New Clamp-O-Tron Sr. Won't Dock! WTF?

[Runescope]

Okay, what the heck am I doing wrong? I have tried docking with the new COTSr docking ports and they will not dock. I've tried them both each way. One side has a little yellow triangle and is mostly smooth, the other side has a handle and a ring of slotted construction reinforcement. Which side goes toward the craft, which side sticks out? Does one craft have to have the port one way, and the other craft have the port facing the other way? What gives?

[maltesh]

This image shows the docking surface of the Clamp-O-Tron Sr Docking ports. The side shown facing upward on the port on the ground is the docking surface, and they mate face-to-face in that fashion.

[Scarecrow88]

The side with the triangle attaches to your craft. The side with the smaller, fatter black rectangle faces outwards and is the side that mates together.

[sjwt]

And don't forget you can't Mix Clamp sizes..

[Comrade Jenkens]

Make sure the correct side of both is facing each other. Other than that i've heard that having A/SAS on for either ship will stop docking.

[Runescope]

Okay, here are screenshots of what I have.

first is so you can see how close they are.

Second so you can see that the top is facing the right direction

And the third so you can see that the bottom is facing the right direction.

They just won't dock.

Is it that they're not aligned? I see that the handles on the side aren't in the same position. Could that be it?

Edit: There is no ASAS on either the rover or it's carryall.

[Finnerty]

Okay, here are screenshots of what I have.

first is so you can see how close they are.

Second so you can see that the top is facing the right direction

And the third so you can see that the bottom is facing the right direction.

They just won't dock.

Is it that they're not aligned? I see that the handles on the side aren't in the same position. Could that be it?

Edit: There is no ASAS on either the rover or it's carryall.

That could be, see in the first and second pictures the inner door handles aren't lined up either. I've never docked anything but it makes sense to have them lined up.

[Eric S]

Are those screenshots a test, or is that the original problem? I ask because even with light rovers, that much of a gap has always been enough to keep the magnetism of the docking ports from actually lifting the rovers on Kerbin. Works fine on lighter planets, but starting around Moho is where things get iffy.

[Runescope]

It was the original problem. I have tipped the upper vehicle forward so that the space between could be seen. However, they still fail to dock even when flush and the carryall is pushing down on the rover with enough force to crush it.

[Kolt]

Docking something with that big of a gap in Kerbin is just not possible. If gravity was lower, then the magnetic force could do it, but because the vehicle is at "full weight" it is impossible for the docking port to lift it that much. The docks will work no matter the direction of the handles on the sides, so you don't have to worry about it. My suggestion? Use the small landing legs that deploy almost vertically (forgot their name) as to lift the rover somewhat closer.

[ZingidyZongxxx]

Yeah, I've had difficulty with the new docking ports, as well as docking on Kerbin in general. Gravity is pretty high compared to most bodies so the docking ports don't move around as much to center perfectly, especially when you're docking something heavy.

On a related note, has anyone else been having problems with the new docking ports falling off at the slightest bump? They don't seem to have very strong joints. I mean with stuff they were attached to in the VAB too, not stuff they dock to.

[Runescope]

Docking something with that big of a gap in Kerbin is just not possible. If gravity was lower, then the magnetic force could do it, but because the vehicle is at "full weight" it is impossible for the docking port to lift it that much. The docks will work no matter the direction of the handles on the sides, so you don't have to worry about it. My suggestion? Use the small landing legs that deploy almost vertically (forgot their name) as to lift the rover somewhat closer.

There is no gap at all when I'm actually trying to dock. The gap is shown just to illustrate that I have the docking ports facing the proper way.

[Tokay Gris]

Probably a silly suggestion, but I had a similar problem once with smaller docking ports... They wouldn't lock on unless I actually targeted it and the corresponding port with "control from here" and "set as target" respectively.

[Runescope]

A good thought, but I thought you had to do that anyways, so I've been doing that all along.

[Tokay Gris]

What are you trying to dock to, anyway? Maybe the problem lies somewhere else?

[Tokay Gris]

Does the to be docked vessel have ASAS on? I read somewhere that this could be a problem, although I never had any trouble with this.

