New remote program --> all my windows are transparent!!!

[M_ichel]

Hi everyone.
I used to share my PC laptop's screen (with NinjaTrader running) on a monitor connected to my Mac mini using TeamViewer. No problem.

This afternoon, tried to do the same thing with Zoho/Assist. The connection works OK, the PC's screen is visible on the monitor. After I launch TWS, I can open and see all its windows properly.
However, after I launch NinjaTrader, all the charts (but not the Control Center) in my workspaces are TRANSPARENT and do not show me the chart! I can actually see the PC desktop icons through the charts. But no chart data. By right-clicking on the "transparent" charts, I can access the Data Series, Indicators panels, etc OK, but the data simply doesn't display!

Any ideas??? Thanks!

[brucerobinson]

I have an ‘idea’ that an issue I’ve recently reported may be related. Just an idea, time will tell….
kind regards,

[NinjaTrader_ChristopherJ]

Hello M_ichel,

Thank you for posting.

If you do not use the screen sharing app Zoho/Assist do your chart populate as expected on your local display?

[M_ichel]

Hi Christopher J.
Yes.

1. When looking at the "local" monitor (it's a laptop), I can see the charts OK.
2. When I use TeamViewer (which I have used for years), I can see the charts on the remote monitor OK.
3. When I use Zoho/Assist (which I have just installed and am testing), the workspaces load properly, with their charts all placed properly, but "transparent" (in that they do not display candlesticks but I can see the background behind them (typically the PC's desktop or the open window from another application (TWS, for instance).
4. HOWEVER! I have just noticed this: when connected via Zoho/Assist and looking at a "transparent" chart, if I press, with the left-hand mouse button, on the chart's title (the word "Chart" in red at the top left-hand of the chart's window), as if I wanted to move the chart's window, THE CHART APPEARS! I can see everything normally: background color, candlesticks, indicators, CharTrader, drawing objects, etc... The whole chart is there, just not displaying as soon as I release the mouse button.

Wow! Magic???

Hope you can make something of this behaviour!
Thanks!

[NinjaTrader_ChristopherJ]

This indicates there is something within the Zoho/Assist software that is preventing the chart data to render correctly therefore suggest contacting their support team to verify if there are any settings within their application that can be applied to prevent this behavior.

[bltdavid]

This indicates there is something within the Zoho/Assist software that is preventing the chart data to render correctly therefore suggest contacting their support team to verify if there are any settings within their application that can be applied to prevent this behavior.

Or, it could be that NinjaTrader is doing its own funky
Windows stuff and these internal choices made by the
developers is the actual root cause of the behavior.

Plenty of evidence abounds for silly NT8 behavior issues.

Troubleshooting these weird NT8 Windows anomalies
always seem to fall on deaf ears with NT support.

NT7 was a well-behaved normal Windows application.
NT8? Not so much. NT8 misbehaves in small, unexpected
ways which are supremely annoying. No one at NT will
admit that NT8 has been a step backwards (compared to
NT7) in the 'works-well-in-the-world-of-Windows' department.

But, yeah, check with the Zoho/Assist folks. They may
have some useful compatibility tweaks that might help.

[M_ichel]

But, yeah, check with the Zoho/Assist folks. They may
have some useful compatibility tweaks that might help.

Hi David. Thanks for the info.
Just submitted a ticket to Zoho. Will post here if and when I get something positive to report.

[brucerobinson]

#M_ichel - May I ask what version of NT you are on experiencing this newly identified problem? And, if you are able to roll back and if so to which previous version?

