FIX: Dock / Undocking Bug in 0.23.5

[ManuxKerb]

Hi guys,

It seemd im also affected by one of those can't undock bugs. I tried claws solution but could not check yet if it works.

However a few ideas/questions arose:

1. Why not track the docking port by a changes name Like FIXME-1 or so ?

2. I read on the Internet that it is possible to repair a broken docking port with KAS by removing and reataching. Also could not try this out yet but i made a config file for me. (Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/2oh4yz/i_have_a_fix_for_the_docking_port_bug/)

//##### Fix for the stuck docking issue, can be grapped by eva kerbal and reatached
@PART[dockingPort2]:FOR[KAS]
{
    MODULE
    {
        name = KASModuleGrab
        evaPartPos = (0.0, 0.00, -0.09)
        evaPartDir = (0,0,-1)
        storable = true
        storedSize = 5
        attachOnPart = True
        attachOnEva = False
        attachOnStatic = False
        attachSendMsgOnly = False
    }
}

@PART[dockingPortLateral]:FOR[KAS]
{
    MODULE
    {
        name = KASModuleGrab
        evaPartPos = (0.0, 0.00, -0.09)
        evaPartDir = (0,0,-1)
        storable = true
        storedSize = 5
        attachOnPart = True
        attachOnEva = False
        attachOnStatic = False
        attachSendMsgOnly = False
    }
}

@PART[dockingPort3]:FOR[KAS]
{
    MODULE
    {
        name = KASModuleGrab
        evaPartPos = (0.0, 0.00, -0.09)
        evaPartDir = (0,0,-1)
        storable = true
        storedSize = 5
        attachOnPart = True
        attachOnEva = False
        attachOnStatic = False
        attachSendMsgOnly = False
    }
}

@PART[dockingPort1]:FOR[KAS]
{
    MODULE
    {
        name = KASModuleGrab
        evaPartPos = (0.0, 0.00, -0.09)
        evaPartDir = (0,0,-1)
        storable = true
        storedSize = 5
        attachOnPart = True
        attachOnEva = False
        attachOnStatic = False
        attachSendMsgOnly = False
    }
}

@PART[dockingPortLarge]:FOR[KAS]
{
    MODULE
    {
        name = KASModuleGrab
        evaPartPos = (0.0, 0.00, -0.09)
        evaPartDir = (0,0,-1)
        storable = true
        storedSize = 5
        attachOnPart = True
        attachOnEva = False
        attachOnStatic = False
        attachSendMsgOnly = False
    }
}

@PART[mk2DockingPort]:FOR[KAS]
{
    MODULE
    {
        name = KASModuleGrab
        evaPartPos = (0.0, 0.00, -0.09)
        evaPartDir = (0,0,-1)
        storable = true
        storedSize = 5
        attachOnPart = True
        attachOnEva = False
        attachOnStatic = False
        attachSendMsgOnly = False
    }
}
@PART[docking-25]:FOR[KAS]
{
    MODULE
    {
        name = KASModuleGrab
        evaPartPos = (0.0, 0.00, -0.09)
        evaPartDir = (0,0,-1)
        storable = true
        storedSize = 5
        attachOnPart = True
        attachOnEva = False
        attachOnStatic = False
        attachSendMsgOnly = False
    }
}
@PART[SYdocking3m]:FOR[KAS]
{
    MODULE
    {
        name = KASModuleGrab
        evaPartPos = (0.0, 0.00, -0.09)
        evaPartDir = (0,0,-1)
        storable = true
        storedSize = 5
        attachOnPart = True
        attachOnEva = False
        attachOnStatic = False
        attachSendMsgOnly = False
    }
}
@PART[SYdocking5m]:FOR[KAS]
{
    MODULE
    {
        name = KASModuleGrab
        evaPartPos = (0.0, 0.00, -0.09)
        evaPartDir = (0,0,-1)
        storable = true
        storedSize = 5
        attachOnPart = True
        attachOnEva = False
        attachOnStatic = False
        attachSendMsgOnly = False
    }
}
@PART[trusslrg-docking]:FOR[KAS]
{
    MODULE
    {
        name = KASModuleGrab
        evaPartPos = (0.0, 0.00, -0.09)
        evaPartDir = (0,0,-1)
        storable = true
        storedSize = 5
        attachOnPart = True
        attachOnEva = False
        attachOnStatic = False
        attachSendMsgOnly = False
    }
}
@PART[KW3mDockingRing]:FOR[KAS]
{
    MODULE
    {
        name = KASModuleGrab
        evaPartPos = (0.0, 0.00, -0.09)
        evaPartDir = (0,0,-1)
        storable = true
        storedSize = 5
        attachOnPart = True
        attachOnEva = False
        attachOnStatic = False
        attachSendMsgOnly = False
    }
}
@PART[B9_Utility_DockingPort_CDP]:FOR[KAS]
{
    MODULE
    {
        name = KASModuleGrab
        evaPartPos = (0.0, 0.00, -0.09)
        evaPartDir = (0,0,-1)
        storable = true
        storedSize = 5
        attachOnPart = True
        attachOnEva = False
        attachOnStatic = False
        attachSendMsgOnly = False
    }
}

