Machine ID changed on the same hardware!?!

[TradingForTheFutures]

Hello everyone,

I just had a conversation with Product Management.

In general we don't expect the values to be changing with software updates, but what we use to generate the Machine ID sometimes does not return the same values after an update.

I cannot offer an ETA for a change, but I can say that we are looking into a solution for this hassle.

Hello, is there an update here? Any time Windows has updates (1-2x per month for me), my machine ID gets changed. I have to re-enter my license key, re-configure my login, and reach out to a third-party vendor to have them license the new machine. Very annoying...

[timko]

for me, it is the bios update. this renders the same thing happened on me. some vendors require product reactivation while some do not.

[JoeF1953]

Well, I think I'm kind of starting to narrow it down. A few months ago I disabled ALL Windows updates. Everything was going fine. Then, I ran the Ninja Trader update. Wham... machine ID changed. Please pass this on to the product support folks that are working this problem. Maybe it will help??? Can't blame Windows updates as the sole reason....

[manxtrader75]

Super annoying. I'd like to up vote this issue as well.

[NinjaTrader_Jim]

Hello everyone,

I wanted to come back and update the thread regarding the machine ID issue and the development action needed to get passed it.

The path forward that we were planning on taking had hitches that prevent it being a viable solution and a different solution will need to be drafted.

While there are current development tasks that are taking precedence at this time, this matter is still a priority to be addressed. I cannot offer an ETA when this will be revisited, but I did want to let everyone know that it is still on radar and not forgotten.

The development action ticket ID is NTEIGHT-14790. As mentioned, I can't offer an ETA of completion, and this ID may be subject to change if a new path forward is determined.

Development and Product Management are well aware of the pain points involved with the current system, and this thread is under their eye.

When I hear more developments, I will be sure to update this thread with more information.

[Delerium]

Damn it this just happened to me, after a Windows update that took place overnight.

Please add my vote to the feature request. This is ridiculous.

[Delerium]

The only way to be 100% sure your machine ID won't change is to trade on a server. Would highly recommend checking out https://ninjatraderecosystem.com/sea...biletrader-vps if you don’t want your machine ID to change.

Why should I be out-of-pocket and add additional costs (and hassle) when this isn't my fault?

[NinjaTrader_Jim]

Hello Delerium,

Your feedback is tracked in addition to the feedback we have received in this thread.

There are still larger Development tasks that are taking precedence, and when there is information for me to share I will be posting here.

[singjay]

Hello NinjaTrader. Fixing the HIGHLY ANNOYING issue should be your HIGHEST priority at this time. All our setup and licenses are getting wiped out coz of this. Reaching out to each vendor and waiting on them to fix the licensing issues with add-ons is a nightmare. Please drop everything you folks are doing and FIX this NIGHTMARE first. Thanks.

Windows updates overnight, machine restarts, and boom....NinjaTrader loses machine ID, license info and the nightmare begins. Haven't seen any software doing this, HIGHLY DISAPPOINTED !!

[AstralTrader]

This happens to me as well. I've had three new machine IDs in the last month and had to contact the creator of my strategy to get a new license every time. It seems that a lot of system updates that Windows 10 makes are sufficient to reset the machine ID as far as NT8 is concerned. Extremely frustrating and getting pretty costly.

I tried to stop Windows automatic updates but now they only allow you to pause them for 7 days and even if you disable the update service it's no guarantee it will stay disabled. The mechanism they have to detecting machine should first be by Windows product key, which can already only be used on a single machine unless it is OEM, not by some hash of the currently installed drivers/software.

[fernlicht]

Just my two cent on this topic and a possible intermediate solution.
We are using AWS EC2 virtual instances to run our automated strategies for the past 2 years, basically 24/5.
I can’t remember we’ve ever experienced this issue since then, except once were we had to “physically” move to a different server because of obsolete hardware on Amazon’s side.
On our dev computers at the office we regularly have to deal with the change of MachineID...

[koganam]

Hello Delerium,

Your feedback is tracked in addition to the feedback we have received in this thread.

There are still larger Development tasks that are taking precedence, and when there is information for me to share I will be posting here.

Hm. It is your product, so you certainly have the ultimate decision on what you want to do.

However, I would have to submit that with so many customers being so badly inconvenienced, it is hard to see how you can have any development priority that trumps your customers' such utter dissatisfaction. Not to be rude, but surely, you cannot really believe that you have such vendor lock-in/monopoly on retail trading systems, that the heck with your customers and their convenience? Actually, it is not even "convenience": the correct description might be offensive.

This is affecting your entire universe: direct customers and "quasi-partners/ecosystem vendors" alike. This cannot be a minor issue by any stretch.

[someusername]

Sorry to nag but I have a multi-broker subscription. Every time Win10 forces an unskippable update the machine ID changes. I have to re-enter my license, setup 6 different account feeds.
If I delay win10 updates I am putting myself at greater risk, if I have to copy/paste accounts all the time I am adding risk.

This really shouldn't be an issue.I urge your management team to instruct development to allow customer to opt-out of this security "feature" by allowing us to save connection details.

[FMtrader]

Once again I am faced with this incredibly annoying issue of a simple BIOS update changing my NT8 machine ID and wiping out my licenses for multiple third party indicators as well as my NT8 full license and all my data connections.

I now have to contact a number of my indicator suppliers to get new licenses and expect to be unable to trade for a number of days. I have two control panel orange screens of logs telling me I don't have valid licenses for thousands of dollars of purchases indicators!

This is serious noncommercial flaw in your software. How many other businesses would tolerate their systems being unusable for a few days?

This problem has now impacted me a number of times on two different PCs and has existed for a number of years. If you want to be regarded as a serious software/trading/brokerage vendor than it is surely time this ridiculous issue gets fixed once and for all.

To say that I am somewhat annoyed is a massive understatement. I am happy to show you a link to a post I wrote in early 2020 if you are interested on exactly the same issue giving further evidence of the longevity of this issue. I really don't want to see yet another Ninjatrader Support post where you say you have added a further customer complaint to tracking number XXXX when this is a basic software flaw that is clearly impacting a large number of users and takes days to recover from. We are not talking about adding a new feature here; we are talking about a serious problem that takes days to fix. From a purely commercial point of view, NT brokerage will be losing revenue when their customers experience this problem. This is the 45th posting on this thread alone.

[someusername]

Just wanted to say that in the space of a month I had to deal with this specific issue 3 more times. It's a joke.