Docking Trouble - Touching Ports don't want to finish connecting...

[Draknar]

Hey guys, sorry if this is addressed elsewhere, I see a ton of docking questions and watched several videos, but no one seems to be having this particular issue.

So as a test I am trying to dock two identical ships, each one with one of those multi-connectors on the end, with Shielded Clamps on each of them.

I can match the orbit, get in real close, open the shields to the ports, target the destination port and control from my own port, and get so close it even seems like they are pulling into each other...and then it just sits there touching without finalizing the connection...

I saw in one video the person had to turn SAS off, so I tried that, and nothing. I then tried slowly rotating my ship...nothing.

Am I using the wrong ports? Can I not connect a multi-port to another multi-port? Does one need a shielded clamp while another uses a different clamp? I thought maybe it's a male/female thing, but I don't see any indicators of such in the parts menu.

I feel like I can successfully accomplish the hard part (touching the ports together while at 0m/s relative velocity), but the blasted things just don't want to unite.

Any information would be much appreciated.

Oh I also wanted to ask...what exactly can pass through what sections? My linear layout was the shielded clamp, then multi-connector, then science lab, then hitchhiker bay, then the capsule (and engines all the way down). Do kerbals travel through the science lab and connector, or do I have to EVA them and move them around outside? Would fuel (liquid or RCS) travel through this type of connection, or does a fuel tank have to touch the connector directly?

Thanks!!

[UH60guy]

Fuel (liquid, RCS, etc) can pass through docking ports. In fact, it can automatically do so on launch if you're not careful to disable crossfeed if launching a ship with a docked connection along the stack. To transfer fuel, option-right click on a Mac (I think it's ctrl-right click on a PC) on each tank to select the fuel tanks you want to transfer fuel between. You don't need to worry about connections as transfers work seemingly magically across any point on the ship. Be extra careful not to shift-right click, as that ignites the main engines again and I've destroyed a few space stations accidentally that way...

Basically two docked ships act as a single ship, and fuel transfers act exactly the same way. Electricity is shared between the systems and ship evenly- I think the batteries charge proportionally off any RTGs or solar panels located anywhere. Just the staging and activated engines can get a little weird when they're combined, so you'll need to be careful (I make checklists) before doing any maneuvers to know exactly which end is the explodey side and which end is the front.

As for crew, if you're not using any mods, you can only transfer them via going EVA.

I'll let another expert handle the docking port question- it sounds like you're doing everything right as the only thing I could think of would be ports installed backwards, which isn't really possible with the shielded ports.

Edited December 2, 2013 by UH60guy

[Taki117]

Other than ports installed backwards (not possible with shielded) and leaving the shields closed (which you didnt do) the only other things that could happen is you approached too fast and knocked something off (unlikely) or you are misaligned during docking (also unlikely) so its probably a bug. best advice I can give is to back up and try again if possible.

If you are trying to connect the multi port ensure that there is a docking port on each face (IT DOES NOT COME WITH THEM INSTALLED)

[Superfluous J]

I think a screenshot would do wonders, preferably 2 or 3 of them from different angles in very quick succession. Like, get them lined up and then click and drag your view around the ship hitting F1 a few times. Make sure you're in the sunlight!

[Soda Popinski]

My guess is one of the ports got set to "locked" - so the game things it's already docked. I had something similar happen. You have two options, edit the save file: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/47768-Locked-Docking-Ports

Or if you have any other docking ports on the craft, if you undock that, it'll reset everything back to normal.

[Kasuha]

If you see that your docking ports react in some way, i.e. they appear to move ships slightly, turn off RCS and SAS and let the magnetism do its work. If your two ships are not aligned enough the magnetism might fight with SAS function preventing the docking to finish.

[Death Engineering]

Do your ports try to repel the two craft?