I will report back what is working :-)

OK THIS works! So if you dont want to edit the save file just get a kerbal to grab and reattach onto the Ship.

Edited April 18, 2015 by ManuxKerb

[ManuxKerb]

Hi

Claws solution works but it detaches at the wrong point, instead of detaching between the two ports, it detaches one port completly from the station with the other part still attached.

How can i find the right parent number ?

Here is my Save file:http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=73288509976429238171

You an find the two ports in question by name: Ruscha1 and Ruscha2

Here is a picture of my station, the ports in question are the ones who connect on the right side of the station. (with the Cyclotron)

Javascript is disabled. View full album

Edited April 17, 2015 by ManuxKerb

[Claw]

Claws solution works but it detaches at the wrong point, instead of detaching between the two ports, it detaches one port completly from the station with the other part still attached.

Based on your description/pictures, it sounds like you might have fixed the wrong part. You found one of the docking ports, but look in the links section (or on the nodes) and find the other docking port's ID number. Then search for that ID. That second port is the one you need to modify, with the first port's part number as the parent. See if that works out for you. I see you're using mods, which makes it rather difficult for me to fix and test, but I will try to take a look later tonight.

Cheers,

~Claw

[ManuxKerb]

Hi Claw,

Thanks for helping me out!

As i described, i named the ports Ruscha1 and Ruscha2 in the save file, i seach for those two names and scroll up till i find the uid.

What is the links section ?

Is ID = UID ?

Where can i find the first port's part number ? (is it the parent number ?)

Here are the relevant snippets i think:

From Rusha1

PART
            {
                name = dockingPort2
                cid = 4291690114
                uid = 2630543533
                mid = 3106768183
                launchID = 62
                parent = 173 //[I] Is this the other docking port or the Part from the ship where it is attached to ?[/I]
                position = -1.44867253303528,2.51166391372681,-10.0581912994385
                rotation = -0.1764656,-0.1025351,0.6847348,-0.6996318
                mirror = 1,1,1
                symMethod = Radial
                istg = 0
                dstg = 0
                sqor = -1
                sidx = -1
                attm = 0
                srfN = None, -1
                attN = None, -1
                attN = bottom, 289
                mass = 0.05
                temp = -192.7025
                expt = 0.5
                state = 1
                connected = True
                attached = True
                flag = Squad/Flags/kerbin
                rTrf = dockingPort2
                modCost = 0
                EVENTS
                {
                }
                ACTIONS
                {
                }
                PARTDATA
                {
                }
                MODULE
                {
name = ModuleDockingNode
                    isEnabled = True
                    state = Disengage
                    dockUId = 1475538722
                    dockNodeIdx = 0

From Rusha2 (The one that gets fully detached in my tries)

