Can't dock

[Invader Jim]

Am I forgetting something? My alignment is really good. The two docking ports are really close (less than 1 meter). The magnetism between the ports seems to be absent this time. As close as I am the ships should be pulled together. I have tried to dock this ship with two different ships with no luck. The first attempt was with a ship it had previously docked with.

Is there a bug that makes a port forget it is a port or am I forgetting something? The ports have come together several times but they won't join.

Edited June 11, 2015 by Invader Jim

[Tex_NL]

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Please post a screenshot of your docking attempt. Without it it is very hard to diagnose your problem.

[capi3101]

Usually issues with the docking happen either because A) one of the ports is attached backwards or one of the ports needs to be reset. The first can be fixed only with mods (such as KIS) that would allow you to re-orient the port on the fly via an EVA. The second requires you to exit the game, delve into your persistent save file and edit a little bit of text. I don't recall all the details of that process at the moment or I'd post the full instructions; hopefully somebody else remembers them and can help you out.

[imaspacestation]

One other thing is that they have to be the same size.

[LordCorwin]

Yeah, check that you are using the same port part in both ships. I remember once that I tried to connect one ship with normal docking port, to a space port with the docking port junior -> no attraction.

[Tex_NL]

Ports backwards. Wrong ports. Bugged ports. It still boils down to that we can't diagnose it without seeing the craft.

[Invader Jim]

Usually issues with the docking happen either because A) one of the ports is attached backwards or one of the ports needs to be reset. The first can be fixed only with mods (such as KIS) that would allow you to re-orient the port on the fly via an EVA. The second requires you to exit the game, delve into your persistent save file and edit a little bit of text. I don't recall all the details of that process at the moment or I'd post the full instructions; hopefully somebody else remembers them and can help you out.

I bet one of the ports needs to be "reset". I have docked successfully several times. The two ships in question had previously been docked together. The alignment was really good. Even if it had been slightly off there would have been the magnetic pull. The was absolutely no pull.

[Tex_NL]

... The two ships in question had previously been docked together. ...

How far did you move them apart before trying to re-dock? Ports won't reset until they have been far enough away from their previous 'mate'

[Invader Jim]

Here is a pic - http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=459359906

This is the second ship I tried to dock with. There is absolute no "pull". Even without perfect alignment these two ships should be pulled together by the magnetic ports.

[sal_vager]

Could you upload the savegame please Invader Jim? Pop it on dropbox and we can have a go with your vessels

[capi3101]

I bet one of the ports needs to be "reset". I have docked successfully several times. The two ships in question had previously been docked together. The alignment was really good. Even if it had been slightly off there would have been the magnetic pull. The was absolutely no pull.

Okay...and everything looks hunky-dory from the screenie you posted (thanks for that, BTW). So here's what you need to do (I looked it up):

1) Open your persistent.sfs file for your save game in Notepad (TextEdit in Mac or your text editor of choice - but not MS Word).

2) Search for the string "state = Acquired".

3) If you come across this string, change it to read "state = Ready"

4) Save the file.

5) ???

6) Profit.

Hopefully that'll sort things out for you. I might suggest you go ahead and make a backup copy of your persistent.sfs file before you go hacking around in it, just as a precaution.

If it doesn't work or if you don't find any instances of "state = Aqcuired", Try SCE to auxiliary (let us know so we can see what else might be happening). sal_vager has asked for your savegame file - that's the same persistent.sfs file, and posting it would help with any further diagnosis needed.

Edited June 11, 2015 by capi3101

[Invader Jim]

The port on the first ship was bugged. I built another ship and docked in record time. The magnetic pull in the new ship was as I remembered it. The new ship was essentially a clone of the ship with the bugged port.

I will have to learn how to fix it in the persistent file.

- - - Updated - - -

MODULE

{

name = ModuleDockingNode

isEnabled = True

state = Acquire

dockUId = 3008933975

dockNodeIdx = 0

I changed "Acquire" to Ready. I will see if it works for that ship now since it is close anyway.

Update - Docking gets easier every time. With the change in the persistent file I docked as expected.

Edited June 11, 2015 by Invader Jim

[capi3101]

Glad we could be of help.