DRM message on Mar 4

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traderstuff
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DRM message on Mar 4

Postby traderstuff » 04 Mar 2010

Greetings,

Did anyone else lose their data connections because the MC 'DRM' system was lost early this morning? (Mar 4)

In my part of the world there was a message that the connection to the DRM had been lost at 1:47 am and then was re-established at 2:50 am.

In Quote Manager I see that the connection to IB data was actually lost at 1:08 am, and connected again at 2:50 am.

Even in the best case scenario, the live data loss due to DRM was over an hour in length, wasn't this suppose to have been fixed so switching of servers would be almost instantaneous?

I am thankful this did not occur when I had a position on!

MC Ver 6, Beta 2 (Build 3102)

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TJ
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Postby TJ » 04 Mar 2010

I was watching HSI, the market opens at 1:30am ET. (2:30pm HK time)
I had no problem with DRM.

traderstuff
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Postby traderstuff » 04 Mar 2010

Thanks for the reply TJ, I am in the CT zone, so my above posted times would be one hour earlier than ET.

The first warning that DRM system had been lost was in a pink colored rectangle, and the notice that it was again working was in a white one.

I do not use that computer for normal internet connections, email or any thing else, so it would be a hassle to post a screenshot.

Best,

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TJ
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Postby TJ » 04 Mar 2010

you can always do a ping test to see if the internet connect is ok.

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Bruce DeVault
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Postby Bruce DeVault » 04 Mar 2010

I do not use that computer for normal internet connections, email or any thing else, so it would be a hassle to post a screenshot.
Not to change the subject, but this is a great case for using a $20 or less thumb drive, if you have two computers on your LAN that don't have their drives shared.

traderstuff
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Postby traderstuff » 04 Mar 2010

Thanks TJ, as mentioned, the connection to live data came back at 2:50 am, at the exact time DRM said it had re-established connection.

I was not using a MC version that had the DRM when the big blowup about it occurred some time ago and there were many posts about it to TSS - this is my first encounter with it losing a connection.

I HAVE lost IB connections before (hasn't every user..) but never had a drm warning message.

Thanks for the suggestion Bruce.

Best,

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Postby TJ » 04 Mar 2010

Thanks TJ, as mentioned, the connection to live data came back at 2:50 am, at the exact time DRM said it had re-established connection.

I was not using a MC version that had the DRM when the big blowup about it occurred some time ago and there were many posts about it to TSS - this is my first encounter with it losing a connection.

I HAVE lost IB connections before (hasn't every user..) but never had a drm warning message.

Thanks for the suggestion Bruce.

Best,

what I am saying is, there are 2 situations where the DRM message can kick in:


1. the DRM server failed.

or,

2. the DRM server is OK, but YOUR internet connection failed.


to test the 2nd case, you can use a ping test to see if your internet is ok.

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Postby traderstuff » 07 Mar 2010

Evidently it Was My connection that was broken per your # 2. below, as no one else has posted having the same problem.

I was not in front of the screen at the time this incident happened, and things were working normally again when I found those warning notices. so there was no need for the ping test.

I will certainly keep this in mind if the situation happens again.

Thanks


****

what I am saying is, there are 2 situations where the DRM message can kick in:


1. the DRM server failed.

or,

2. the DRM server is OK, but YOUR internet connection failed.


to test the 2nd case, you can use a ping test to see if your internet is ok.

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Postby bowlesj3 » 07 Mar 2010

I could be wrong but if I remember correctly the program "pingplotter" can give you a very long history (of many hours if you wish) as to what IP addresses are having any problems and when. You set it to ping as often as you wish but it has standard default setttings. Almost all the qcharts people used it since they had a lot of server problems and qcharts had to keep switching servers but ping plotter could be used to optimize this. I stopped using it regularly when I got MC but maybe I should use it again now that DRM is here. I used it once to convince my service provider they had a problem and very quickly they tuned my line speed to fix it. Qcharts users also used a program called taskinfo which gives you a heck of a lot of info to help you set up ping plotter and figure out where problems are. Unfortunately I do not have the nextworking knowledge to give you much more info than that.

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Postby MC_Prog » 08 Mar 2010

The appropriate purpose of DRM is to confirm the user's "right to run", and then to get out of the way.

I don't see the purpose of periodic re-checking during an ongoing session where the "right to run" has already been initially confirmed.

The downsides are obvious and many - aborted optimizations, lost broker connections, potential large monetary losses, justifiably angry users who are denied access that they should not be denied.

What's the upside?

Indeed, it is arguable that periodic re-checking of DRM over the network is a deal-breaker for any serious or professional application of the product.

From this perspective, a dongle (much as people dislike 'em) is much to be preferred.

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Postby TJ » 08 Mar 2010

if your internet connection is dead,
DRM or no DRM is not going to make a difference.

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Postby Bruce DeVault » 08 Mar 2010

A typical (although certainly not the only) reason DRM checks are made periodically is because of the issue of rampant software piracy. A single check at startup is easier to circumvent, in that the person doing the circumventing can quickly and easily verify that the circumvention was successful by running the program, whereas if checks are made at various times and in various functions and in varying ways, it can be made vanishingly difficult to ever know that it's completely working after an attempt to illegally modify the program.