    PART
            {
                name = dockingPort2 
                cid = 4289912110
                uid = 1475538722
                mid = 2369318720
                launchID = 61
                parent = 172
                position = -0.890175104141235,2.5116708278656,-9.99832534790039
                rotation = -0.03770937,-0.03770648,0.7060993,0.7061021
                mirror = 1,1,1
                symMethod = Radial
                istg = 0
                dstg = 0
                sqor = -1
                sidx = -1
                attm = 0
                srfN = None, -1
                attN = top, 173  // [I]is this the port or the surface of the ship?[/I]
                attN = bottom, 172 // [I]is this the port or the surface of the ship?[/I]
                mass = 0.05
                temp = -192.6611
                expt = 0.5
                state = 1
                connected = True
                attached = True
                flag = Squad/Flags/kerbin
                rTrf = dockingPort2
                modCost = 0
                EVENTS
                {
                }
                ACTIONS
                {
                }
                PARTDATA
                {
                }
                MODULE
                {
                    name = ModuleDockingNode
                    isEnabled = True
                    state = Docked (same vessel)
                    dockUId = 2630543533
                    dockNodeIdx = 0

Edited April 18, 2015 by ManuxKerb

[ManuxKerb]

Hi Claw,

Ok here is some super strage thing,

One time i was able to detach the port correcly. I used:

attN = top, 173 in Ruscha1. And pressed Decouple in Rusha1

However i tried to do it agian an this time it did not work again. For a second it looked like it (camera wise) but then nothing hapend afterwards....

Do you have any idea why i could not replicate my succes ?

Edited April 18, 2015 by ManuxKerb

[Kaa253]

KSP 1.0.2 with lots of mods. This just happened to me so it appears to be still around. With all the mods rapidly being debugged and updated to KSP 1.0.2 I doubt this is reproducible. Sorry Squad but I expect my save files are useless for tracing down the root cause of this bug.

Claw thanks. Your quick and dirty fix worked as advertised, quick and dirty and my ships are apart.

[Claw]

Claw thanks. Your quick and dirty fix worked as advertised, quick and dirty and my ships are apart.

Awesome, glad to know it still works!

Cheers,

-Claw

[Nookos]

Thanks a lot for all the useful information over here. I got this bug for the first time yesterday. I have been trying many things and creating a lot of confusion in the process.

Now I have finally a result but not sure it s the one I should expect

The only result I got is that the decouple button finally worked but it separated the docking port from the space station while still being attached to the other docking port..

Is that what your solution should do or I did all wrong many times over The latter is more likely because at first I got no result and had to keep trying different stuff without knowing what I was doing. Anyway I m asking to be sure and to say thank you.

EDIT: Ok I just found out I was confused about the parent and part# thingy. I was able to undock and then fix the docking port back to a Ready state and it works finally. So discard everything above and just Thank you.

Edited May 28, 2015 by Nookos

[Claw]

EDIT: Ok I just found out I was confused about the parent and part# thingy. I was able to undock and then fix the docking port back to a Ready state and it works finally. So discard everything above and just Thank you.

Ahh, yeah. Glad you figured it out.

Cheers,

~Claw

[problemecium]

Allow me to be yet another person saying thanks for this thread. Even this many versions later, a lot of the same bugs still exist and can still be solved the same way.

I didn't actually find the issue detailed in the instructions, though - rather, I had a port connected to another port but saved in the "Acquire" state, as well as a Klaw bug I was able to resolve by enabling the "decouple node" option. Nevertheless this thread was a big help in pointing me in the right direction, and while scrolling around the file I was able to clean up a few other minor errors that might have become problems later ^^

EDIT: As long as I still have the floor... the bug came back. Either making rings with docking ports is a very bad idea or KSP 1.0 borked up something in the docking process. I've followed the directions to the letter, but to no apparent effect. Any ideas anyone?

Also, while this fix is very worth the effort for small constructs, when your station has 400 parts and about 80 of them are docking ports, I feel like it would be lifesaving if an automated system could be made to fix or at least point out docking errors. That's presuming of course that one doesn't already exist...

