Troubleshooting

Common problems and how to fix them, written as problem → cause → fix. For licensing details see Licensing & Tiers; for broker setup see Connecting to Interactive Brokers.

Note: Trading futures carries substantial risk of loss. Signals and AI commentary are informational only and are not recommendations or guarantees. You alone are responsible for your configuration and your trades. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

No signals appearing

Problem: Tempest is open but the Signals view stays empty during market hours.

Likely causes:

• The Forte Mare signal service that feeds Tempest is not running.
• The current futures contract month has rolled and the feed is still set to the expired month, so no new signals are produced for it.

Fix:

1. Confirm the signal service is running. Tempest receives signals from the Forte Mare signal service. If that service is not running on your machine (or wherever you run it), no signals reach Tempest. Start it, then watch the status bar — the upstream-connection indicator on the left turns green and the Signals: N counter begins to climb as messages arrive.
2. Click the connection indicator to reconnect. In the status bar, the left-most label shows the upstream feed status. If it reads disconnected, click it to force Tempest to reconnect. Hover it for a tooltip explaining what it shows.
3. Check the current contract month. Futures roll quarterly (March, June, September, December). If the feed is configured for a contract that has already expired, it will not produce fresh signals. Make sure your signal-service configuration points at the current contract for each symbol, and restart that service after changing it. (Contract rollover is also the usual cause when orders don't reach your broker — see Orders submitted but not in TWS below.)

Note: The signal service runs independently of Tempest. You can close and reopen Tempest without stopping the signal flow; when you reopen it, Tempest reconnects and shows new signals as they arrive.

📷 Screenshot: The status bar showing the upstream-feed indicator and the "Signals: N" counter.

Can't connect to Interactive Brokers

Problem: Tempest can't reach TWS or IB Gateway. The Assisted Trading panel may read Status: WAITING — no broker connection (or Status: IB disconnected — reconnecting…), even though you are logged into your broker account.

See Connecting to Interactive Brokers for full setup. The two most common causes:

Cause 1: the API setting was turned off

TWS sometimes turns the API socket off by itself, especially after a TWS auto-update.

Fix:

1. In TWS, open File → Global Configuration → API → Settings.
2. Make sure Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients is checked.
3. If you intend to trade, make sure Read-Only API is unchecked so Tempest is allowed to place orders.
4. Confirm the Socket port matches what Tempest is set to use. The default is 7497 for a TWS paper account and 7496 for a TWS live account. (IB Gateway uses different defaults — 4002 paper, 4001 live.) You can review or change Tempest's host and port in Tools → TWS Connection…; changes take effect on the next reconnect.
5. Confirm 127.0.0.1 is in the Trusted IPs list.
6. Click OK, then reconnect (the connection re-establishes automatically; Tools → Refresh Orders Cache also nudges it).

Note: If a TWS update is involved, re-check Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients first — it is the single most common reason a previously-working connection stops.

Cause 2: Windows reserved the port

Problem: TWS reports something like "API server failed to start since specified port 7497 is in use by another app," but nothing is actually using that port.

Cause: On Windows, virtualization features (Hyper-V, WSL2, or Docker Desktop) reserve ranges of TCP ports at startup. If your TWS port falls inside one of those reserved ranges, Windows blocks it and the error misleadingly blames "another app."

Fix — option A (use a different port, no reboot):

1. Pick a port outside the reserved ranges (for example 17497).
2. In TWS: Global Configuration → API → Settings → Socket port → set it to your chosen port.
3. In Tempest: Tools → TWS Connection… → set the port to match.
4. Reconnect.

Fix — option B (keep the standard port): Reserve the port for your own use. This requires an elevated (Administrator) PowerShell window and a reboot afterward, and is best done with guidance from Feedback & Support if you are not comfortable with Windows networking commands.

Note: This is a Windows environment issue, not a Tempest bug. Either choosing a free port or reserving the standard one resolves it.

License error / activation code 92

Problem: Activating your license fails, or you repeatedly see a message that mentions code 92.

Cause: This is almost always a stale activation recorded against your machine from a previous attempt (for example after reinstalling, updating, or a forced restart). A new activation collides with the leftover one and is rejected. It is a server-side state issue, not a problem with your key or your computer.

Fix:

1. Open Help → Activate License…, paste your key again, and click Activate. Tempest already retries and clears its own local cache, so this alone sometimes succeeds.
2. If it still fails with code 92, the leftover activation has to be cleared on Forte Mare's side. Open Help → Activate License…, click Diagnostics…, then Email Support — this sends the details (including the identifier the team needs) so support can clear the stale activation for you. The message Tempest shows for code 92 leads with these same steps.
3. After support confirms it's cleared, return to Help → Activate License… and click Activate once more.

