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Troubleshooting FAQ - Please read prior to posting

Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2015 9:32 am
by tickstory
General Questions

Q. Tickstory does not start when launched. Error message displays "Tickstory has stopped working" and the application exits.
A. Tickstory Lite requires Microsoft .NET v3.5SP1 be installed on the machine (any other version such as .NET v4.x will not suffice). You can download .NET v3.5 from here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-au/download ... aspx?id=21

Metatrader Questions

Q. I am getting a launcher error when starting MT4.
A. If this error occurs, check the following:
1) If you have a license code, apply the license in the Help->License menu. For users that are not using the registered version, you must be running MT4 Build 765 or earlier otherwise you will receive this error.
2) Ensure you have set your MT4 Installation folder correctly in File->Settings->MT4 Settings. It should be something like C:\Program Files (x86)\Metatrader.
3) If you are using Windows 7 or are receiving a prompt for administrator access when you launch, run Tickstory as Administrator by right-clicking the icon and selecting "Run As Administrator".
4) On slower machines, it may take some time for time for MT4 to to load. In this case, Tickstory does not wait any longer and puts up this error. Once MT4 has finished starting, you can press the launch button again and it should no longer display this error.

Q. I am not getting 99.9% modelling quality on my back-tests or;
My MT4 back-test reports that the modeling quality is "N/A" or;
My MT4 back-test reports "TestGenerator: internal error because file not opened"

A. This problem is typically due MT4 not utilising your exported data correctly. Check the following:
  • Ensure you have launched your MT4 terminal via the Tickstory 'Launch MT4' option (press F8 when in Tickstory to do this).
  • Ensure you have exported your MT4 database to the correct location (make sure you have selected the correct server if there are multiple selections). For example, if you have a "Demo" and "Real" account, make sure you are exporting to the same one you are using for back-testing, otherwise the data will not be visible to MT4.
  • If applicable, ensure you have correctly mapped the Tickstory symbol name (eg. EURUSD) to the MT4 equivalent symbol name (eg. EURUSDm, fcmEURUSD, etc). (See the manual or search the forum for more on this topic: search.php?keywords=maps+to&terms=all&a ... c=1&sf=all).
Q. Why isn't TickstoryInfoExpert EA generating config file?
A. Firstly, check you are checking the correct location. In MT4, go to File->Open Data Folder and then browse to the <Data Folder>/MQL4/Files folder. A file should exist with a *.mt4config extension.
If it does not, check the 'Experts' tab to see if any errors are being generated. This problem is sometimes caused by an invalid filename being generated (since it utilises your broker's name). You can force a valid filename by going to the EA's 'ConfigFileName' parameter to "Broker.mt4config".

Q. Why isn't my EA working or;
Q. Why isn't my EA doing X
A. EAs will perform differently when tested with tick data. We unfortunately can't assist you with trouble-shooting specific EAs, however we have compiled a general FAQ which will hopefully help answer your question: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=794.

Q. I am getting the error "Access to the path denied" when exporting.
A. This is caused by Windows denying Tickstory access to the folder where it needs to store its downloaded tick data. To resolve this, go to File->Settings and specify a "Dukascopy Store Folder" that has general write permissions. For example, create a folder called "Tickdata" in your Documents and then specify C:\User\<YourName>\Documents\Tickdata as the storage folder location.

Q. My back-test doesn't complete fully and stops at a certain date. What's happening?
A. This is usually caused by a limitation with MT4 which only supports a maximum of 4GB of data. If your back-test period is greater than 2 years, you are likely to come across this limitation. To check for sure, have a look at the size of your FXT files and ensure they are under 4GB. Further discussion on how to reduce your file sizes can be found here: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=176

File Export Questions

Q. I just exported a file but cannot find it.
A. If you haven't explicitly specified a pathname, TIckstory attempts to export the file in the program folder. It is possible to explicitly specify a pathname such as C:\ExportedData\{Symbol}.csv.