Edited June 3, 2015 by parameciumkid
return of the Bug

[Deadpan110]

I have never experienced the Undocking Bug in all the versions of KSP I have lived through - until now!

I'm another KSP 1.0.2 player here to say THANK YOU for the Super quick and dirty instructions - worked fine and saved my bacon!

[Mozzie]

Having an issue with docking with my space station, the two ports are named swag and swag2 for your convenience, here's the save:

here

[Claw]

Having an issue with docking with my space station, the two ports are named swag and swag2 for your convenience, here's the save:

here

Cool, thanks. Having current saves might help me develop a fix (when I get some time)!

Cheers,

~Claw

[master18]

Hey, thanks for making this thread. I had this issue before with the whole 'can't undock' business and fixed it thanks to this. Unfortunately, I'm having this issue again, this time I can't dock two docking ports. I've tried fixing it according to your instructions, but I can't seem to make it work.

The most recent quicksave can be found here http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=48074165064987280524

The mods I've got are Kerbal Alarm Clock, Kerbal Attachment System, Kerbal Inventory System, and Kerbal Engineer

The pieces I'm trying to dock are the 'Base Transporter I' and 'Base Hab Module'

The Base Transporter I is the large orange fuel tank on wheels and I'm trying to get it to dock to the docking port directly in front of it. I have checked it against the docking port on the end and it doesn't connect there either.

If you could help me out, I'd appreciate it so very much. Thanks in advance

[iLikeRovers]

I've got an interesting situation with my docking ports: Triple Seniors so I can do 4x warp with a 300+ part ship without it shaking to pieces.

Only one pair is docking

I've renamed the docking ports "Port Sr. A", "Port Sr. a" etc so i can spot them in the save file, you can see the labels in the picture.

Quick save file here, it'll need renaming. There's only one ship flying.

I thought it was interesting since you can compare the difference between the states of each pair. I'm not sure how I can hack the save file so pairs B&b and C&c physically join together, I'm not planning to decouple them again in this mission.

I have tried re-docking the ships multiple times but it still only docks A&a. It doesn't matter which port I control from.

Help?

[PCanas]

I don't know how you built it, but it looks like an alignment problem. I've built crafts with the same technic and didn't get that problme. The trick is copying the original part, insted of building it again the new node. either copy the whole thing or save in the sub-assembly This way, the parts will always be aligned.

Other option is to build the node together with the main part of the ship, while in the VAB/SPH, ataching the docking ports to each other. Then, save the node to the sub-assembly.

Got it?

(my englisg might not be very good to explain this...)

[iLikeRovers]

Yep, I copied the part where it splits into 3, I though I was careful! I may just have to try again until I can get it to work.

Here's a picture of them when i re-docked it with better alignment. Port A is top left, B is top right and C at the bottom. Looks good to me!

Att

[beelzerob]

I found this thread because I could not disconnect my Advanced Grappling Unit (#1) from what it was attached to. In an effort to wrench it loose, I tried to undock at #2...that also didn't do anything. I then tried to undock a different craft at #3, and that ALSO didn't work.

I tried the directions in this thread, but even though i went to the two docking ports (no such option for the Klaw) and Disabled the crossfeed, I did not find any place in my persistence file where EnableXFeed had been set to True. They were all False in the entire file. There were a few places where DisableXFeed was set to True, but when I went back into the game and switched them back to Enabled crossfeed, the number of instances of DisableXFeed = True didn't seem to change.

I'm a bit stuck at the moment...and don't know how to get my klaw unstuck.

[Claw]

If you have a stock save, go ahead and post it. I will try and take a look when I get a chance. Which will probably be after I finish some internal cleanup of the current stock bug fixes.

Cheers,

-Claw

[beelzerob]

Definitely not stock.

Last night, I discovered that every docking port on my station was bugged in this same way. That's not a terrible problem, since most of them are not meant to be separated.

After a few more tries, I did manage to finally get the EnableXFeed to say True. Then following your quick and dirty guide, I was able to decouple the orbiting pod and claw/tug as one vessel.

