Support Board
Date/Time: Tue, 10 Feb 2026 09:26:49 +0000
Sub Instances Connect To The Wrong
View Count: 317
| [2025-12-26 02:05:53] |
| User450463 - Posts: 139 |
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I have a rather odd problem. I fire up an instance of Sierra and open a couple charts. Call this Inst1. Then I fire up another instance (Inst2), open a chart, and create two sub-instances. I then open a few chartbooks in each sub-instance.I noticed that the subinstances indicate they are connected to the data feed, but nothing is changing. It turns out that these subinstances are CONNECTING TO Inst1, and NOT Inst2 that they were created from. So they connect, but nothing is being processed. The charts in the subinstances never change - they appear "frozen" as far as incoming data goes. Sure enough, if I shut down Inst1 at this point, both subinstances complain they lost the data connection. I can work around this by firing up Inst2 and creating the subinstances, then fire up Inst1. This works fine. Anyhow, thought I would report this - as I say, I have a workaround, so it's not a big issue to me. It just looks like wires are getting crossed somewhere. By the way, I have two instances running because one is a prop firm, and the other is my personal AMP account. |
| [2025-12-26 02:31:45] |
| Sierra_Chart Engineering - Posts: 22781 |
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This is managed by the server port numbers in each of the primary/server instances of Sierra Chart. Go through these instructions here to resolve: Using DTC Server for Data and Trading in Another Sierra Chart Instance: Resolving DTC Protocol Server Port Number Conflicts Make sure each instance, uses a different port number. And then reconnect the sub instances (File >> Reconnect). Sierra Chart Support - Engineering Level Your definitive source for support. Other responses are from users. Try to keep your questions brief and to the point. Be aware of support policy: https://www.sierrachart.com/index.php?l=PostingInformation.php#GeneralInformation For the most reliable, advanced, and zero cost futures order routing, use the Teton service: Sierra Chart Teton Futures Order Routing Date Time Of Last Edit: 2025-12-26 02:33:14
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| [2025-12-26 03:14:45] |
| User450463 - Posts: 139 |
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What I called "Inst1" above already has DTC Server set to "No". Inst2 has it set to Yes, and the ports are 11099/11098. It seems that this is the correct setup. One of them has it enabled, the other one does not. This is already the way it's set up yet I still get the undesirable behavior. Just for fun, I tried turning DTC Server to "Yes" in Inst1. I change the setting, and hit Apply All. The parameter immediately changes to "No". So it won't let me turn it on anyway. I was going to turn it on and then change the port numbers to avoid any conflict with Inst2. Am I doing something wrong? |
| [2025-12-26 04:15:19] |
| Sierra_Chart Engineering - Posts: 22781 |
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. It turns out that these subinstances are CONNECTING TO Inst1, If the DTC server in instance 1 is disabled, then this is an impossibility.Make sure the DTC Server is disabled in all of the sub instances. Sierra Chart Support - Engineering Level Your definitive source for support. Other responses are from users. Try to keep your questions brief and to the point. Be aware of support policy: https://www.sierrachart.com/index.php?l=PostingInformation.php#GeneralInformation For the most reliable, advanced, and zero cost futures order routing, use the Teton service: Sierra Chart Teton Futures Order Routing Date Time Of Last Edit: 2025-12-26 04:15:38
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| [2025-12-26 14:03:24] |
| User450463 - Posts: 139 |
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It was set to "Yes" in both sub instances. I set it to "No" in both. Why would this have had anything to do with Inst1 in the first place since it was, and is, set to "No" ? The sub instances were definitely interacting with Inst1, because if I shut Inst1 down, then both sub instances complained that they had lost the connection. Very strange. |
| [2025-12-26 15:56:33] |
| Sierra_Chart Engineering - Posts: 22781 |