Kind regards,
Bruce

[M_ichel]

@BruceRobinson: Hi. NinjaTrader 8.1.4.1
It's NOT a "newly identified problem" per se. I mean, when I run NinjaTrader:

• on the laptop (Windows 11), the charts display and behave normally;
• on an external monitor, connected directly to the laptop (HDMI), the charts display and behave normally;
• on an external monitor, connected to the Apple Mac mini and using TeamViewer to control the laptop using the Mac's mouse and keyboard, the charts display and behave normally; by the way this has been my setup for many years and works fine, most of the time. However, because of licensing issues with TeamViewer, I wanted to look at alternatives to TeamViewer.
• here's the change: on an external monitor, connected to the Apple Mac mini and using Zoho/Assist, the NinjaTrader workspaces load properly with their charts' windows in the right places, except the charts are not displaying anything other than the color black. As if they were "transparent"; although they are NOT really transparent: if I right-mouse click on them, the normal popup dialog appears. I can then select "Data Series...", for instance, and that opens and displays properly. Also, as previously mentioned, if I left-mouse press on the red "Chart" title (at the top left of the chart window), then the chart's content appears, as if by magic, as long as I keep pressing. Release the mouse button and the chart goes back to black!

Of course, looking at this from the outside, you couldn't help saying "the only change is Zoho/Assist, therefore the source of the problem is Zoho/Assist". Which is why ChristopherJ responded the way he did.

However, programs other than NinjaTrader do NOT exhibit the symptom I'm seeing. For instance, TWS' charts and windows all display properly when I'm connected via the Zoho/Assist setup. Same thing with Firefox. To me (I have a background in IT), this points to NinjaTrader and the way it treats the visual behaviour of its charts.

For what it's worth, I did contact Zoho and they responded very rapidly and are eager to help me diagnose this problem; they offered to setup a troubleshooting session with one of their developers. However, because of my schedule, this won't happen until next week.

I will post any new information here. I'm posting some snapshots to clarify what I'm seeing.



Regards.

[bltdavid]

However, because of licensing issues with TeamViewer, I wanted to look at alternatives to TeamViewer.

Same here, I no longer use TeamViewer.

I now prefer SplashTop Personal, which can be downloaded
for Windows or Macs.

-=o=-

Splashtop Personal is free for personal, non-commercial use on
your local home network. Yep, it's completely free to use for the
computers on your local home network, which is all I use it for.

A subscription is required to connect from an outside network.

[M_ichel]

Same here, I no longer use TeamViewer.

I now prefer SplashTop Personal, which can be downloaded
for Windows or Macs.

Hi David. Thanks for the info. I'll certainly look into Splashtop.

May I ask how you use it?

Regards.

[bltdavid]

On Windows machines, usually from my older Win7 box to
various other Win7/10/11 boxen, and always on my local
area network in my home (which is always free).

No Macs, iPhones, iPads ... I just use it w/Windows.

No issues remote logging into another PC and running NT8,
or any other Windows application. I've not tried anything
fancy with printers, audio, webcams, etc, on the remote
machine -- but I don't really need to, remember these
'remote' machines are all local on my LAN anyways.

For me, it completely replaced any desire or need for
returning to TeamViewer.

I've never purchased a SplashTop subscription to support
friends and/or family across the internet. If this became a
large enough need, prices like $5/mon or $60/year are not
bad, so nice to know that level of functionality is available.

[M_ichel]

@bitDavid. Thanks for the info.

I'll talk to splashtop sales next week to confirm that my intended use would not be construed as "business" use.

Thanks for the info!

[M_ichel]

2025-04-29: Update:

After a one-hour session with a Zoho developer, looking at NinjaTrader running remotely under Zoho Assist as well as TeamViewer, I got this (somewhat ambiguous) comment:

"Regarding the issue reported with accessing the Ninja Trading application via Zoho Assist, we have identified that the screen sharing protocol used for this particular application appears to be different from standard protocols.

We have taken this observation into account and have raised it as an enhancement request to our development team for further review and improvement."

So... we'll see.

[brucerobinson]

M_ichel - hmmm, tremendous customer/tech support from Zoho. Clearly they consider they have pinpointed the issue and eager to resolve howsoever caused. Would be interesting to hear from Zoho to disambiguate where they believe the departure from standard protocols resides.
Perhaps you could ask them and report back here?
Kind regards,
Bruce