Note: Recurring code 92 is expected to be cleared by support, not by anything you change locally. Manage or recover your subscription and key at any time at fortemare.net/settings/license. For tier details, see Licensing & Tiers.

📷 Screenshot: The Activate License dialog's Diagnostics… panel with the Email Support button.

Orders submitted but not in TWS

Problem: A trade shows as submitted in Tempest (Status: ACTIVE — order submitted), but it never appears in TWS and no position opens.

Cause 1: the contract month has expired (most common)

When futures roll to a new quarter, the signal feed may still be emitting the old, expired contract. Brokers silently reject orders on an expired contract, so Tempest reports the order as submitted even though it never reached the broker.

Fix:

1. Check the contract on the signal — it should be the current month and year (for example an ES June 2026 contract), not a past one. Futures roll on the third Friday of the expiry month (March, June, September, December).
2. If the contract is stale, update your signal-service configuration to the current contract for that symbol, then restart the signal service.
3. New signals will carry the current contract and orders should reach TWS normally.

Note: This is a configuration matter for the signal feed, not Tempest itself. Tempest passes the contract from the signal through to your broker. If you check only one thing when "orders submitted but nothing happens," check the contract month first.

Cause 2: assisted trading isn't enabled

In the Assisted Trading panel, the ENABLE checkbox controls whether signals are sent to your broker. When it is unchecked, signals are dropped with the reason Assisted-trading OFF (ENABLE unchecked) and no orders are placed.

Fix: Check the ENABLE box. It turns green when active. See Assisted Trading.

Cause 3: the symbol isn't on your tier

If a signal's symbol isn't covered by your license tier, Tempest shows the signal but will not trade it. The signal is dropped with a reason such as Symbol NQ not on tier (Standard), and the status bar lists which symbols your tier does allow.

Fix: Trade only the symbols your tier covers, or upgrade your tier. See Licensing & Tiers.

Cause 4: no broker connection

If neither broker connection is live, signals are dropped with the reason No broker connection and the panel reads Status: WAITING — no broker connection.

Fix: Reconnect to your broker — see Can't connect to Interactive Brokers above.

Startup, update, or connectivity hangs

Problem: Tempest freezes for several seconds at launch, when checking for updates, or when activating a license — and update or connection attempts report a connection error even though your internet works (for example "are you connected to the internet?").

Cause: On some networks, Windows tries to auto-detect a proxy server on every web request, and that lookup is slow to time out when no such server exists. The delay stacks up across license, update, and AI-commentary requests, surfacing as a few-second hang or a false "no internet" message — even though a plain browser loads pages instantly.

Fix:

1. The Tempest installer applies a one-time fix for this during installation, so most machines are unaffected. If you still see it, reinstall the latest version from fortemare.net so the installer can re-apply that step.
2. If hangs persist after reinstalling, contact Feedback & Support — this is a one-time network configuration matter, not an app defect, and the team can walk you through it.

Note: Brief pauses while a chart loads historical bars for the first time, or while Tempest activates your license at launch, are normal. Charts are faster on subsequent opens.

Tempest won't start or crashes on launch

Problem: Tempest closes immediately after launch.

Fix, in order:

1. Reinstall the latest version from fortemare.net. This is the safest first step and resolves most startup problems.
2. Send the logs to support. If it still won't start, the diagnostics folder is reachable from another machine's File Explorer, or the team can guide you to it — open Feedback & Support and follow the steps there to attach your logs.

Note: When Tempest does open, you can always reach its diagnostics from Help → Open Logs Folder and send them with Help → Send Feedback…. See Feedback & Support.

Still stuck?

If your issue isn't listed here:

1. Gather diagnostics — Help → Open Logs Folder.
2. Describe the problem — Help → Send Feedback…, choose a Type, fill in a Title and Details, keep Attach recent trading log checked, and add a screenshot if it helps.
3. Make sure you're current — Help → Check for Updates… before reporting an issue.

Full details are in Feedback & Support. For account and license matters, visit fortemare.net/settings/license.

Warning: Assisted trading places real orders with real money at your own direction. Always confirm your orders in your broker and review your position sizing and risk settings. Trading futures carries substantial risk of loss; signals and AI commentary are informational only and are not recommendations or guarantees, and past performance does not guarantee future results.