3rd party Licensing broken

[TyJack]

As of Tueday, 3rd party licensing will not register. I have been in contact with the 3rd party provider. They remote logged in and did a step that NinjaTrader Support had taught them.

Turn off the .NET framework, save it, then turn it back on and save it again.

It did not work and I'm left with the same pop up each time I try to use the tools and the tools are never able to be applied to the chart and shown.

ALL Windows 8.1 updates are up to date. I have run the update checker each and every single day when I first turn on the computer and make sure that every single update is installed. I have checked 8 times today so far to make sure the update checker has not missed anything.

This is a completely fresh Windows install as of Friday 1 July 2016. Its a fresh download of NinjaTrader 8.0.0.11 that was downloaded Friday. It is the latest 3rd party tools installer downloaded Monday 4 July 2016.

Everything is up to date.

I had got it working Friday but when I tried Monday, it started with this error. I was told NinjaTrader had done some update/work/changes on the licensing server or something over the weekend.

Whatever has happened, its now broken. I'm told this has happened to other users of the 3rd party tools but theirs was fixed doing the .NET switch off and back on or updating the OS updates as their .NET ones were out of date.

Done both those "fixes" and still have the same problem.

[NinjaTrader_JessicaP]

Hello TyJack, and thank you for your report.

We are currently following up with some third party vendors whose customers have experienced similar behavior. I would like to encourage you to continue reaching out to the vendor. I will update this thread when we have more information. Thank you for your patience, and for using NinjaTrader 8.

[TyJack]

Hello TyJack, and thank you for your report.

We are currently following up with some third party vendors whose customers have experienced similar behavior. I would like to encourage you to continue reaching out to the vendor. I will update this thread when we have more information. Thank you for your patience, and for using NinjaTrader 8.

OH, Believe me, I CERTAINLY reached out to the 3rd party vendor very explicitly and extensively about this, IMPLORING them for help. They did everything within their capability and at the end, apologized when it exhausted their knowledge and capability and said my only option was to reach out to NT support.

The 3rd party developer support did everything they had been personally shown to do by NT support. They have exhausted everything they can do at their end.

Hence, why I'm wasting another day I should be trading trying to track down who exactly will step up and help find a SOLUTION instead of pointing the finger and sending me chasing after nothing at the end, leaving me in the exact same position.

That's all I want - a solution. I don't care who is to blame, I don't want to know who's fault it is, I could care less. I just want something that actually works!

That and to finally wake up one day, turn on the computer and I'm actually able to trade for once instead of spending 98% (literally) of my time trying to make NT work as its said to.






11 months on this current merry-go-round and my patience is finally starting to get threadbare.

[NinjaTrader_JessicaP]

Hello TyJack,

I understand and appreciate your frustration. I also apologize for not making the situation clear. We are currently working directly with a few of our partner vendors, trying to come up with a solution, rather than attempting to point fingers or using the time of valuable customers such as yourself directly. I have personally set several reminders to follow through with my superiors who are working hard with our partners to get licensing right, so that you and other customers in your situation are kept up to speed. Please feel free to use this thread as a point of contact. I will be updating this thread periodically when we have more information.

[eDanny]

NinjaTrader 8 is in beta and you really probably never should try to trade with anything in beta. My 2 cents!

[TyJack]

NinjaTrader 8 is in beta and you really probably never should try to trade with anything in beta. My 2 cents!

I realize this. I don't use NT8 to live trade through, in fact, I have been unable to use NT7 or NT8 to live trade through for over 12 mths now. First the freezing that plagued NT7, now... Well, like you pointed out, NT8 is beta after all and we can only expect it to have faults.

I had hoped it would be getting better as each version was released (and it is in some areas) but in my case, I seem to be the most luckiest beta tester in the world and get to find every obscure error, especially the ones that "can't be replicated on our end".



I'm just at the point today, I just want to hear solutions and if there are no immediate solutions. Clear feedback about what is the problem, what is the cause, is there short term work around until its patched and when is that patch rolled out in a release.

Vague "issue identified" and "it will be fixed next release" but no release dates so leaves us hanging is wearing thin personally when I have no NT platform to use and a paid multi-broker license.

In short, not feeling like constantly being in the dark with no objective.

