Permanent locked “Clamp-O-Tron Shielded Docking Port�

[WolfS]

Hey community!

I have some problems with the “Clamp-O-Tron Shielded Docking Portâ€Â.

I created two docking ships with the “Clamp-O-Tron Shielded Docking Port†on the nose. The docking worked perfect.

Than I started the first module of my space station. For sure I tried to dock on that station. So by the distance of about 10 meters I opened the shield and deactivated the “ASAâ€Â.

At about 3 meters the “Clamp-O-Tron Shielded Docking Port†and the “Clamp-O-Tron Docking Port†forced each other. I got a contact.

And than I fast forwarded the time. And during that (about 10 seconds in real game time) the connection got lost. So the docking ship drifted slowly away from the space station. A reconnection was not possible. Therefore I checked the correct position of the “Clamp-O-Tron Docking Portâ€Â. It has the correct side up.

I tried all the other “Clamp-O-Tron Docking Ports†from my space station but there they ports did not even try to get in magnetically contact.

After some more tries I controlled the “Clamp-O-Tron Shielded Docking Port†from the docking ship.

And there I just get the message, that the port is “lookedâ€Â.

I can not even close the shield.

I also tried to fix the docking port followed the instruction from kujuman.

“HOW TO FIX THE DOCKING PORT

1. Go into the persistent.sfs file

2. Search for a line which says "state = Acquire"

3. Change to "state = Ready"

4. Load up the game and dock with the port nearby.â€Â

That did also not worked out.

I can do an EVA but the status of the shield is still “lookedâ€Â.

Do you have any suggestions for me?

Best regards

[TheXRuler]

First of all, backup your save files before editing, always a good idea.

What I would recommend is launching a new vessel onto the launchpad consisting only of a shielded docking port and a probe core.

Give it a unique name and after setting it on the pad and opening the shield quicksave. Then go to your KSP-Directory\saves\quicksave.sfs and look for the docking port vessel. Scroll down a little until you find the thing that says

PART{
         name=dockingport1 etc. etc.

and search for this section

MODULE
                        {

                          then a crapload of text and code, finished by a curly bracket on the some vertical line as the opening one like so

                        }

Copy the entire MODULE section and paste it into the MODULE section of the dockingport on the vessel that you are having trouble with.

Save your changes, exit and then load the quicksave in KSP. Simply recover the vessel on the launchpad and switch to the vessel which you wanted to dock, dock as usual. If that doesen't help post here again (please include your savefile) and I'll see if I can come up with something else.

Edited May 27, 2015 by TheXRuler

[capi3101]

One quick thing - just something to check. What's the Electric Charge reading on the craft at the moment?

[cephalo]

Oh yeah, capi3101 is probably right. I have very often thought the game was broken and unresponsive, only to realize my batteries were dead and thus my probe core.

[falloutaddict]

You should still be able to dock with a port on a dead craft though right? Not sure if I ever ran into that one. Docking port bugs sure can be annoying though, I have run into those issues before...

[cephalo]

You should still be able to dock with a port on a dead craft though right? Not sure if I ever ran into that one. Docking port bugs sure can be annoying though, I have run into those issues before...

Lot's of stuff can't be done if the the command module is knocked out, even if the part doesn't itself require electricity. For example, you can't extend ladders. I was doing some rover testing on Kerbin and I was sure the game was broken. None of the controls worked after about two seconds after launch. I forgot about batteries. Turns out the wheels turning used up all the juice in my tiny command module battery.

[capi3101]

You should be able to dock if the shield was open (that'd be one way you could then attach a module that could then provide power - only way to do that sort of thing in stock.); what I'm pretty sure you can't do is toggle the shield's status without power. It may or may not be the root of the OP's issues, but it's one of those basic "is your computer plugged in", potentially facepalm-inducing sort of things that could easily be checked.

[WolfS]

Hey TheXRuler!

First off all: thx for the quick respond to my question!

Second: I followed your instruction with some modification^^

Because you told me where the mistake should be I compared the two “MODUL {…}â€Âsections.

The only difference where in those two lines:

Defect “Clamp-O-Tron Shielded Docking Port†Working “Clamp-O-Tron Shielded Docking Portâ€Â:

state = Acquire state = Ready

dockUId = 3837455456 dockUId = 0

After I replaced those two lines and the quickloaded the “Clamp-O-Tron Shielded Docking Port†worked again as it should.

So it seems that not only the “state†is to change if such a docking port is not working also the “dockUIdâ€Â.

I thank you soooo much!

Best regards