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Error Handling

This guide helps you diagnose and resolve common errors or issues you might encounter while using MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and the FundedEA Quantum Expert Advisor (EA). When problems occur, the first places to check for specific messages are the "Experts" and "Journal" tabs located in the "Terminal" window at the bottom of your MT4 platform (Press Ctrl+T to toggle the Terminal view).

1. General MT4 Platform & Connection Errors

These issues often relate to your MT4 platform's connection to the broker's server or your account status.

  • Error Message: No connection / Common error / Red "No connection" status in the bottom-right corner.

    • Cause: Internet connectivity problems, broker server maintenance, incorrect server selected during login.

    • Solution: Check your internet connection. Verify you selected the correct server name provided by your broker when logging in (File > Login to Trade Account). Check your broker's website for server status updates. Try rescanning servers (Click the connection status > Rescan servers). Restart MT4.

  • Error Message: Invalid account

    • Cause: Incorrect MT4 account number or password entered during login. The account might be archived by the broker.

    • Solution: Double-check your login credentials (File > Login to Trade Account). Ensure Caps Lock is off. If credentials are correct, contact your broker to confirm account status.

  • Error Message: Account disabled / Trade is disabled / Trading prohibited

    • Cause: Your broker has disabled trading on the account (e.g., demo expired, verification needed, violation of terms). Sometimes occurs if the main "AutoTrading" button in MT4 is disabled globally.

    • Solution: Contact your broker to understand why trading is disabled. Ensure the main "AutoTrading" button in the MT4 toolbar is clicked and shows a green icon. Check the EA properties (F7 on chart > Common tab) and ensure "Allow live trading" is checked.

  • Message: "Waiting for next tick." (Seen in the EA's on-chart comment or Experts tab)

    • Cause: This is not usually an error. It means the EA has completed its calculations for the current price tick and is waiting for a new price update from the broker before it re-evaluates market conditions or checks for trading signals/actions.

    • Solution: Usually, no action is needed. If this message persists for an unusually long time (many minutes or hours) on a typically active pair during market hours, it could indicate a frozen price feed or connection issue (check connection status). Try re-attaching the EA on the chart to see if it fixes the issue. On very slow-moving pairs or during weekends/market closures, this message is normal.

2. Order Execution Errors (Common MT4 Error Codes)

These errors typically occur when the EA tries to open, modify, or close trades, and the broker's server rejects the request. You'll often see an error code number in the Experts/Journal tab.

  • Error: Off quotes (Error 129)

    • Cause: No valid price feed from the broker. The market might be closed (weekend, holiday), extremely volatile (no liquidity), or the specific symbol might be disabled by the broker.

    • Solution: Check market hours for the instrument. Avoid trading during very low liquidity periods. Contact your broker if the issue persists during normal market hours.

  • Error: Requote (Error 138) / Price changed (Error 136)

    • Cause: The market price moved significantly between the time the EA requested the trade and the time the server processed it (slippage). Common in fast-moving markets.

    • Solution: Usually temporary. The EA will typically retry on the next tick. Increasing slippage tolerance within the EA's settings (if available and applicable) or in MT4 might help but increases execution risk. This is less relevant for pending orders.

  • Error: Invalid stops (Error 130) / Invalid price (Error 128)

    • Cause: The requested Stop Loss (SL) or Take Profit (TP) level is too close to the current market price, violating the broker's minimum stop level distance (StopLevel). Can also happen if the calculated entry price for a pending order is invalid relative to the current market price.

    • Solution: Ensure SL/TP values in the EA settings are reasonable and not extremely tight. The EA's internal logic usually accounts for this, but extreme volatility or very low StopLevel requirements from a broker could cause issues.

  • Error: Not enough money (Error 134)

    • Cause: Insufficient free margin in your account to cover the margin requirement for the requested trade size.

    • Solution: Reduce the EA's risk settings (e.g., Risk Allocation %, Lot Scaler, or use Fixed Lot Size with a smaller value). Deposit more funds. Close other open positions to free up margin.

  • Error: Trade context busy (Error 146) / Server busy (Error 141) / Broker busy (Error 142)

    • Cause: Too many requests sent too quickly, or the broker's server is overloaded.

    • Solution: Usually temporary. The EA should retry automatically. If persistent, consider increasing any "Trade Delay" settings within the EA if applicable, or check VPS/network latency.

  • Error: Trade timeout (Error 148)

    • Cause: The trade request took too long to execute and was cancelled. Often related to poor connection or server issues.

    • Solution: Check connection quality/VPS latency. Contact broker if persistent.

  • Error: Trade modification denied (Error 147)

    • Cause: Broker rejected a request to modify SL/TP, often because the order is too close to the current market price or is already being processed for closure.

    • Solution: Usually handled internally by the EA. Check if the order was closed shortly after.

  • Error: Hedge trades are not allowed on this pair / Hedge prohibited (Error 149)

    • Cause: The broker (or account type regulations, e.g., US FIFO/No-Hedging rules) does not permit having simultaneous buy and sell positions open on the same instrument.

    • Solution: Disable the hedging features within the EA settings if your broker prohibits hedging. Ensure you are complying with regional regulations (e.g., FIFO).

3. FundedEA Quantum Specific Logic & Setup Errors (Inferred)

These messages often appear in the Experts tab or as on-chart comments and relate to the EA's internal logic, settings, or license status.

  • Message: EA stopped due to invalid account verification key.

