ULTRA Data Downloading

Skip down to TROUBLESHOOTING below if needed.

2011 ULTRA Data Service (UDS) Policy

With your new purchase of ULTRA you get one FREE year of access to the ULTRA Data Service. Subsequent years are $99 / year.
(Our Historical Database will soon be expanded, after which the UDS price will increase accordingly)

Click HERE for the UDS Renewal Page ( http://www.ultrafs.com/b_uds.htm )

• The UDS is updated between 7:00pm - 8:00pm Mountain Time. Sometimes all the data from our sources is not available by 8:00 pm and therefore our update can be late. In that case we stay in our office and wait until 10:00pm or so. After that we'll estimate the data and correct it the next morning
  
  
• Some of the weekly data items that comes with Friday's data are not available until the weekend. Therefore, the Friday data is updated before noon (Mountain Time) on Saturday morning. Sometimes all the data from our sources is not available by Saturday noon and therefore our update can be late.
  
  
• Around holidays, our data sources are notoriously incomplete and error-prone so please be patient with us during those times.

As a general policy we highly recommend that you download data and run your systems at the latest possible time so that data corrections, which do occur from time-to-time, are resolved.

Click HERE for complete instructions.

HINTS for *Data + Download Data from Internet*

With ULTRA you only need to download one file, udata.dat, to update the ULTRA Database. You do this by putting udata.dat in the first Data File field and leaving the others blank as displayed below. udata.dat contains all the data files that ULTRA and SECTOR needs.

As you can see above, you have three separate sites from which to download via FTP the file udata.dat:

• ULTRATIMER.COM in New York
• ULTRAFS.COM in California
• TIMINGDATA.COM in New York (currently disabled for ULTRA 11 testing).

This gives ULTRA users redundancy in case of temporary or regional outages.

Notes:

1. Downloading the file utips08.htm using DATAFILE2 or DATAFILE 3 downloads a file containing ULTRA Timing Tips and enables a notification system inside ULTRA which notifies you whenever this file changes.
2. The way the Data Dowloader works is that it downloads the entire year of data every time you download data. This fills in any gaps within the current year. But you can still get gaps in previous years. For example, say the last time you downloaded data was 10/21/08 and then the next time was 02/21/09. The year 2009 would be perfect but you'd have a gap from 10/21/08 to 12/31/08. To resolve this issue, follow the instructions below in the section, "Downloading Previous Year Data". (Note: This issue will be resolved in the ULTRA 11 release so that ULTRA will automatically fill in old data gaps).
   

TROUBLESHOOTING

• Click HERE for the online version of this file which is updated regularly.
• Click HERE for the FAQ ( ifaq.txt ) which is updated in real-time as info becomes available

If You're Getting an Error Message while Downloading.

DO THIS FIRST

The first thing to do is try to download from one of the other websites. As you can see in the screen above, FTP from ULTRAFS.com (CA) is selected. If that site is temporarily not working correctly then just click on one of the others and try to download.

If Data Appears to Download Successfully but is not Recognized by ULTRA...

DO THIS FIRST

Select ULTRA's "Data + View Data" to confirm that the latest data is not in the ULTRA Database.

If the data is not in the ULTRA Database, the most likely problem is one of:

• We've made a mistake which we'll correct as soon as possible.
  Solution: Try again Later.
  
  
• We are having internet problems on our end (as I write this, last night my entire city's Internet was down due to a fiber optic cable breach. Since we are in the mountains and all our Internet comes through that cable, we sometimes have to drive down to Denver (70 miles each way) to access the Internet during a serious outage.
  Solution: Try again Later.
  
  
• A vital piece of data is not yet available. Rather than upload temporary data that could generate false signals and mislead clients, we strongly prefer to wait until reliable data is available.
  Solution: Try again Later.
  
  
• Your ULTRA version may be "out-of-date" and cannot process the latest data files.
  Solution:
  You must be running the version 10.15 or later. These versions are designed to work through 2020.
  
  Note:
  If the last version you purchased is ULTRA 8, then at the top of the ULTRA screen, the version for ULTRA 10.32 will be displayed as one of:
  * ULTRA 8.10.32
  * ULTRA 10.32 (restricted to U8).