[TyJack]

Hello TyJack,

I understand and appreciate your frustration. I also apologize for not making the situation clear. We are currently working directly with a few of our partner vendors, trying to come up with a solution, rather than attempting to point fingers or using the time of valuable customers such as yourself directly. I have personally set several reminders to follow through with my superiors who are working hard with our partners to get licensing right, so that you and other customers in your situation are kept up to speed. Please feel free to use this thread as a point of contact. I will be updating this thread periodically when we have more information.

I have nothing BUT time Jessica. I'm waiting exclusively to be able to use NT again. Everything revolves around that. I'm invested heavily into NT 3rd party providers that only have the option of using NT.

It worked on Friday, it does not work on Monday. Do you see the disconnect here?
If there is no immediate solution, whatever was changed, scrap it back to the test bench, get it sorted and roll it out with the next NT8 version release in 2017.

I'm not hearing a solution from anyone. Is there any discussions going on other then myself asking for help from 2 different separate parties who neither have any solutions?



Did you understand in my original post that the 3rd party HAD been personally shown a way to try and overcome/fix this KNOWN issue by updating the .NET framework, if that doesn't work, NT support had personally shown them to uncheck .NET and save it, then check .NET and save it. Then start NT8 again.

That WAS the "fix" that NT support had discussed with the 3rd party provider.

It does not work.

It needs further addressing past that "fix".

I just want to make 100% sure that this is understood. The 3rd party already tried the "fix" that NT support had discussed with them for a known issue. BUT that "fix" is not a fix.

[NinjaTrader_JessicaP]

Hello TyJack,

Thank you once again for your report. Your comment about the .NET framework has been passed along. If you have any other information you feel is relevant that could guide us toward a solution please let us know.

[TyJack]

Hello TyJack,

I wanted to let you know that it is understood by us that the existing, previous solution was not working in your case. I also wanted to assure you that we are working hard at developing a new solution. Because computer programs have many pieces which depend on each other, and because development is being done both with Ninja and with many other third party applications in parallel, it is possible that reverting to a previous version would introduce more new problems than it would solve, and it is rare for software companies to take this approach. Whatever the approach the product management team takes, I wanted you to be aware that they are monitoring this thread, and that your valuable information about the .NET framework being applied to work around this behavior previously was passed along. There is direct discussion between our staff and the staff developing the involved third party software.

Any information you believe would help us arrive at a solution more quickly would be appreciated. While we have already been able to reproduce this behavior on our end, your log and trace information from your system may prove valuable in our attempts to resolve your query. Would it be possible for you to manually attach your most recent (My) Documents\NinjaTrader 8\log and (My) Documents\NinjaTrader 8\trace files to an e-mail to platformsupport[at]ninjatrader[dot]com , referencing this number in the body? 1539803 .

Thank you once again for your report.

Log and Trace files sent as requested.

[TyJack]

Is there any update on this issue yet? I tried again to enable the license and it still will not authorize it.

I also found in the trace files where it is returning -
ERROR: Your free trial license for Indicator 'xxxxxxxxxxxxxx' has expired.

I have reached out to the vendor and they don't have a "trial" as such, just a time window to get everything set up on the NT licensing server.

Not sure if its of any help but thought I would pass it on.

[NinjaTrader_JessicaP]

Hello TyJack, and thank you for that additional information.

Our team working on this with your software vendor does not have any updates at this time.

[TyJack]

Over the weekend I have tried the following.

Installed NT7 onto completely separate SSD running Windows 8.1 OEM with FULL Windows updates. When NT7 first tried to install, it returned a notice saying that the .NET framework that is required was not present and asked if I wanted to download it from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/down...ion.aspx?id=22 . Downloaded and installed the .NET framework, then run the NT7 installer and it installed. Then run the NT8 installer as per normal.

When the 3rd party licensing in NT7 and NT8 is run, it returns a new 3rd party licensing number that has not been authorized yet from the 3rd party provider as its a new setup on different hardware and software.

After restarting each platform (NT7 or NT8) and then applying one of the 3rd party tools, it throws the 3rd party licensing popup saying its not authorized but the 3rd party tool will load as it is supposed to on the chart as it is within the X days grace period to get the license setup on the server.



Then went and tried it on the existing Virtual machine setup that I have previously been working with. This license key has been notified to the 3rd party provider for approx 7 days.

Installed NT7 and the 3rd party tools for NT7, went through the 3rd party licensing steps. Shut down NT7, restarted NT7 and opened a chart and installed one of the 3rd party tools. It throws the Licensing popup saying its not authorized and it will NOT load the 3rd party tool on NT7.

