjaTrader connects

Then its very clear that there is something changing on the brokers servers that causes NinjaTrader to connect one time and not another time.

I wish I could be of more help.

[shawnj]

The problem is not that I can't "connect" - connect meaning the green light at the bottom of ninja says connected. I CAN connect without a problem. The problem is after I connect, no quotes come in. The lack of quotes coming in is what the broker's "reset" is "fixing".

So if I cant approach this problem from ninja's side, can you suggest how I should approach my broker to help troubleshoot this? So far my brokers only advise has been: "Don't use NinjaTrader".

[NinjaTrader_Ray]

Same logic applies.

May I ask who your broker is?

[shawnj]

Global Futures

[NinjaTrader_Ray]

Thanks.

One last check. Is this quotes for all instruments, or any specific one?

[shawnj]

The last couple of times it happened I only checked the FDAX, I didnt have any other symbols setup with the current contract. I also never tied sending an order (I'm not THAT stupid <g>) so I dont know if the problem is just the quote feed.

If this will help troubleshoot it I will make sure to confirm that its just one contract or all of then if and when it happens again.

Again I'm asking for troubleshooting advise. I'm not saying the problem is NinjaTrader, or my broker or my system. But when I call my broker, is there something we could check to help isolate the problem. All the broker is telling me is that everything looks ok on their end.

[NinjaTrader_Ray]

I would be curious if it is FDAX only or all symbols.

I unfortunately do not have any trouble shooting advice since I am not familiar with the Patsytems back end and what variables could cause this. 99% of the time its always a configuration issue on the brokers servers. You could request that they create a new account for you.

[shawnj]

It happened again this morning. This time I verified that I CAN receive quotes from ES but no quotes on FDAX. I called the broker and this time the "reset" trick did not work. They suggested Options/Misc/RepairDB which I tried and it had no effect. After several restarts of ninja and resets from the broker I still could not receive FDAX quotes.

So I starting thinking, what is different between ES and FDAX. I know they are different exchanges, but from my machines point of view, all the quotes come from a single source - my brokers quote feed.

So the differences between ES and FDAX on my machine are:

1) I've only traded FDAX.

2) I have two Charts displaying FDAX and one Market Analyzer displaying FDAX quotes and other things.

Each morning when I start ninja, it comes up with the Control Center, 2 FDAX charts and one Market Analyzer. This is the layout that existed when I exited ninja the day before.

To try to fix this problem, I closed the Charts and the Market Analyer, only leaving the Control Center open when ninja was shut down. This caused on restart ninja only opening the Control Center. Now a new connect to the broker causes FDAX quotes to come into the Control Center (on the order tab). Before there were no FDAX quotes on the order tab. Creating a new Chart and Market Analyzer everying works ok.

I'm beginning to think you have a bug where existing Charts and or Market Analyzer on ninja startup are not connecting correctly on the Connect command.

[NinjaTrader_Ray]

Thanks for this information.

From a technical perspective, there is no difference to NinjaTrader internally whether a chart/market analyzer is open or not. I am 99% confident that this issue is not created by NinjaTrader however, what I would like to suggest to confirm this is the next time you you stop receiving FDAX quotes do the following immediately -

- Do not call your broker
- Disconnect
- Close all windows leaving only the Control Center
- Immediately reconnect
- Do you get FDAX quotes?

[shawnj]

Will do... (needed 10 chars<g>)

[shawnj]

It happened again this morning. Just to recap. I lauched ninja which came up with 2 FDAX charts and one MarketAnalyzer which is the layout I closed ninja with the day before. I connected to my broker. No FDAX quotes. I then closed the 2 FDAX charts and the MarketAnalyser and then exited ninja. I then relaunched ninja. Only the Control Center launched this time. Then I connected to my broker and FDAX quotes work.

There is no doubt in my mind now that Ninjatrader has a bug in this area. I now have to figure out how to apologize to my broker's tech support personel <g>.

At least I have finally fingured out a workable workaround - close all charts and market analyzer at end of day before exiting ninja. Kind of pain resetting everything up the next morning but that pales in comparison to the stress of starting a new trading day with a technical problem of my quote feed not working and not knowing where the problem is.

I have attempted to upload two screen shots. Not sure if I did it correctly. These two screen shots graphically show what I described above.

One screen shot "FDAX Ninja Quotes Not Working.Gif" shows the green "Connected - Patsystems" at the bottom and notice Bid Ask Last at the top all showing n/a.

The other screen shot "FDAX Ninja Quotes Working.Gif" shows the green "Connect - Patsystems" at the bottom with good quotes showing at the top.

[NinjaTrader_Dierk]

>> I lauched ninja which came up with 2 FDAX charts and one MarketAnalyzer which is the layout I closed ninja with the day before.

To recap:
- every time (!) you connect using this setup you will not see any FDAX quotes
- if you would use the same setup with ES it would work
- you are on latest NT 6.0.1000.5