The latest versions of ULTRA are always available by clicking HERE.
( http://www.ultrafs.com/dultra9.htm )

If the ULTRA Data Downloader:

• is Freezing up,
• Eventually Gives up and Times out,
• Generates Windows Error Messages,

Then you'll need to do some Trial-and-Error work
to Determine what is Causing the Problem.

If ULTRA was working fine one day and not working the next day...
the problem is always due to a change in other software on your computer such as:

• Windows Firewall
• Third Party Security Software (like Norton or McAfee)
• A Virus and/or Spyware on your computer.

CHECK THIS FIRST: Windows Firewall Issues

The Microsoft Windows Firewall can interrupt ULTRA's ability to communicate with the Internet The method of determining if this is the case is largely trial-and-error where you temporarily turn off the firewall and see if the problem with the ULTRA Downloader Resolves.

If ULTRA will download with the firewall disabled, you'll need to determine how to give the ULTRA file c:\ultra9\download.exe the right to communicate with the Internet in both directions (to and from the internet) while the firewall is enabled. All security software allows you to grant these rights but they're all different and change constantly so we can't keep up with the steps.

DO NOT leave the firewall disabled for long periods of time.

Windows XP

Windows XP Service Pack 2 contains a firewall that defaults to "enabled". Windows can install the Service Pack 2 upgrade without you knowing it via Windows' "auto update". This could cause your ULTRA data downloading to magically fail as the firewall restricts ULTRA's ability to communicate.

Here are instructions on how to disable the Windows Firewall (near the bottom of the page):

Here is a relevant email from a user who had a further problem with the Windows XP Firewall:

"I got the download to work by disabling the Windows Firewall that seems to be missing parts on my computer. The Service Pack 2 upgrade turned it on and it is partially working or something causing the problem. If turning it off in the control panel then rebooting doesn't help then go to Start/ControlPanel/Performance&Maintenance/AdministrativeTools/Services then find SharedAccess. Left click once on it then right click on it and select Properties. Then change "StartUp Type" to "Disabled" and save it. Then close everything and reboot."

You can also give ULTRA rights to communicate in the XP firewall. Instructions are HERE about halfway down under "Add a Windows Firewall Exception".

Windows Vista

You can turn off the Windows Vista Firewall by selecting "Control Panel / Windows Firewall" and following the instructions on the screen.

There is also a security application that ships with Windows Vista called "Windows Defender" which is also controlled via the Windows "Control Panel" This program is described HERE . We have it disabled on all our computers but it makes sense that this software could interrupts ULTRA's ability to communicate with the Internet as well.

If disabling the Windows Firewall and Windows Defender does not resolve the ULTRA Data Downloading problem, then leave them disabled and move to the section below.

Windows 7

You can turn off the Windows 7 Firewall by ... (We're researching the issue. FINISH...)

if Disabling the Windows Firewall does not Resolve the Problem.

TRY THIS NEXT

Third Party Security Software (EG. McAfee and Norton) Conflicts

Most security software and Windows updates install automatically and can disrupt Ultra's ability to communicate with the Internet The symptom is that the ULTRA downloader was working perfectly one day and the the next, the ULTRA Downloader freezes up and/or random error messages are displayed because the security software interrupts ULTRA during its attempt to download data from the Internet which basically just crashes the ULTRA Downloader..

ULTRA downloads data via the FTP protocol over your Internet connection. Unfortunately, that is exactly what some computer viruses do as well. Therefore, security settings in Windows and Software (such as Norton) can disable Ultra's ability to communicate with the Internet.

When security software interrupts Ultra's communication, random error messages are usually generated by Windows. If you're getting strange error messages the problem is almost certainly due to security software conflicts.

The fastest way to determine if third party security software (Such as McAfee or Norton) is causing the problem is to temporarily disable the security software (and its Firewall), and see if the ULTRA Data Download problem resolves. If so, then follow the security software instructions to grant the ULTRA executable files that communicate with the Internet the right to communicate freely with then Internet in both directions (uploading and downloading)..