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It is an impossibility, that if the DTC server is actually disabled in instance 1, that it cannot accept connections. But one thing to check is this read-only value: Global Settings >> Sierra Chart Server Settings >> DTC Protocol Server >>DTC Protocol Server is Listening: We cannot explain what is/was happening because we have no way to verify, what is actually happening. Sierra Chart Support - Engineering Level Your definitive source for support. Other responses are from users. Try to keep your questions brief and to the point. Be aware of support policy: https://www.sierrachart.com/index.php?l=PostingInformation.php#GeneralInformation For the most reliable, advanced, and zero cost futures order routing, use the Teton service: Sierra Chart Teton Futures Order Routing Date Time Of Last Edit: 2025-12-26 15:56:54
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| [2025-12-26 16:47:05] |
| User450463 - Posts: 139 |
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I don't know what to tell you. The read-only parameter is off. However, it was connected to Inst1, or at least it appears that way since the instant I shut down Inst1, the two sub instances complain they are disconnected with the usual dialog box. Anyhow, I will wait and see if turning off the DTC server in the two sub instances makes any difference, though I still have no idea why that would have anything to do with Inst1 or why it was even on in the first place. I've never looked at these settings in the 4 years I've used Sierra. I wrote C and C++ code for 35 years and got burned several times telling QA that what they were describing was "impossible" :-) It's not causing me any problems, just wanted to report it. Thanks for looking into it. |
| [2025-12-26 17:41:21] |
| John - SC Support - Posts: 44538 |
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The connection between an instance and a sub-instance is controlled by the port numbers that are being used between them. The IP Address is set to the loopback address for the local computer (127.0.0.1), which is why the port numbers are what matters. If the sub-instances have the DTC Server starting, and they have the same port numbers defined, then it's possible that a sub-instance will try to connect to that other sub-instance rather than the main instance. It would end up being a race condition as to which one it would connect to, so there is no way to know what exactly would occur. In the end, for your setup, you need to have a main instance with the DTC Server started and every other installation/instance needs to NOT be running a DTC Server. For the most reliable, advanced, and zero cost futures order routing, use the Teton service: Sierra Chart Teton Futures Order Routing |
| [2025-12-26 21:52:59] |
| blt - Posts: 153 |
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... John-SC Support John please what is the procedure to set "Enable DTC Protocol Server" to "No" Whenever I do that it comes back to "Yes" when I close and open an instance ... I run 1+6 instances Main instance is set as a server: Teton CME Routing [trading] Other six are set as: DTC-Sub Instance [trading] ... Why am I asking this-seeing that Listening Port in instance 2. (11111) matches Historical Data Port in instance 3. and so on; every next instance matches Listening Port to Historical Data Port in next instance ... After your post (#8) I just wanted to make all perfect on my side although didn't notice any conflicts Today I set all 6 sub instances to "No" during session and I think it was running faster (even CPU load % was unbelievable low) ... ... I am still on SC ver.2813 thank you |
| [2025-12-26 22:52:23] |
| John - SC Support - Posts: 44538 |
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The item you need to change is "Global Settings >> Sierra Chart Server Settings >> DTC Protocol Server". Make sure this is set "No" for any instance you do not want to be a DTC server. This would be ALL your sub-instances. The only instance that should have this set to "Yes" is your main instance. Keep in mind, it should not really matter whether the DTC Server is setup or not. We understand it makes it "cleaner" for you, and that is fine. But in general, the ports are updated in each sub-instance, so those servers are not actually doing anything. Also, check the settings in each sub-instance for "Global Settings >> Data/Trade Service Settings >> Main Settings". The items in there should be the following: - Current Selected Service: DTC - Sub Instance (read-only) - Server Address: 127.0.0.1 - Server Port: 11099 - Historical Data Server Port: 11098 The above ports are the defaults. If you changed the ports in the main instance, then these settings should be set to the ports you set in the main instance. For the most reliable, advanced, and zero cost futures order routing, use the Teton service: Sierra Chart Teton Futures Order Routing |
