Whats wrong with this picture?

[KocLobster]

I've tried everything I can think of, hence the docking window instead of the staging window being displayed, MechJeb being open, and unlimited RCS turned on... This is really confusing, I undocked this exact part of this ship from this space station mere minutes ago, now when I try to reattach, it just won't snap in place..and I realize I'm not 'exactly' lined up in this picture. That's just a result of the picture, I was perfectly lined up multiple times. Is this a bug?

 

http://imgur.com/IUs4s2k

http://imgur.com/a/yRDfx

wut

Edited March 10, 2016 by KocLobster

[Phil deCube]

After you undocked, did you move more than 10 metres away before trying to re-dock? If not, give that a go.

[KocLobster]

Yes, I landed on the Mun and came back. So the problem resolved itself, I have no idea how... I went into MechJeb options because I don't seem to have a docking autopilot module anywhere..anyways and I clicked 'set to factory default settings', and it reset MechJeb's settings to default even though I think they were already at default.

 

Anyways, when I closed the window I realized I no longer had a target, I was one big ship..problem solved I guess.

[Phil deCube]

Sometimes turning SAS off can help too, but...

It's good that it's working for you now.

[Superfluous J]

If they were magnetically attracted and just wobbling around, that's quite normal. Turn off SAS and just wait a while. Sometimes they resonate for quite some time.

If the docking port is the target, you can also (again with SAS off) use your WASD keys to arrest the motion, kind of like how you'd push on someone a little bit several times to slow them down as they're swinging on a swing.

[Nich]

Docking ports used to be able to get bugged and you will get no magnetic force because the docking port thinks it is already docked.  Quick saving and restarting KSP can help.  Sometimes you have to go into the persistence file and manually change the docking port from docked to ready.  Cant remember the actual syntax.

[KocLobster]

I guess I forgot to mention, but my ship didn't have a pilot or a probe...I never had SAS enabled. It seemed like they were magnetically attracted, they just wouldn't latch on. Was the strangest thing I'd ever seen, but somehow it fixed itself...wish I knew how or why.

[KocLobster]

So just for posterity, and anyone that has a similar issue and ends up searching the forums, I figured out what the problem was and why it just mysteriously started working correctly. The problem was MechJeb's Smart A.S.S., I had the 'kill rot' button clicked on to prevent me from spinning (i had no SAS). As soon as I disable it, the magnets start to engage and you become docked.

[Nich]

If you have a magnetic force it is not bugged.  I have docked 100t ships with jr ports.  They would not dock with SAS off just wobble forever.  They had to be manually aligned before they would dock.  That being said that is a small ship and a regular port no reason it wouldn't dock within 1 or 2 wobbles.