Stuck dock

[Hotel26]

This is a kind of ongoing saga.  I have a theory that game files that are upgraded from one version to another (e.g. 1.7 -> 1.8 -> 1.11) may be subsceptible to creeping problems.

One example is "stuck docks".  Clicking Undock does nothing except start that "ticking noise" in the background that you know means you are logging exceptions.

My state of the art was identifying the pair of docks and generally finding one in a "state = Docked (docker)" but its counterpart is in a state of 'Ready'.

Simply resetting both to docker and dockee respectively has been enough in the past to unjam them.

Not today.

[EXC 21:08:46.250] NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
    Part.Undock (DockedVesselInfo newVesselInfo) (at <dc0e5f458c0f4571ad839b9c4153f347>:0)
    ModuleDockingNode.Undock () (at <dc0e5f458c0f4571ad839b9c4153f347>:0)
    BaseEvent.Invoke () (at <dc0e5f458c0f4571ad839b9c4153f347>:0)
    UIPartActionButton.OnClick () (at <dc0e5f458c0f4571ad839b9c4153f347>:0)

 

I have extracted the entire craft from the .sfs file and there are only three docks.  One is legitimately Ready (forceTweak = 100) and the other pair (mutually docked) have force 145 and 55.

Their dockUId fields point to the corresponding uid correctly.

So this looks like a new situation to me.

If anyone possesses more advanced magic and can identify the ailment and remedy, I would appreciate the knowledge.

Edited July 20, 2023 by Hotel26

[king of nowhere]

 

kml editor has a function to fix stuck docking ports. it's by far the best option.

 

if that does not work, I dare suggest launching a new ship (with all the docked parts already docked), cheating it in the same position of the old one, transferring the crew, and deleting the old ship may be faster than manually editing a save file

[Hotel26]

5 hours ago, king of nowhere said:

the same position of the old one

Yes, thinking along the same lines.  The craft in question is three docked together, one of them with a claw, which no doubt can be separated.  The other two were about to be separated, so it's easy to simply put two new replacements (Mule and Escort VI) into close rendez-vous, and adjust fuel and crew.  Then torpedo the doomed ship.

Overnight, I had started to think this is not a docking problem per se, but something else wrong with the (total) craft, such that a NullException occurs midway during the undocking.

I've reviewed that KML Editor before in the light of these kinds of problems -- I think the scientific thing to do right now is install it for a once-off attempt and then report back here.

Stay tuned -- and thanks for the input.

[Hotel26]

Happy to report that KML Editor was able to unbind this.

Furthermore, the difficulty from legacy SFS files appears to be missing DOCKEDVESSEL clauses.

Thank you @king of nowhere.