Troubleshooting

Written By Axiom Admin

Last updated 22 days ago

Troubleshooting

When something looks wrong with Axiom DC CTX, it usually belongs to one of three categories: a configuration surprise (you did something you did not remember doing), documented behavior (the tool is doing what it is supposed to do, and you expected something different), or a genuine limit (the tool cannot do the thing you are asking of it). This page is organized to help you sort your symptom into the right category so you stop blaming the tool when the tool is actually honest and stop adjusting the tool when you need to adjust the configuration.

Symptom → Likely cause → Fix

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix	Category
The chart is blank and TradingView shows a red error banner `DC NN timeframe cannot be lower than the chart timeframe.`	A slot's `TimeFrame:` is set below the chart's timeframe.	Raise the named slot's `TimeFrame:` to equal or above the chart, or blank it to inherit.	Configuration surprise
A slot under `On Bar Close? = OFF` redraws mid-bar. Alerts fired on values that later shifted.	OFF is reading the live/current HTF bar, which can change until it closes; old/reloaded OFF bars are not faithful proof of what was available live.	Flip the slot to ON if you need a confirmed read or historical review. See MTF & Repainting.	Documented behavior
The blended channel is moving and no visible slot appears to be moving.	A hidden slot (slot with `Hide DC NN Plot` ON) is enabled with a non-zero weight and is steering the blend.	Open the inputs dialog, find enabled slots you cannot see on the chart, and check their `Hide DC NN Plot` and `Blended Weight:`. To remove voice, set weight to 0 or disable the slot.	Configuration surprise
`All DC Slot Bases Uptrend` is silent even though three of four visible slots agree.	The alignment alert includes every enabled slot, including hidden slots. The fourth slot is not agreeing, or a hidden fifth slot is not agreeing.	Either wait for true alignment or disable slots you do not want in the alignment check. Hiding is not excluding.	Documented behavior
A cross-ticker channel is sitting far from price.	The scaling is a single close-ratio at the slot's timeframe. Two symbols with very different volatility regimes or partial session overlap can produce scaled channels that land in unexpected places.	Cross-check by viewing the native channel on the alternate symbol in a second chart, and read the slot as context rather than prediction.	Documented behavior
A slot's three lines are missing while the slot is enabled.	`Hide DC NN Plot` is ON, or the slot is on a timeframe where Donchian values have not yet accumulated (fresh chart, short history).	Turn the hide flag off if you wanted the lines visible. If the chart has little history, scroll back or wait for more bars.	Configuration surprise / documented behavior
The basis line is flickering, and basis-trend alerts are firing constantly.	`Basis Trend Length:` is set to 1 or 2. "Rising" now means "higher than the previous basis value."	Increase `Basis Trend Length:` to a value that reflects the persistence you actually want.	Configuration surprise
The outer channel looks ragged or chaotic, but the basis looks clean.	`Length:` is very short. The outer bounds are raw — no basis smoothing affects them. Basis cleanliness is not a pass; it is a separate layer.	Increase `Length:` to the range you actually want to read.	Documented behavior
The outer channel is smooth and stable, but the basis line is jumping.	Unusual but possible: the basis is set to a reactive MA type with parameters that chase, while `Length:` is long enough to smooth the outer bounds via the stability of the extremes across many bars.	Reconsider the MA `Type:` on the basis, or calm the type-specific parameters in the `DC NN PU` group. See the MA Pro library manual for the specific MA family.	Configuration surprise
Slot 01's 5-minute lines look identical between 10:00 and 10:05, then step at 10:05.	Working as intended under `On Bar Close? = ON`. The HTF value is confirmed; it advances at HTF close.	No fix needed. This is the posture the manual recommends by default.	Documented behavior
The blended basis-trend alert says uptrend when two slots are up and two slots are down.	Tie-break rule: the weight-majority vote resolves ties as uptrend. If the up-weight equals the down-weight, uptrend wins by convention.	Know the rule before acting on the alert. If tie-break behavior is costing you, adjust weights so ties are rare.	Documented behavior
A cross-ticker slot is showing `na` or a collapsed channel.	The alternate symbol may have insufficient history at the slot's timeframe, or the symbol's session does not overlap the chart's current window.	Wait for bars to accumulate, or switch the alternate symbol to one whose session overlaps the chart's session.	Documented behavior / configuration surprise
Changing `Basis MA Length:` doesn't change the outer channel width.	The outer channel is raw; only the midpoint basis is smoothed. The asymmetry is deliberate.	Use `Length:` to change the outer channel. Use `Basis MA Length:` only for the midline.	Documented behavior
A disabled slot appears to be "doing nothing" — no lines, no alerts, no blend contribution.	That is what disabled means. Enable the slot if you want it in the picture.	`Enable DC NN` = true.	Configuration surprise
The blended channel is not drawn at all.	`Enable Blended DC` is OFF, or `Hide Blended DC Plot` is ON.	Turn `Enable Blended DC` on. If you also want the blended lines visible, turn `Hide Blended DC Plot` off.	Configuration surprise
The chart renders fine but no per-slot alerts have the slot name I expect in the alert list.	Alerts are named by the slot number and direction — `DC 01 Basis Is Uptrend`, `DC 02 Basis Is Downtrend`, etc. All ten slots have both directions listed regardless of whether the slot is enabled.	Choose the alert by slot number in the alert creation dialog. Creating an alert on a disabled slot is allowed but will never fire.	Configuration surprise

Sorting the categories

Three categories matter because three different responses are appropriate.