To separate those two things, I copied the persistence file into a new save, and playing there, I used KAS and my engineer kerbal to literally tear everything off of the ship that wasn't the tug. I then copied out that Vessel, and repeated the process (tearing off all of the tug parts until I was left with the orbiting pod) and copied out that vessel, and copied them into my original persistence file. It work! I now have my tug, station, and orbiting pod as separate entities again.

I haven't tried using the Klaw since then or docking/undocking, but I sure hope it works. Sifting through the persistence file is NOT fun.

I'm not sure if it's related or not, btw, but the last mod I installed was the stock bug fix mod. I did that because I had suffered the "Kerbal becomes debris" bug after a rover crash. The mod fixed that right up! And immediately after that is when I noticed this bug...I had never had a problem before disconnecting the Klaw or any of the docking ports.

Edited August 4, 2015 by beelzerob

[Sputnyk]

Thanks Claw! Again you saved the construction of my munar base

[Rune]

Ok, Claw, I've got a hard one for you. And it may have more to do with Klaws, actually, so it may help you out on squashing that one (how goes the hunt, BTW?). At least I think I'm pretty sure I created the problem by docking ships that had stuff grabbed by Klaws. If I understand correctly, it's the likeliest cause I can think of, it was a normal operation otherwise. The affected ship is actually my main transportation hub on my career save, so actually resurrecting it would be really awesome! I have already thrown three hours yesterday editing the savefile to save most of what can be easily saved, and I'm not shy of putting more work into it, if I have any hope of success... but I'm doubting there is a fix, because now the problem seems to either be in every docking port in the ship, or something else entirely.

First, background. I had a couple of times, upon docking ships with Klaws grabbing something, of the camera going on its own merry way. I know that I can short of work around that by going to the space center and back, but I knew something iffy is going on, so I proceeded to run some diagnostics... and thus I found the first bugged docking port. The specific appearance was the "undock" button disappearing on me without the two ships disengaging, or the button reappearing afterwards. So armed with Notepad++ and this thread, I dived into the savefile to fix the port. It took some doing, but I nailed it... and when it finally docked the UI option stayed available. No matter, another savefile editing and the port on the departing ship was as good as new. Now, obviously that wasn't the end of it. I was already in full "let's make sure this is fixed before we make an even bigger problem" mode. So testing further, I found that in about three other docking port connections I could get successful undocks that bugged the ports afterwards the very same way. These were things that had nothing to do with the original misbehaving port, and in fact had worked perfectly before. It seemed that as soon as I fixed one, another would break. And then I started testing the re-engagement of the fixed ports and... well, now I have a pretty good idea that all dockign ports are bugged. Or at least they bug when I undock them. The specific variety is "don't want to reconnect", and in the savefile they all gain weird properties for the "state" line in the ModuleDockingNode module, like "disabled" or "docked (same vessel)". After some time I also started noticing that they also have DOCKED VESSEL modules when they shouldn't (undocked), and sometimes they didn't when they should. I honestly don't know how I fixed that last one, it was 2 AM and I was running on frustration by then.

Since these thing are nothing without hard data an repeatability, here you go, a bunch of saves and snipped-out ships.

http://www./download/bfn30521na4s240/Bug+compenidum.rar

Four files in there, for anyone that thinks they can help (also, it is my career save... just saying, cool stuff in there). The two plain .txt ones are the affected ship itself, snipped from the quick save at two different times. The first is with me having messed with it only a bit (I had only messed up with a couple ports and decided to backup before I started deleting DOCKED VESSEL modules on unused ports left and right), the second one is where it now stands, with all docking ports disengaging but none of the ports that were engaged, re-engaging afterwards with anything, and anything docking to it bringing up the "camera jumping" bug that started it all. I also provide two savefiles, a mostly-stable quicksave, and one where I actually caught the root part of the affected ship misbehaving rather dramatically: I can't remember what I did, but every time I loaded that one and switched view to the station, it would start zipping away pulled by the root part (a big RCS tank) at quite the speed, sometime ripping through the station in the process Other times it would simply detach itself and float away like nothing was happening, clipping through parts and leaving RCS-tank sized hole on the thing. A sneaky root part, could be part of the problem, or a nice diagnostic tool, or just some random bug caused by me fiddling with it and/or the gazillion reloads I had done by then. And if you need anything else, just ask, I'll be happy to oblige.