Shut down NT7 and tried to run the .NET link from the above install and it won't run it as the .NET framework is already up to date.

Opened NT8 again and tried to load one of the 3rd party tools onto a chart and it throws the same popup saying its not authorized and won't load any 3rd party indicator on the chart.


So not only will NT8 not work but the existing "stable" NT7 is unable to be used either as it throws the same error. (Not that NT7 has even been a option for the last 14+ months as it freezes solid for hours at a time whenever any sort of volume hits the market.)





As you said before, its unlikely that whatever was changed at the server level will be rolled back just for the small number of people that it causes a issue for. What then are some workarounds that can be used to address this right now for myself and whoever else are in that unlucky minority? Its evident that there is a grace period that the 3rd party tools will work. Is there a way that this can be reset each 3 days at the server level for those of us that are stuck with NOTHING?

Sure, it might be a little labor intensive on a individual basis but I'm pretty sure if GM or Ford sold a couple of cars without a steering wheel because their QA failed for some reason, they would do whatever was needed to be done to remedy the situation for the end user until THEY fixed the cause of it on their end, in their own time.

The licensing server has the potential to cause MAJOR issues for each and every 3rd party provider who chooses to use it and through that choice, to potentially impact every customer each 3rd party provider has. It is a crucial system that has the potential to impact others businesses outside of Ninjatraders own. Whatever was rolled out (prematurely??) seems to have had a negative impact not just on NT8 but NT7 as well. This seems to not be a NT8 beta specific issue.



I have other 3rd party tools from other 3rd party providers that have licenses in place. NONE of them use Ninjatraders inbuilt 3rd party licensing and they ALL continue to function perfectly normal. The 1 3rd party provider that uses Ninjatraders 3rd party licensing does NOT work.

Its 7 days now. Is there ANY sort of a workaround to get up and running again? I've tried everything I can think of at my end, I've tried different SSD's, different OS's, different virtual machines and not using virtual machines. I don't have the money to sit around waiting for someone elses lack of QA mistake to be fixed on my time. I need a workaround, however dirty it is, to get up and running again.

I'm sure from Ninjatraders perspective, this issues effects .1% of your users so is not that big of a issue and will be addressed whenever its gotten around to. From my perspective, it effects 100% of my ability to operate with absolutely no other options because it effects both NT7 and NT8.

I just need a workaround solution to get up and running in the short term. Please!

[NinjaTrader_JessicaP]

Hello TyJack,

Until we are able to determine why our partner vendor's software you are using is not working with our license software, we do not have the options to accommodate that we would have if this were merely something we ourselves offered. The situation is not analogous to shipping without a steering wheel; it is closer to shipping with an aux port that your cellphone can't use. We are happy to do everything we can to improve your experience, but we can only do what is physically possible.

The only work-around I can think of at this time would be to ask our partner to develop a version of their software that does not rely on Ninja's licensing software, or to simply forgo the use of our partner vendor's product until our staff and theirs are done working together to find a solution.

Any changes we make to the licensing engine will be added to Beta 12. Please keep an eye on this page for updates. http://ninjatrader.com/support/helpG...ease_notes.htm

[koganam]

Hello TyJack,

Until we are able to determine why our partner vendor's software you are using is not working with our license software, we do not have the options to accommodate that we would have if this were merely something we ourselves offered. The situation is not analogous to shipping without a steering wheel; it is closer to shipping with an aux port that your cellphone can't use. We are happy to do everything we can to improve your experience, but we can only do what is physically possible.

The only work-around I can think of at this time would be to ask our partner to develop a version of their software that does not rely on Ninja's licensing software, or to simply forgo the use of our partner vendor's product until our staff and theirs are done working together to find a solution.

Any changes we make to the licensing engine will be added to Beta 12. Please keep an eye on this page for updates. http://ninjatrader.com/support/helpG...ease_notes.htm

Where is this now? I have just spent 2 hours with one of my clients who has just gotten this issue after rebuilding his NT system. Apparently, he says that my products are the only ones having the issue. How do we resolve it. I am reasonably certain that asking me to get a third party license server is a non-starter.

[NinjaTrader_JessicaP]

Hello koganam,

There has been active development regarding this confirmed bug beyond Beta 12's release date (July 11th, http://ninjatrader.com/support/helpG...ease_notes.htm ) . I am contacting the development team right now to see if they will be including a fix in Beta 13. Please continue monitoring this thread, I should have a reply soon.