Ships that Refuse to Dock?

[DannySwish]

I have a rather large ship that I'm trying to refuel in orbit (by a large refueler) and I've spent at least half an hour forcing the senior docking ports to nuzzle each other, yet no lip-lock. I had them as close and as aligned as humanly possible (I'm being completely honest in saying the only way they could've been MORE perfectly aligned was if they were actually docked), but they refused to dock. What I'm asking for is some way to either edit a file to make it so the two ships are docked, or a way to mark the empty tanks I'm trying to fill up as full (again, in the persistence file or whatever). This is ridiculous.

Edited March 3, 2014 by DannySwish

[jaredkzr]

I'm betting that one of your docking parts is backwards. I've done this more times than I count where I'll accidentally put a docking port backwards on my spacecraft, especially if the port is on the bottom of the ship.

[DannySwish]

Neither one is backwards.

[jaredkzr]

Then perhaps there is an object that is blocking the port. Why don't you post some screenshots? That would help out more than anything.

[DannySwish]

Then perhaps there is an object that is blocking the port.

*Headdesk*

For the senior docking port to attach radially, I had to use a cubic strut. That cubic strut is clipping through the port. I think that's the problem. Thank you ;~;

[jaredkzr]

Ah yeah that's probably what's going on. Glad I could help, but I'm sorry you're going to have to relaunch those. :/

[DannySwish]

I'm sorry you're going to have to relaunch those. :/

Pfft, I'm a pro. Ha. Haha. Regardless, just got another up there. Kerbals are so wasteful.

[LordQ]

My friend had trouble with docking ports recently, and the trouble he was having was that for some reason the docking ports were already registered as docked. It's possible to go into the persistence file and edit them so that they are able to dock.

[Kasuha]

When you bring two docking ports close enough so they magnetize and then pull them apart again, they may fail to return to their original state and it is not possible to dock them anymore. At present the only remedy is to edit the persistence file and return them to Ready state.

[LordQ]

When you bring two docking ports close enough so they magnetize and then pull them apart again, they may fail to return to their original state and it is not possible to dock them anymore. At present the only remedy is to edit the persistence file and return them to Ready state.

I had this a few days ago actually. Fixed it by exiting to the space center and returning to the ship.

[peadar1987]

Sometimes, if you have a ship with tonnes of control authority, that can fight the magnetic clamps to such a degree that they won't dock. I find that flicking off SAS at the last second lets me dock most times (unless the port is obstructed).

[Jouni]

Sometimes, if you have a ship with tonnes of control authority, that can fight the magnetic clamps to such a degree that they won't dock. I find that flicking off SAS at the last second lets me dock most times (unless the port is obstructed).

I've never seen this to happen. The real reason is probably that the docking ports are not aligned closely enough or the ship is approaching too fast. When the magnetic clamps start pulling the ship into a proper alignment, SAS fights back, and the ship bounces off from the target before the magnets can get their job done.

[peadar1987]

I've never seen this to happen. The real reason is probably that the docking ports are not aligned closely enough or the ship is approaching too fast. When the magnetic clamps start pulling the ship into a proper alignment, SAS fights back, and the ship bounces off from the target before the magnets can get their job done.

You're right, if you're a few degrees off alignment with SAS on, it won't let the ships align so they can dock. Turning off SAS allows the clamps to pull them into alignment and docking happens instantly. If you're already coming in pretty much perfectly aligned, this is irrelevant.

It's not that the ships bounce apart though, they're held together by the docking magnets, with the docking ports touching but not properly aligned.

[Kryxal]

I've had ships that took forever to dock with SAS off, but it can be handy to tap f a few times to damp down any forces that are causing the ports to make "rolling contact", so to speak.