A handy Klaw pod is nearby to test ports after fixes, BTW. The SSTO with the Klawed modules that started it all, is slowly drifting away unscathed on tits way to recovery, and it'll be recycled into a bug-free new one, but you can take a look at it. The boophole. I also have a lot of ports renamed so it is easy to find them in the savefile, the rule of thumb is that if it does have a weird name that isn't example, I have messed with it at some point.

Disclaimer: It is (lightly) modded and won't load without USI life support and KIS parts, but given the nature of the bug, I really, really doubt it has anything to do with my mods (which also include plenty of flavour/indication things like chatterer, scatterer, RCS sounds, engine lights, obviously KER, docking alignment indicator, KAC, etc, plus ATM on top to keep things stable...). I'll be happy to compile a list if anybody wants it.

Rune. Thanks in advance for taking the time to look at it!

Edited August 19, 2015 by Rune

[Claw]

Ok, Claw, I've got a hard one for you. And it may have more to do with Klaws, actually, so it may help you out on squashing that one (how goes the hunt, BTW?). At least I think I'm pretty sure I created the problem by docking ships that had stuff grabbed by Klaws.

Hry Rune,

The claw bug hunt was completed a few weeks ago, and that one seems to be successfully squashed.

Thanks for all the digging around that you have done for the docking ports. One of the common things I see with this bug in modded installs is use of the docking alignment, which obviously has something to do with docking. I am not implying that it is a cause (though it might). It may also simply be that people who use this mod do a lot more docking.

In any case, I will have to sift through your save files. Hopefully the bug happens for me in there. Usually with a repeatable save/.craft and some replication steps, it cuts the bug fixing time down significantly!

Thanks again.

Cheers,

-Claw

[Rune]

Hry Rune,

The claw bug hunt was completed a few weeks ago, and that one seems to be successfully squashed.

Thanks for all the digging around that you have done for the docking ports. One of the common things I see with this bug in modded installs is use of the docking alignment, which obviously has something to do with docking. I am not implying that it is a cause (though it might). It may also simply be that people who use this mod do a lot more docking.

In any case, I will have to sift through your save files. Hopefully the bug happens for me in there. Usually with a repeatable save/.craft and some replication steps, it cuts the bug fixing time down significantly!

Thanks again.

Cheers,

-Claw

Thanks for taking a look at it! Anything that you might dig up will be appreciated. Like just telling me your bugfixing modules were updated, I have just downloaded the last version. Indeed, now I am hunting for the thread you made to track the Klaw bug, to see if I find something that reminds me of my own bug.

Note that I did notice the extra modules that docking port alignment adds to every docking port... but that's mostly the one to rename the ports, which helped tremendously on testing. And I was getting a pretty consistent behaviour with them, they all looked proper and equal to each other working even on the bugged ports. I would bet it's more about building the kind of things I do (you will notice when you open the file... 20k lines for the station!)... that comment about dock enthusiasts being the most likely people to both install the mod and find any and all docking bugs just sound too reasonable not to be, at least in part, true. But of course, it is one more data point that I will have to try... as a last resort, I could just nuke all non-stock modules in there and temporarily uninstall the mod, see if that changes the behaviour at all.

Rune. I am learning a lot doing this, BTW.

[Claw]

I think this is probably the thread you are looking for: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/100286

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I've learned that even though a mod "doesn't touch this aspect" of the game, software is finicky and often does unexpected things.

For example, I just created a fix for the "launch clamps are following me into space" problem. This problem isn't really a stock bug, so much as stocks reaction to another bug that has to do with modeling and collision boxes. The game is doing exactly what it's supposed to, it appears that the launch clamps themselves aren't set up properly.

Cheers,

~Claw