| [2025-12-27 03:44:20] |
| blt - Posts: 153 |
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... The item you need to change is "Global Settings >> Sierra Chart Server Settings >> DTC Protocol Server". Make sure this is set "No" for any instance you do not want to be a DTC server. This would be ALL your sub-instances. The only instance that should have this set to "Yes" is your main instance. That is "the problem" When I change "Yes"--->"No" in all sub-instances (6) they will stay like that during trading session; they will go back to "Yes" when I terminate sub-instances and start them again ... Also, check the settings in each sub-instance for "Global Settings >> Data/Trade Service Settings >> Main Settings". The items in there should be the following: - Current Selected Service: DTC - Sub Instance (read-only) - Server Address: 127.0.0.1 - Server Port: 11099 - Historical Data Server Port: 11098 This is all very much the same in my case In my case instead of Current Selected Service: DTC - Sub Instance (read-only) I have Current Selected Service: DTC - Sub Instance [trading] ... ... All this is just my ability to exercise that possibility to have 1 instance as server and 6 sub-instances I have no conflict of any kind (that I noticed) Thank you very much for your late Friday effort |
| [2025-12-27 03:45:58] |
| blt - Posts: 153 |
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... my apology for "bad quoting" |
| [2025-12-29 14:41:27] |
| Sierra_Chart Engineering - Posts: 22781 |
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Make sure this option is set to No in General Settings: General Settings Window: Always Copy Configuration Files to New Instances When Started (Global Settings >> General Settings >> General >> New Instances) Sierra Chart Support - Engineering Level Your definitive source for support. Other responses are from users. Try to keep your questions brief and to the point. Be aware of support policy: https://www.sierrachart.com/index.php?l=PostingInformation.php#GeneralInformation For the most reliable, advanced, and zero cost futures order routing, use the Teton service: Sierra Chart Teton Futures Order Routing |
| [2025-12-29 17:19:16] |
| blt - Posts: 153 |
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SC ENGINEERING ... It was set to YES; will change it to NO ... Thank you SC ENGINEERING...phenomenal as always...happy NY 2026 ... ... NOTE: This will be my last attempt to "force" SIERRA CHART SUPPORT/ENGINEERING to implement in Account Panel button for financial contribution as a sign of enormous gratitude toward SIERRA CHART's work Mr. John very successfully is avoiding my attempts for that Thank you all |
| [2025-12-30 00:32:12] |
| blt - Posts: 153 |
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SC ENGINEERING Your recent step in post #13 you recommended did miracle Not only that you fixed "Enable DTC Protocol Server--->NO" stays when I close/open SC; in Chart DOM Settings-Global when I set "Max Bid Ask Depth Pulling/Stacking Levels (0=All) to desired number-it stays that way after SC is open/close Also When I check "Mute All Alert Sounds" did not stay checked-had to do it each time when I start trading on all 6 monitors-NOW IT STAYS The most surprising thing happened when I started my night trading session and open SC; my all 7 monitors got their corresponding workspaces open in the right places(I remember my first 5-10 days with SIERRA CHART I was asking you can I have SC to remember where I close it you mentioned Windows OS; hence many people jumped in telling me to use some third party software to have that functional-did NOT do it and did not mind doing workspace positioning over my monitors Do you want to announce that multimonitor set-up does not need anything from third party to have workplaces in their place-thinking that many are not aware of that?! Thank you so very much (I am on SC ver.2813) |
| [2025-12-30 15:38:53] |
| Sierra_Chart Engineering - Posts: 22781 |
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This is good.
Sierra Chart Support - Engineering Level Your definitive source for support. Other responses are from users. Try to keep your questions brief and to the point. Be aware of support policy: https://www.sierrachart.com/index.php?l=PostingInformation.php#GeneralInformation For the most reliable, advanced, and zero cost futures order routing, use the Teton service: Sierra Chart Teton Futures Order Routing |
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