[Runescope]

Okay, what I'm trying to dock is a double-dirigible with electric only motors to a mobile kethane harvester. (Ignore the one on the right, that was just a test with the docking port reversed)

I want to be able to transport the harvester at least close to a kethane deposit and then have it run over and collect it. I designed it this way because my rovers can only go at the most 30m/s before they hit a bump and flip out and explode. My dirigible however can get up to speeds of 135m/s so it's more time efficient to run the dirigible to the general area, drop the rover and have the more maneuverable rover do the actual work.

Oh, and neither of them have any ASAS running, nor any ASAS components as far as I know. They're not needed.

[Schrimschrim]

Same problem in my situation.

I got in space with the Engine part of my new space station an i tried to dock this, but nothing happen. I was perfectly on the other docking port. So i tested it on kerbin with 2 rovers just to undock and redock them. But it dosnt work.. with smaller docking ports very easy, but the bigger no chance. If i am right close to the other... nothing happens.

Can i ask you people pls .. is here anybody how CAN dock with it?!

[DMagic]

The docking ports are probably just stuck on "state = acquire", you need to change that to "state = ready" in the persistance file. There are quite a few threads floating around here about docking ports not docking, that pretty much always seems to be the issue.

[capi3101]

For the record, you can dock with Seniors...I've got them employed successfully on an orbiting refueling platform I've built and a "detachable booster".

DMagic's suggestion is probably your best bet; at a glance it looks like it should be working. Always annoying when it should be working and isn't...

[Schrimschrim]

The docking ports are probably just stuck on "state = acquire", you need to change that to "state = ready" in the persistance file. There are quite a few threads floating around here about docking ports not docking, that pretty much always seems to be the issue.

So how can i change this? i am not trained in with changing some value in files.

[capi3101]

1) Go to My Computer or Finder, depending on your OS, and navigate to your KSP folder.

2) There's a subfolder there called "saves". Open it, and then there should be another folder with the same name as your name in the game. Open that one.

3) You're looking for a file called "persistance.cfs". You want to open that up in Notepad or TextEdit (again, depending on your OS). DO NOT USE WORDPAD OR MS WORD. Notepad++ is a good tool that will work on multiple platforms.

--Caveat: I'm pretty sure that's the filename; if not, it'll be similar.

4) Use the Find option to look for the name of the specific craft you're working with. You'll need to do this more than once if you're working with two or more craft.

5) Scroll down until you find the corresponding docking port; I'd give you the part name so you could just jump to it but I don't have the game open and don't know the name off the top of my head.

6) Find the line that says "state = acquire", delete "acquire", type in "ready", and save the file.

7) Fire up KSP.

Once you locate your persistence file, you might consider backing it up (i.e. just copying it and pasting it to your desktop) before you go mucking about with it. In fact, I would recommend doing this just to cover my own butt; you can pretty easily screw up your entire game by changing the wrong thing.

Don't know what the Linux equivalencies are for My Computer/Finder/Notepad/TextEdit; hopefully that's not an issue in this case.

[Scarecrow88]

Can i ask you people pls .. is here anybody how CAN dock with it?!

Both my space stations were constructed using the senior docking ports to attach modules, for their greater stability compared to the smaller ports, and I've never had a problem getting them to mate.

[fantastfisk]

I have a similar issue. It seems to work once. But if I undock, then I have to go back to Space Center before the clamps will dock again. It seems my persistent.sfs has the correct info, but the actual in game objects have wrong properties. When I return to space center and reload the properties from file, they are (i suppose) in the Ready state again. At least then I can dock.

I am using Linux.

[Death Engineering]

I've had this problem when using these docking ports attached to an adapter with struts between the adapter and the rest of the craft. Whenever I would approach to dock, the two crafts actually repelled each other instead of attract! This happened multiple times with multiple crafts and launches. The solution seemed to be moving the struts further towards the adapter edge so that the strut connector was not touching the backside of the docking port through the adapter.

Here is a pic of what the struts on the adapter look like which did allow docking.

Edited July 10, 2013 by Death Engineering