Configuration surprises

You did something you do not remember doing, or you did something whose consequence you did not fully see through. The fix is always to look at the input that is producing the behavior and adjust it.

Common configuration surprises:

A slot you forgot you enabled.
A hidden slot with a non-zero weight, steering the blend.
A Length: or Basis Trend Length: set to a value you had used for a different test and not reset.
An Optional Ticker: set on a slot whose role you have since redefined.
A Blended Weight: of zero on a slot you intended to contribute to the blend.
A TimeFrame: below the chart, producing the runtime error.

When your symptom is in this category, the fix is quick and the lesson is administrative: keep your slot configuration legible to future-you. A slot's role should be reflected in its configuration and, where possible, in a brief note to yourself about why the slot is set the way it is.

Documented behavior

The tool is doing exactly what it is supposed to do, and your expectation was different. The fix is to update your expectation; no adjustment to the tool will produce the behavior you had hoped for, because the tool is not shaped that way.

Common documented behaviors that surprise readers:

Under On Bar Close? = ON, the slot's historical bars show exactly what you would have seen at the time, not what the current HTF bar later became. That is the point.
Under On Bar Close? = OFF, the live line can be useful, but historical/reloaded bars should not be treated as a faithful record of what was available live.
The alignment alert requires every enabled slot, not most of them. A three-of-four setup will never fire alignment.
Hidden slots vote in the blend and in alignment. Hiding is visual only.
Basis MA Length: does not smooth the outer bounds. That asymmetry is deliberate.
Cross-ticker channels are scaled, not predictive. The scaling lands them in chart price space; it does not claim the alternate symbol leads.
Tie-break in the blended basis-trend vote favors uptrend. This is a convention, not a market claim.

When your symptom is here, reading the relevant conceptual page — Visuals & Logic, MTF & Repainting, Limitations & Trust Boundaries, or Alerts — will usually reveal the expectation mismatch faster than trying more configurations.

Genuine limits

The tool cannot do the thing you are asking. The fix is to step outside the tool for that piece of the job.

Known genuine limits:

Cannot read a slot timeframe below the chart timeframe (hard stop via runtime error).
Cannot correct for session mismatches on cross-ticker slots.
Cannot produce channel-touch, breakout, squeeze, or "price crosses basis" alerts; those are outside the alert framework this indicator exposes.
Cannot tell you whether your chosen weights are appropriate for the question you are asking. That is your judgment, not the tool's.
Cannot make OFF into a confirmed posture. OFF is live/current by definition, and its historical display does not carry ON's confirmation contract.

When your symptom is here, the right move is a different tool, a different workflow, or an explicit acceptance that this piece of the job sits outside this indicator.

The self-check ladder

When something looks wrong, walk this ladder top to bottom. Most problems resolve inside the first three steps.

Check the input dialog. Scan enable flags, timeframes, weights, and hide flags across all ten slots. Most surprises live here.
Check On Bar Close? per slot. A single slot under OFF is enough to make a stack feel inconsistent.
Toggle Hide DC NN Plot on any slot whose weight is non-zero. If the chart changes in ways the blended channel does not, the blend is being steered by something you were not seeing.
Re-read Visuals & Logic for the specific element behaving oddly. The page names the behavior most likely to be confusing you.
Re-read MTF & Repainting if the issue is time-related. Repaint posture accounts for most apparent inconsistencies across historical bars.
Check Limitations & Trust Boundaries. If the symptom matches something listed as a trust boundary, the "fix" is to adjust your reading, not the tool.
If nothing above explains the behavior, it may be a genuine bug. Reproduce the symptom with the minimal configuration that causes it, capture a screenshot, and report it. Genuine bugs are rare but real; keeping the reproduction small is how you help your future self get it resolved.

A minimal reproduction here means: the fewest slots, the simplest timeframes, and the default values for every input you can leave at default, that still shows the behavior. If you can turn a slot off and the behavior persists, turn it off before reporting. If the behavior only shows on a specific symbol or a specific session, note that. A report that reads "on a 1-minute chart of SPY with only Slot 01 enabled at default settings, X happens" is actionable; a report that reads "something is off with the blended channel when I have my usual setup loaded" is not.

A short list of fixes you will reach for often

Raise the slot timeframe. Fixes the blank-chart-with-banner error. First thing to try.
Set weight to 0 instead of hiding. Removes a slot's voice from the blend without disabling the slot.
Disable the slot. Cleanest way to remove a slot entirely — from the blend, from alignment, and from the chart.
Flip On Bar Close? to ON. Stops intrabar drift on a slot you want confirmed.
Lengthen Basis Trend Length:. Calms flickering basis-trend alerts.
Increase Length:, not Basis MA Length:. When the outer channel is the thing that looks wrong.

If you can do these six things from memory, you will handle most of what this tool can throw at you in a live session.