Docking problem (Yeah, another one :D !)

[Joa2]

Hi every one,

As a newbie in KSP I wanted to try to build a little sation over Kerbin with many docking ports. Then just to try my construction, I send a little ship.

I managed to do the hardest job and now my two vessels are in contact. But as you can guess, they don't want to dock... I've searched on this forum and on some others, many times the problem seems to be the orientation of the docking port. I've try in construction mode to see how the docking port where suppose to be, apparently I've done nothing wrong about that (you can also see it on the screenshot if you zoom a bit).

What is it then ? I believe it is something stupid but I just can't figure out what it is. Thanks

http://www.noelshack.com/2014-14-1396782698-sans-titre.png

Edited April 7, 2014 by Joa2

[Geschosskopf]

It's hard to tell from the dark screenshot but it looks like you put the port on with the proper orientation and that there are no other parts interfering. Assuming you did all the "control from here" and "set as target" stuff correctly, then my only theory is that you maybe put the docking port on too low.

An annoying feature of docking ports is that they can clip through other ship parts in the VAB. They have attachment nodes on the top and you want to attach them to the ship with the bottom node. But because the ports can clip, if you're not careful you can move the port too far towards the ship. Then the port actually attaches to the ship by its top node, which is the one needed for docking. Because that node is now occupied with the structural connection to the ship, the port becomes useless for docking.

To avoid this be very careful when attaching docking ports in the VAB. They turn green in 2 positions. When you first bring the docking port up to the ship, it will turn green when its bottom node is in contact. But if you keep moving the port towards the ship, the bottom node will clip in and the port will briefly turn red, then turn green again as the top node comes into contact. So before clicking to attach the port, always wiggle it around to make sure it's attaching by the bottom node.

[MiniMatt]

Really dark picture but I think it looks like it should dock ok.

Long shot but it might be possible that the left hand docking port is clipped into the girder such that to the game you're lining up a docking port with a girder rather than two docking ports.

Did you get any hint of "docking wobble" as the two ports came close and docking port magnetism started moving ships around? (if you do, at this point I generally find it easiest to turn off SAS and RCS to prevent your ship from fighting against this force).

Occasionally ports need to reset, such that if you've recently undocked it might not want to accept a re-docking quickly. I can't remember off the top of my head the cure for that, but going back to the tracking station, or time warping for a bit will likely fix it.

[BudgetHedgehog]

You have SAS on - with a light craft and enough SAS torque, it's enough to prevent you from docking. Turn it off and you should be able to dock. You also don't appear to have the target docking por actually set as your target. You need to do that (and set 'Control From Here' for the docking port on the craft you're controlling) to be able to dock.

And daytime pictures help

[Joa2]

Well thanks all I checked and apparently there are no parts in any ship which avoid docking port to work. Maybe I am wrong, I am going to send another vessel anyway to see what's wrong.

MiniMatt -> Problem is I had no magnetism between those dock port. It's really like I am putting to vessels near each other while they got nothing to attach :/

Obsessed -> I've tried to disable SAS when the two ports were touching each other, and there is no changes. And I've also use "set as target" to get there, but when I realised that the 2 ships weren't docking as they should, I've started to try every godamn options

[Joa2]

Well thanks all I checked and apparently there are no parts in any ship which avoid docking port to work. Maybe I am wrong, I am going to send another vessel anyway to see what's wrong.

MiniMatt -> Problem is I had no magnetism between those dock port. It's really like I am putting to vessels near each other while they got nothing to attach :/

Obsessed -> I've tried to disable SAS when the two ports were touching each other, and there is no changes. And I've also use "set as target" to get there, but when I realised that the 2 ships weren't docking as they should, I've started to try every godamn options

[Claw]

Unfortunately, it's pretty common that the docking ports status breaks. The link below will take you to a post that explains how to fix it in your save file. Please PLEASE make a backup copy before you edit it.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/71301-Docking-port-trouble?p=998917&viewfull=1#post998917

Good luck!