Troubleshooting

Login Issues (username / password)

It's almost always 100% user-error (even if you are convinced otherwise)

The Bot will ask for your FormGenie credentials first and only once logged in will it ask for your Betfair credentials.

Step1: Make sure you can login to the main FormGenie website and view selections first as you will use your existing FormGenie username/password combination.

Step2: Make sure you can login to the main Betfair website using your BF username/password combination (not FormGenie). 

Only if both the above scenarios work (if not it could still be user-error usually because your web browser is remembering the password and when you manually enter it's something different) got to step 3:

Step3: Then login to the bot with the same FormGenie credentials (if you’ve saved your password to your web browser then make sure you are using the same one. If successful you will then need to login to the next screen with your BetFair credentials (WE DO NOT HAVE THESE – DO NOT TELL US).

The authentication at this stage comes from Betfair and not our servers. So if you are still not getting access it is almost certainly an incorrect username/password.

Step 4: Try typing what you think are your BetFair credentials into notepad/text file and copy/paste into Betfair website. If they work, cut and paste and use the same password into the bot screen.

Step 5: If all else fails, it could be that you are using more than one special character in your Betfair password (such as &, %,  @ *). Try changing your BF password to have none of these or just one special character ( we know forward slashes work).

Step 6: If you use Two-Factor authorisation to access Betfair you may need to append your Betfair password with the PIN you would use or try disabling Two-factor authorisation.

 

No Bets Made

If there are no bets made by the bot, there are several scenarios where this can happen. But, first, we need to make sure the race tab / screen has loaded. 

1) Have you clicked 'Activate Races & Execute Bets' ? (at the end of Row 11). If so, has the races tab/screen loaded? (This is the screen that will list all the races that qualify for consideration based on the options selected in row 11).

1a) If the Races screen has loaded then the reasons for "no bets made" could be any of the following reasons:

  - No races qualify based on the parameters/rules set by the current loaded profile. If this is the case then there will be a red status report in the header row of each race. For example: "Status Report: Stopped: the Nearest Danger < CoupledPrice * 2.2" or something like "Status Report: Stopped: Race Omitted: CoupledPrice:8.9 > MaxCoupled Price: 4.6". Both these examples tell you why the bot has not placed the bet. There may also be red messages in the Horses row that inform you as to why a bet has not been made. For example you might see something similar to Odds 24 > 20 Max Odds which simply means that the current odds of 24 exceeds the Maxium odds setting (row 6) of 20

 - There are no more races to be run today that meet the rules set in row 11

1b) If the Races screen has NOT loaded then the reasons for no bets made could be any of the following reasons:

  - If you have not selected Steamers (on the bot login page) and you have started the bot or loaded a profile late afternoon/evening, it could be that the Bot cannot find today's selections file as it has been overwritten with tomorrow's race cards. To fix this, close the bot down fully (log out and close) and select Steamers on the login screen.

 - If you have have loaded this profile directly after closing a previous profile then it may be you need to close down the bot fully and restart it. 

To restart the Bot you need to (logon to you VPS: if you are using one)

1: Click “Logout” (top right) of the Bot (a popup confirms you've logged out)
2. Click OK when the pop up asks you
3. This will present you with the BetFair credentials screen, however this is not fully closing it down, so you then need to go to step 4:
4. Click the X  the top right of this screen and then confirm you wish “ to exit the application”.

Now reload the bot by clicking the FGBot icon on your desktop (or your VPS desktop)

 

No Races Found

Reason 1: If you've entered the Authorisation Token and loaded a profile, but when you click Activate Races you get a pop-up message 'No Races Found', it may be that your firewall is blocking communication between the Bot and Betfair servers. To fix you need to access your firewall settings and go to 'Advanced' settings. Make sure that you set 'Inbound' and 'Outbound' traffic in the 'Public Domain' to 'Allow', select FGBOT and Enable rule.

 

Reason 2: It could be you have tried to load regular races after 3:30 PM and sometimes this is not possible. Try closing down/restarting and selecting Steamers as these will still available (and are the recommended set of ratings for the bot).

To restart the Bot you need to (logon to you VPS: if you are using one)

1: Click “Logout” (top right) of the Bot (a popup confirms you've logged out)
2. Click OK when the pop up asks you
3. This will present you with the BetFair credentials screen, however this is not fully closing it down, so you then need to go to step 4:
4. Click the X  the top right of this screen and then confirm you wish “ to exit the application”.

Now reload the bot by clicking the FGBot icon on your desktop (or your VPS desktop)

 

Mac Issues  (also see java fix from the menu)

If you don't have permission to open a file or folder, you may be able to change the permissions settings:
On your Mac, select the item, then choose File > Get Info, or press Command-I.
Click the arrow next to Sharing & Permissions to expand the section.

Open a Mac app from an unidentified developer
If you try to open an app that isn’t registered with Apple by an identified developer (that's us!), you may get a warning dialogue. This doesn't necessarily mean that something’s wrong with the app.  However, the app has not been reviewed by Apple, and macOS can’t check whether the app has been modified or broken since it was released.

To override your security settings and open the app anyway follow these steps:
In the Finder on your Mac, locate the app you want to open.
Don’t use Launchpad to do this. Launchpad doesn’t allow you to access the shortcut menu.
Control-click the app icon, then choose Open from the shortcut menu.
Click Open.
The app is saved as an exception to your security settings, and you can open it in the future by double-clicking it just as you can any registered app.
Note: You can also grant an exception for a blocked app by clicking the Open Anyway button in the General pane of Security & Privacy preferences. This button is available for about an hour after you try to open the app.
To change these preferences on your Mac, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Security & Privacy, then click General.

MAC "The application can't be opened" - Dont forget to install JAVA from here:

If still without success then try installing the Linux version of Formgenie-Bot from the download page as some MACs should run this fine.

Betfair API Status  (markets & races not loading)

It maybe that Betfair's servers are down. Please click this status link to check: BF API Check

MANUAL (main help/settings manual)

Read about the various parameters and settings here: SETTINGS MANUAL

Anti-Virus Warnings

Sometimes you PC / Mac may warn you when you attempt install new programs. This is both normal and sensible.

If you get this message: "Running this app might put your PC at risk." then click the "more info" link that's below it. Then click "run anyway". This message is simply to tell you that something is about to install itself and only allow it if you trust where it's from and as you downloaded it from us you can trust it.

Some Anti-Virus programs may prevent you for unpacking the downloaded Zip file or run and scan and return a false positive. Whilst this may be a little unsettling it's just a case of your antivirus software being over cautious. Where there is an option to "allow" then select this.

Access Denied / Subscription Token

You will have by now purchased a licence for FormGenie-Bot. As such and only if you have requested one, you will have been provided with a subscription token, formatted like FPKT-AJWU-GLOI. This is unique to you and will need to be entered once (and updated when expired) before the FormGenie-Bot will load the markets. If you have cut 'n pasted, be sure you have not inadvertently added any blank spaces. Please try entering again and if you still have trouble please email Steve. NOTE: Once activated this Auth-Token is locked to the associated Betfair account and cannot be transferred to a different bf account. 

Bot Stopped, Races or Horses Missed

See what the Bot Status messages mean here: