barfing_skull

So, in order to get rid of the problem with MechJeb not correctly computing delta-v for asparagus staged rockets (I had another issue with fuel lines not being honored for craft built pre-0.90), I downloaded the 363 build. However, there's another problem with that. I used a previously built-out Science campaign to start with. Under vanilla 2.4.1, I had all the MechJeb capabilities. However, on the 363 build, it took away a number of my abilities, like Maneuver Node Planner to name just one. It says I need to upgrade the tracking station (you can't upgrade in Science mode, right?) or that I needed to fill out the tech tree (which is already filled out). The vanilla build didn't have this problem. Any way to get both working? Should I await another build? Cheers, -BS

I've searched a bit, and this might be related to some other posts.... I do see slowness in KSP that seems to crop up whenever, from startup through any other point in the game. It seems to be rendering - I get maybe one frame every 5 seconds. Unplayably bad. I'm running windowed - though I think it might not make a difference. I should try full-screen again. I'm unable to switch workspaces and a lot of other things in X are just as slow when this happens, like raising windows and the aforementioned workspace switch. Does the problem sound like what others are seeing? I'm guessing it's some sort of interaction between Unity (the game engine) and X that's going horribly awry. I don't think it's the physics. I did find a workaround, though. When it happens, I can get rid of it by switching to a virtual terminal (Ctrl-Alt-F5, for example) then switching back to my regular X session (Ctrl-Alt-F7). Cheers, -BS

Alright, after making a simple ship to test asparagus staging with the new fuel lines, it worked. I think the problem is that fuel lines don't carry over from previous vessels. I'll have to try replacing all the lines in one of my older designs. Part of my confusion, too, is that I don't think MechJeb is correctly accounting for delta-v in the new fuel line scheme, something that was acknowledged over in that thread. I may have to get one of their dev builds for that. Thanks for the suggestions! -BS

Some cool upgrades in 0.90...but.... Fuel lines stopped working for me. Engines don't pull from all tanks, it acts like they're separated and no cross-feed is going on. Pretty much like they're not there. It defeated my asparagus staging on a couple rockets. I've searched around a bit for any information on something that might have changed, but haven't found anything yet....other than they might have changed, but not how. Is there some new technique for building these? I tried replacing the fuel lines on the rockets, no dice. The craft were carried over from 0.25. Notable plugins I have: Protractor (I may get rid of this) LandingHeight MechJeb2. Cheers, -BS

I did actually look at my original download and I downloaded the newest one, they were identical. Again, it worked fine previously. Maybe a dumb question, but where should I look for the log? There's a KSP.log in the main KSP directory, but it hasn't been updated with any new content in 6 weeks, and I've played the game a lot since. So if it's logging new stuff, it's not there. I may just try 2.4.1 with 0.90 and see how that works out.

Okay...issue with MechJeb. Yesterday it worked, today, I'm missing the ability to show Delta-V stats and Vessel Info. They're not even available in the menus, or when I build a new ship. Everything else MechJeb seems to be there. Nothing new was installed or deleted, mods or KSP-wise. KSP 0.25, MechJeb 2.4.0. The only thing I can think of is that while playing the game last night, a power outage caused my machine to go down hard. I did also get some updates to the Linux kernel and nVidia drivers, but I don't see how that would affect just parts of the mod. Something got corrupted, maybe? I'd really like to get these back for my current missions, as well as new ones. Pretty vital considering I'm attempting to return a Kerbal from Eve's surface.... All help appreciated. Thanks! Note: The only version I've ever downloaded is 2.4, though the menu shows MechJeb 2.3.0, I'm assuming that's a mistake in the program?

Thanks all for the replies and ideas! My impetus for keeping the central 7 tanks as one is that if I asparagus the inner tanks and engines, I'll be left with too little thrust for the large amount of stuff that's on top of it. One S3 engine will leave the rest of the stack plummeting back to Kerbin. So I think I'd like to keep that inner circle together. Besides, they like each other. Onion staging is a possibility, but I'd have to look at how much delta-v I'd lose in that case. My first impulse is to remove the bi-directional links and then try some other unidirectional links from there. I think my main thought crime was that the bi-directional links would act as some sort of equalizer. I'll keep in mind the depth-first search for the tank algorithm, too. Again, good ideas for places to start. Cheers, -BS

I have a rocket first stage that seems to work pretty well....except when I try and turn at altitude. I'm pretty sure I know what the problem is, just not how to fix it. The rocket is a main cluster of tanks and engines (7 in all, the central plus 6 surrounding). Outside of that there's another ring of 6 tanks and engines, which are asparagus staged. There are some SRB's too, but they're not the problem. The rocket works fine until I've dropped the SRB's and asparagus stages, and I'm down to the inner cluster of 7 tanks and engines. The central cluster has bi-directional fuel lines - one each direction - between the outer 6 tanks, and unidirectional lines all pointed to the central tank. This works great, as the asparagus stages expire as planned, and when down to the central 7, all the 6 outside engines have the same amount of fuel available to each. However, that fuel doesn't seem to be weighted equally among the 6 radial central tanks (some tanks show full while others empty at that stage of flight), and this, I believe, is what's causing the wild directional behavior when the rocket tries to turn. I don't see any imbalance of thrust. Since it's asparagus staged, the last asparagus tanks empty into 2 of the 6 central radial tanks. I'm assuming this is what causes the imbalance, and that it's not redistributing that fuel among the inner tanks evenly. What I'd really like to have happen is for the fuel/oxidizer levels to remain equal among all the inner tanks. Essentially, I want it to function as one big tank, with all tanks being symmetrically filled/drained. Is there some way I can do this? Cheers, -BS