Can't get docking ports to lock

[Talonsin]

I designed a ship that has a rover underneath. My plan is to get to the surface, land and then decouple the port so the rover drops a bit and then drive away. That part works great but when I bring the rover back and try to dock again so I can take it to another planet, nothing happens. Have the ports lined up, I use legs to lift the rover up and make contact with the other port but from there I cant figure out what to do. There is no option to "recouple", only control from here or docking camera.

Thanks for the help

Edited August 24, 2013 by Talonsin

[M4ck]

This may sound stupid, but does the other module also have any command part and electricity? Docking ports usually(if not always) don't work if any vessel is not powered.

[Talonsin]

I have been testing it on the Launchpad and both the lander and rover have over 1k of electricity each.

The rover did not have a command part. I added a remote guidance piece to it but that didn't seem to help.

Are the docking ports supposed to work automatically when you get them close together?

[Johnno]

Are the docking ports supposed to work automatically when you get them close together?

Yes but they have to be quite close, especially if you're trying to dock something in gravity from below.

[sal_vager]

Docking ports have to be moved away from each other enough so they can reset, but really we do need to see your craft so we can properly help you.

Please use the F1 key to take a few screen shots, then upload them to Imgur for us

Craft files might help as well, so we can test your crafts ability to redock ourselves.

[Talonsin]

The "move away to allow for reset' thing sounds like it might be my issue. I will send it to the Mun later today where I can move the rover away from the ship and then try and redock and let you know.

[Talonsin]

I had two issues, I could not control the rover after undocking and I could not reattach it. After I undocked, the issue was I had to go to the space center to switch control to the rover. After that, just pulling away and coming back solved my docking issue, thanks Sal!

Thanks for all the help that was offered. You guys are the best gaming community I have ever discovered.

[PetWolverine]

After I undocked, the issue was I had to go to the space center to switch control to the rover.

Just to make it easier in the future - you can switch between nearby craft without going back to the tracking station by pressing [ and ].