Clamp-O-Trons won't connect

[MMX]

Hello @ all!

I've run into an issue while using Clamp-O-Trons - They simply won't connect in my case.

I checked the forum for similar topics, but I could only find a few with undocking problems. I apologize in advance if I have overseen anything.

 

 

I tried everything to connect those two ports. I even redesigned the craft so the ports stand out a bit more (to make more "roam" for them). 

After that, I tried docking with and without using the SAS guidance. I also unset the ports as targets, meaning trying some kind of blind approach. Unfortunately, this didn't help either.

 

 

This is the entire structure at the moment. As you can see, no problems so far with the Senior docking ports for the blue and orange vessels.

But the third one below with the regular Clamp-O-Trons just won't connect, even tho they are 100% aligned.

I noticed that the magnets "try" to reach each other very weakly at first, but then somehow the connection seems to get lost.  

 

Is there some kind of workaround? Did I miss something? Thanks in advance for your replies!

 

MMX

[18Watt]

I have no I idea what's going on, although I do recall seeing a somewhat rare bug which affects docking ports.

A suggestion for you is when trying to get help, it's useful to the rest of us if most of the images contain all the UI elements- navball, fuel quantity, throttle, etc.  Cropping screenshots to eliminate those elements removes a lot of information which is helpful to other players.

Also, welcome to the KSP Forums @MMX!

[MMX]

Thank you very much @18Watt! 

Of course, this makes sense... sorry. The following shot was taken right after the ports touched each other without connecting.

Here you go:

 

[18Watt]

Still not sure what's going on for you, again I think there is a bug which sometimes makes the docking ports not work.

I generally turn off SAS and RCS just as the ports are trying to dock together.  The reason is that if you have a lot of reaction wheels, the ship will not be able to 'wiggle into position', the reaction wheels (or possibly RCS) will forever hold the ships slightly off kilter, and the ports will never perfectly align.

I'm not convinced that's causing your problem though.  Do give it a try turning off SAS and RCS at the moment the ports are almost touching, but I suspect you're encountering one of the docking port bugs.

[MMX]

Thanks again for your quick replies @18Watt Highly appreciate it!

Unfortunately this didn't help either. But now I have more evidence that something is way off. This happened after I deactivated SAS and RCS on ALL vessels (check the heading, the relative speed and the UT time for more references).

 

First everything looks fine:

 

But then the hub/ target goes into some strange fast spin without having anything activated. Meanwhile, the active vessel stays in position:

 

 

A different perspective from the hub as the new active vessel, also a few seconds later. Again, I didn't do anything to misalign the vessels:

 

 

The uncontrolled spin became so strong that both vessels even crashed midly afterwards. There seems to be some weird, wrong interaction right before the docking ports touch each other.

I will do  some more tests tomorrow since I really want this to work  Hope I could give some appropriate information so far!

[18Watt]

Good luck!  I haven't encountered that exact bug yet, but it's been reported and was well-documented.

Found it! Here's a report of the bug I suspect you're experiencing:

 

[MMX]

Hello again @18Watt!

First of all: THANK YOU! Your last bug report put me on the right path! The faulty docking port was actually set to "Docked" instead to "Ready" in the JSON file...

I also found a MUCH quicker way to identify the specific part compared to the method from your mentioned thread!

 

First I set the Docking Acquire Force of the faulty port to some random number - in my case 60%:

 

 

I then used the browser application "JSON Editor Online" to open the savegame.

After that, I only had to search for "Docked" and check the storedValue below for my random number:

 

 

In the end, this took only 5 minutes to fix! Saved the updated JSON file, loaded it in the game and yeah ... immediate docking success 

 

 

Thank you very much for your help!!! Looking forward to extend the hub now 

MMX

[BechMeister]

I have had similar issues - I have resolved it by making a costume action on the docking port that says "undock" and then press it. Then It also fixes the state - if you want a solution you can use without closing the game.

It is a problem that is especially present on the inline/shielded ports... were the port will forget what state its in if you reload or load a game where an inline port is docked to a standard port. Usually making so vehicle clips away or into each other on time warp and or that they will move individually when making changes in orientation with SAS on. - I have never seen this happen with 2 standard clamp-o-trons before.

Btw I love how you added the top mounted "pulling engines" to the button most vehicle.

Edited January 20 by BechMeister

[MMX]

On 1/20/2024 at 1:44 PM, BechMeister said:

I have had similar issues - I have resolved it by making a costume action on the docking port that says "undock" and then press it. Then It also fixes the state - if you want a solution you can use without closing the game.

It is a problem that is especially present on the inline/shielded ports... were the port will forget what state its in if you reload or load a game where an inline port is docked to a standard port. Usually making so vehicle clips away or into each other on time warp and or that they will move individually when making changes in orientation with SAS on. - I have never seen this happen with 2 standard clamp-o-trons before.

Btw I love how you added the top mounted "pulling engines" to the button most vehicle.

Hi there @BechMeister! Your solution sounds even smarter, definitely gonna remember this! I think that the bug actually got fixed with the recent updates, but if not I will try your approach with setting a costum action. Thanks a lot!

Also glad that you like the lander's thrusters design, I am currently working on a short cinematic where the shown vehicles can be seen in action. Keep an open eye for the artwork channel if you are interested 

MMX

[BechMeister]

It would be great if the MK2 Clamp-o-tron and Clamp-O-tron inline/shielded has been fixed. I could see my old bug repport was archived. But to my knowledge the bug stil persisted last i played. (I have yet to play after the update)