Docking...get it half the time?

[None1b]

So first off this game is amazing, been playing for around 8 months now. Docking has always given me issues:sealed: but come the update i wanted to learn it and get it down. So I've got a space station going right now. I've managed to get a fuel stage, "living quarters stage", and two rescue pods docked together. The part I'm trying to dock now is what I'm calling the "Command Deck" it has the largest docking module to connect to. For some reason it won't connect, I am at a loss, the other "Docks" I've done have worked fine. Even the other large docking part I used on my fuel stage. I guess my question is does anybody know what I'm doing wrong? It's really frustrating as I'm sure most of you know! ...and just so you know when I come in to dock its at .1 m/s and lined up perfect... it's like the magnets don't pull it together. Anyways thanks for the help and KSP is AWESOME!

[painking]

1: Make sure you're docking the same size of docking port.

2: Make sure what you're actually trying to dock to is a port, this happens more often than I'd care to admit.

3: Pictures, to help better alleviate the problem.

[Scarecrow88]

Also make sure, if you are using the senior docking ports, that they are fitted the right way round.

[allmappedout]

Also make sure, if you are using the senior docking ports, that they are fitted the right way round.

Yup. When they were first released, spent an hour pushing them together with no luck. It was like two teenagers fumbling around in the back of a car...

[robot256]

Other things that may or may not be applicable here:

* Ports dock best if you slam them together with ~0.1-0.2m/s of force, or just don't resist the magnets with RCS when they start to pull.

* When you undock, you have to back up a certain distance/time before the same two ports will dock again. Presumably this is to make it physically possible to undock, but I haven't figured out the exact distance/time required to reset the docking port magnets.

[LoneRider]

I also had problems with the biggest docking ports - they just didnt connect. Now i am using a 2-on-1 adapter and 2 standard docking ports for bigger parts...

[aftershockzap]

Also make sure, if you are using the senior docking ports, that they are fitted the right way round.

The smaller docking ports also have a right and wrong way. Lately when troubleshooting docking ports I try to make the payloads into rovers so I can trouble shoot the docking ports on land. (Yeah, so I flipped them illogically around from the starting position when I first built a dockable ship in VAB, what about it!?!)

Edit: Also SAS can sometimes resist the docking magnets when turned on either one or both of the ships your trying to dock so if your having problems you can try to toggle sas to see if that fixes it.

Edited July 26, 2013 by aftershockzap

[Gristle]

Also be sure to turn off SAS. SAS will resist the magnets trying to orient the crafts.

[Mr Shifty]

I've had docking ports bug and not be able to dock before no matter what I did. Only solution was to re-launch. Not sure why this happens. Scott Manley had an issue a couple weeks ago where docking ports wouldn't undock. The docking ports aren't bug-free.