Chart Symbol & Timeframe Greyed out and Disabled

[gaz0001]

Hello,

Sometimes the chart symbol and timeframe get greyed out on my platform. It seems to happen when switching between Regular mode & Playback connection.

Does anyone know how to prevent it? Or be able to change them without resetting NT8.

Thanks

[gaz0001]

Still having this same issue

[QuantKey_Bruce]

There are some circumstances where the playback connection can get stuck - this has been true for some years. If this happens, as a workaround, you can switch back to your live connection then switch to playback again. There is a period of time while the playback is setting up when it is seemingly loading the data and "turning back the clock" that things can go wrong - if they do (unless/until they fix this issue) you'll have to go through the cycle again in order to regain control.

[NinjaTrader_Dennis]

Hello gaz0001,

Thank you for your post.

I would like to take a further look into this item for you. If I can replicate this I would be happy to report this to our Product team in order to get it resolved.

Please follow the steps below to email me your log and trace files for further investigation.

Please be sure to reference this Forum post and send them to ATTN: Dennis

• Open Windows File Explorer (hotkey = Windows key + E) Then navigate to, "Documents" (sometimes called, "My Documents") > 'NinjaTrader 8' folder
• Right click on the 'log' and 'trace' folders and select Send To> Compressed (zipped) Folder.
• Send the 2 compressed folders as attachments to this email support[at]ninjatrader[dot]com
• Once complete, you can delete these compressed folders.

I look forward to resolving this item for you.

[jeronymite]

QuantKey_Bruce Have you reported the issues you've experienced to NT Support? If not, I strongly encourage you to do so.

I have reported many issues with Playback to Support, but reached a point where it became so time-consuming to continually try to demonstrate and justify the reports (despite a wealth of evidence and material I provided) that I decided to avoid the connection altogether, sadly.

Additional reports from others experiencing issues is useful in that it provides yet more evidence that may prove useful to Support and eventually result in Development finally becoming involved.

Thanks.

[QuantKey_Bruce]

QuantKey_Bruce Have you reported the issues you've experienced to NT Support? If not, I strongly encourage you to do so.

I'll write it up again the next time I see something reproducible. I think the issue I described with replay is one of those long-standing, low-probability issues of timing, having to do with an expectation that things will happen in a certain order but they don't always. I did a quick search of my email, and I can see that I mentioned this specific issue in passing in one of my discussions with NT back in 2017, but it was a throw-away comment I made along the lines of "if the play button is greyed out, disconnect and reconnect and the play button will then be green" because this wasn't the "real" issue being discussed, just a speed-bump in the testing process. I agree it's important to keep after these things - the challenge is when they don't happen all the time.

[gaz0001]

QuantKey_Bruce Have you reported the issues you've experienced to NT Support? If not, I strongly encourage you to do so.

I have reported many issues with Playback to Support, but reached a point where it became so time-consuming to continually try to demonstrate and justify the reports (despite a wealth of evidence and material I provided) that I decided to avoid the connection altogether, sadly.

Additional reports from others experiencing issues is useful in that it provides yet more evidence that may prove useful to Support and eventually result in Development finally becoming involved.

Thanks.

jeronymite
I have a system now that makes it easy to report the bugs.

It is very time consuming trying to write down what's happening.

Download the software called OBS Studio.
It's free. It records your screen/screens/section of screen. Super simple and quick.
Then instead of explaining back and forth, just pull the logs, grab the video and email it or post it up.

[jeronymite]

Thanks, gaz0001. I already use ShareX and prefer it to OBS.

Sadly, even with video of a situation, there is almost always an insistence from NT Support for a "minimal" NinjaScript example that can repeatably demonstrate the issue(s). This is not entirely unreasonable. But it becomes unreasonable when there are errors that cannot be easily reproduced, if at all. Errors are errors, regardless of reproducibility.

As a long-time software developer, I want to see any error related to my software, regardless of whether it can be reproduced or not. This is just good sense. Many errors can be diagnosed from just the error itself. Obviously, there are also errors that require more information, and if those errors can be reproduced, that makes it much easier to diagnose and fix.

Nevertheless, my personal view is that the "almost total embargo" on making NT Development aware of errors without reproducibility is often counter-productive, driven by policy that even NT Support cannot (or will not) challenge. It also makes for a drawn out process that is often frustrating for both user and Support.

I do agree with Support that where additional information is required, it should be requested; and if a reproducible example can be created, it should be provided. But to hold to an immutable policy of "no truly minimal reproducible example, no pass-through to Development" is not in the best interests of customers nor Support, nor, in fact, the product.

Software Engineering is a domain where transparency to Development is critical. Yes, there should be triage by Support to provide first-level fixes that may be well-known, and to minimise the risk of "simple user error" from being a distraction for Development. But at a certain point, having an impenetrable wall that only "reproducibility" can get through becomes very counter-productive for everyone.

Thanks.