I do agree that a dongle is preferrable. But, I also think that software piracy is an extremely serious concern, and that in the absence of a hardware key being required, measures like this are nearly inevitable.

In the presence of DRM, obviously, it is the software provider's responsibility to assure it works cleanly and without issue. Any reported and substantiated, reproduced problems should be taken care of immediately. Beyond that, there's nothing further they could or should do.

For one, I would personally rather have a hardware key. But, I do understand why the DRM is here, and in the absense of a hardware key, I don't think one can really argue that the software provider shouldn't do everything reasonable to protect their significant investment in intellectual property, which is far greater than the investment made by any individual person who purchases a license.

As a user, if DRM works correctly (and almost everyone here seems to think it DOES work), it is a non-issue, other than the possible argument that a special version should be made available for users who request a hardware key and pay a nominal fee to receive one.

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Postby RobotMan » 08 Mar 2010

John Said:
I could be wrong but if I remember correctly the program "pingplotter" can give you a very long history (of many hours if you wish) as to what IP addresses are having any problems and when.
John is right. I use PP all the time. It is simply an indispensable tool. It is easy to set up alerts that pop-up when ping times are too long. It also shows packet loss, which is my main interest oftentimes. You can really find how "clean" your provider is by seeing packet loss. I attached some screen shots.

It is shareware, but I just went ahead and purchased mine because it is worth it.
Attachments
SetAlert.jpg
(52.41 KiB) Downloaded 1042 times
PingPlotterDHCPserver.jpg
(105.94 KiB) Downloaded 1046 times

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Postby MC_Prog » 08 Mar 2010

if your internet connection is dead,
DRM or no DRM is not going to make a difference.
Sorry, but this is not true if, for example, a long-running optimization is aborted. Days or more of time could be lost.

Also, what if you want to develop, replay, or test offline?

Also, what if the company goes out of business? or suffers a problem with their hosting or local/national network? or suffers a DOS attack?

A dongle does not have these problems. A properly enabled dongle is also portable between machines, regardless of location. IMO, it's just a superior solution.

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Postby bowlesj3 » 09 Mar 2010

But you are not responding to Bob's limited statement. He is correct and you are correct. He is simply saying that if your internet is dead DRM is irrelative. That is why he is agreeing that PP is worth having so you can quickly figure out where the problem is in any one instance. He is not saying these other statements you make are false. So far I have had more problem with IB than with DRM. I have seen IB stop twice and never seen DRM give a problem (touch wood). Maybe Bob can tell us if PP can pinpoint a DRM server probem. I am not sure.

It is too bad a guy named Larry (I will not mention last name) from the Qcharts site is not using MC. He is a network expert and trader who knows this stuff inside out and backwards. He is unbelievable in his dedication to his forum help and his work. He is a dedicated trader too. Gee TSS should consider hiring him if he ever gets to use MC. Yah he insisted on calling me long distance to help me with pingplotter and a few of the other tools they use.
Last edited by bowlesj3 on 09 Mar 2010, edited 1 time in total.

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Bruce DeVault
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Postby Bruce DeVault » 09 Mar 2010

What MC_Prog has reasonably raised above is that your internet connection going up or down is immaterial if you are doing a long optimization, possibly even in offline mode. In this case, you might be running an optimization that lasts one week (in an extreme case) yet you don't want any blip in the DRM server (or your internet connectivity) during that whole week to knock you out of the run due to an authorization failure. This would be a strong case for adding a hardware key as an option, at least.

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Postby bowlesj3 » 09 Mar 2010

But you are allowed to run 30 days offline. So If you are doing a backtest not connected to the internet it will be okay. If you are connected all that will happen is your feed stops I am assuming and your backtest would continue. However I have never been in this position so I am not 100% sure about that one (it just makes logical sense based upon the 30 day allowance).

It is easy to test however (on a weekend too). Just unplug the internet. I get that message every day. It would not be good to stop the backtest with this popup. I think it is just a warning and it says no live data can be received.

Here is the exact message:
The connection to the digital rights management system cannot be established. MultiCharts will be launched without authorization. No real-time data will be available.

Okay so I am running a test. I started the replay on the notebook and when I started it I was authorized. I just unplugged the internet. It is still running the replay and it still says authorized. I am going to take a break and see if it ran to the end of the day (I started the replay at 2am on the chart that is so it would keep running while I am away). I just slowed it to the slowest replay speed so it should be running when I get back.

Okay so I just got back. I started the replay at about 16:20 or 16:25. It is still running at 17:36 (over an hour). There is a pink message that came up at 16:58 (I guess that is the 30 minute grace period). It says exactly.

Source: Multicharts.
Message: The connection to the digital rights management system has been lost. Multicharts will continue working without authorization.
No real time data will be available.

It is almost the same message as when you start MC offline without a connection. Now I was not getting a feed when I started MC. I suspect it will be no different. I would assume that the backtest would continue to run just the same as the replay (and you could run it solid for 30 days).


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