All security programs are different but they all will allow you to give software the right to freely communicate with the Internet. These are usually called "exceptions" or "rights". The ULTRA executable files that communicate with the Internet are:

c:\ultra9\ultra10.exe (for 16-bit versions of ULTRA)
c:\ultra9\ultra32.exe (for 32-bit versions of ULTRA before ULTRA 11)
c:\ultra9\download.exe

If Disabling the Windows Firewall and/or Third Party Security Software (EG. McAfee and Norton) Resolves the Problem with the ULTRA Data Downloader, then you need to re-enable those Programs.

You obviously need security on your computers, so now you must re-enable everything one at a time and test the ULTRA Data Downloader to make sure its still working. The best way to test the Data Downloader is to go into Data/Modify Data and change the DJH value very slightly (like change it by 0.01), and then click OK to save the data. Then the next time you successfully download data, that change should revert back to the original value.

If you can enable all the security and the ULTRA Data Downloader continues to work fine, then you were successful at granting ULTRA whatever rights it needed to operate and you should not have any further problems. If enabling security software again causes ULTRA Data Downloading to fail, then you were not successful and should figure out why using the documentation for the Windows Firewall and/or the third party security software (such as McAfee or Norton).

If in the future, the ULTRA Downloader stops working, it's almost certainly due to an auto-update of either your version of Windows or your third party Security Software.

Therefore, we strongly recommend that you keep very detailed notes on how you resolved your problem in case you must repeat it. In ULTRA 10.32+, the ULTRA menu item "Notes + Main" is how ULTRA staff keeps ULTRA Related notes.

If Nothing Above Resolves the Problem then try,
Troubleshooting / Workaround #1

Some users cannot run the downloader from the Data/Download Data from Internet menu item in ULTRA. The symptoms are Windows error messages such as "broken pipe" or "Transfer Aborted".

We are currently not sure why this is happening but we suspect it is a Windows/Security issue. More technical details follow below.

To get around this problem you can run the downloader separately from ULTRA by clicking on Windows Start/Run and typing c:\ultra9\download.exe in the "Open:" field. The downloader will run with the options last set up in ULTRA. During installation, ULTRA should have also created a shortcut to download.exe.

If that shortcut has been lost you can create a new one by simply:

Clicking on Windows' Start / My Computer / Local Disk (c:) / ULTRA9
and then right-clicking on download.exe and selecting "Create shortcut"

Technical Details:

ULTRA is a 16-bit program. When the Data/Download Data from Internet menu item is selected, ULTRA starts download.exe (a 32-bit program) via the Windows WinExec() function call.

For most users this process works perfectly and theoretically it should work on all computers. But on some computers the program download.exe cannot operate correctly.

Unfortunately, the WinExec function is commonly used by viruses to spawn processes that communicate with the Internet Therefore we think that some security software setups may be disabling download.exe in its attempt to communicate with the Internet.

NOTE:
WinExec has been removed from all instances in the 32-bit version of ULTRA 10.32+.

We cannot reproduce this problem on any of our office computers but based on diagnosis from another user he determined:

1. Download.exe will operate perfectly when run separately.
2. If Data/Download Data from Internet has been run and fails, then running download.exe separately will not work until ULTRA is closed.

If Nothing Above Resolves the Problem, you may need to
use the Emergency Backup Downloading Method

Sometimes while trying to figure out these security/download issues you may need to download via our old method as an emergency. This is the method that ULTRA users downloaded data with for a years and it still works just fine as long as the instructions are followed EXACTLY.
(It's not difficult or time-consuming. It's just downloading a file and making sure it's saved as the right type and in the right location.)

We also have three sites for emergency data downloading. They are located at:

Click HERE for ultrafs.com

Click HERE for ultratimer.com

Click HERE for timingdata.com (currently disabled until the ULTRA 11 release)

Complete Instructions are located on those webpages.

Downloading Previous Year Data

Previous year data from 2000 to present is available for download at any time.

It is stored online in the following filename format:

• 2009 Data = udata09.dat
• 2000 Data = udata00.dat
• etc.

To download the 2009 data, in the ULTRA menu item *DATA + DOWNLOAD DATA...* simply change: udata.dat --to-- udata09.dat and download the data file.

NOTE:
The next time you download data be sure to set FILE1 back to udata.dat so you get the CURRENT YEAR of data when you download.