    • Cause: The accountVerificationKey entered in the EA's input settings is incorrect for the logged-in MT4 account number, or the license is inactive/expired.

    • Solution: Ensure you have copied the correct, active Verification Key from your FundedEA Dashboard for the exact MT4 account number you are using. Paste it carefully into the EA's Inputs tab (F7 on chart). Check your subscription status on the FundedEA Dashboard.

  • Message: Lot is less than your brokers minimum lot size

    • Cause: The calculated or fixed lot size is smaller than the minimum trade volume allowed by your broker for that specific instrument.

    • Solution: If using Fixed Lot Size, increase the value to meet or exceed the broker's minimum. If using Dynamic Sizing, the EA usually handles this, but very low account balances or risk settings combined with high minimum lot requirements could potentially cause issues – consider slightly higher risk settings or check broker's contract specifications.

  • Message: Grid Array Error...

    • Cause: Incorrect formatting or values entered into string-based array inputs in the EA settings (like manual grid levels or holiday dates).

    • Solution: Carefully check the format required for these inputs as described in the Parameters documentation. Ensure commas, slashes, and numbers are used correctly. If unsure, revert to default settings or use automatic calculation modes if available.

  • Message: The Hedge Symbol you have entered (...) is not closely correlated...

    • Cause: If using the hedging feature with a different instrument (Hedge Pair input), the EA determined the correlation between the chart symbol and the hedge symbol is too low for effective hedging.

    • Solution: Choose a hedge pair known to be strongly correlated (positively or negatively as intended) with the main chart instrument, or leave the Hedge Pair input empty to hedge on the same instrument (if allowed by your broker).

  • Message: Daily Loss Limit Exceeded / Daily Profit Target Reached

    • Cause: The account's equity change for the day (calculated from the start of the trading day) has hit the threshold set in the Max Daily Loss or Daily Profit Target inputs.

    • Solution: This is the EA's risk management working as intended. The EA will typically close relevant trades and stop opening new ones for the remainder of the trading day. Trading should resume normally the next day. Adjust the limit values if they are too restrictive or too loose for your strategy/risk tolerance.

  • Message: Equity Stop Loss Reached

    • Cause: The floating drawdown (loss) on the currently open basket of trades managed by this EA instance has exceeded the percentage set in the Max Drawdown % input.

    • Solution: This is a critical safety feature. The EA closes all trades for this instance to prevent further losses. Review the trade setup, market conditions, and consider adjusting risk settings (Max Drawdown %, Risk Allocation %, lot sizing) if the trigger was too sensitive for your strategy.

  • Message: Portion Balance dropped below stop trade percent

    • Cause: The portion of the account balance allocated to this EA instance (based on Risk Allocation % and Allocation Mode) has fallen below the safety threshold defined by Loss Threshold %.

    • Solution: The EA will stop opening new trades but will manage existing ones. This prevents further risk exposure when the allocated capital depletes significantly. Review overall performance and risk settings. Trading may resume if the balance recovers or if the EA is reset (after careful consideration).

  • Message: FundedEA Quantum has ShutDown...

    • Cause: The Halt Trading input parameter was set to true, and the EA has now closed all its open trades.

    • Solution: This is intentional user action. To resume trading, set Halt Trading back to false in the EA inputs (F7) and potentially refresh the EA or restart MT4.

  • Message: Various messages related to closing trades (e.g., Profit Trailing Stop Reached, Stop Loss Reached, Trailing Stop Reached, Trend reversed, Close Oldest Trade, Close Trades Outside Trading Hours, Emergency Close All Trades).

    • Cause: These indicate specific exit conditions defined by the EA's input settings have been met.

    • Solution: These are generally the EA operating as configured. Review the corresponding input settings (e.g., MaximizeProfit, UseStopLoss, CloseTradesOnTrendChange, UseCloseOldest, CloseTradesOutsideTradingHours, EmergencyCloseAll) if the closures are unexpected or undesired.

4. Other Potential Issues

  • Issue: EA doesn't appear in the MT4 Navigator window after copying the file.

    • Cause: File not placed in the correct folder; MT4 hasn't recognized the new file.

    • Solution: Ensure the .ex4 file is placed exactly in the MQL4\Experts subfolder within your MT4 Data Folder (File > Open Data Folder). In the MT4 Navigator panel, right-click on "Expert Advisors" and select "Refresh". If it still doesn't appear, restart the MT4 platform.

  • Issue: EA attached to chart, but the smiley face icon in the top-right corner is sad (☹️).

    • Cause: Live trading is not enabled for this EA instance, or AutoTrading is disabled globally, or another critical error prevents initialization (check Experts/Journal tabs).

    • Solution: Check that the main "AutoTrading" button in the MT4 toolbar is green. Right-click the chart, go to Expert Advisors > Properties (F7), navigate to the Common tab, and ensure "Allow live trading" is checked. Review the Experts/Journal tabs for specific error messages.

  • Issue: EA settings reset to default unexpectedly.

    • Cause: Often happens if you recompile the EA code, switch chart timeframes without saving/reloading a setfile, or sometimes due to platform updates/issues.

    • Solution: Always save your desired configurations as .set files using the 'Save' button in the EA's Inputs tab. Reload your saved setfile (Load button) whenever you attach the EA or if settings seem incorrect.

If you encounter persistent errors that you cannot resolve using this guide, please gather the specific error messages from your "Experts" and "Journal" tabs and contact FundedEA support for assistance, providing as much detail as possible about your setup and the issue.

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