Docking clamps wont engage.

[Stickyhammy]

I have read dozens of threads about how to do it, watched videos of docking for hours, and yet when i get my docking ports together on my two ships they wont engage. I have never successfully docked. I need help to solve this problem.

Google has no pictures that show me how to align the docking ports on both craft. I need a picture of both ships in the same picture showing both docking ports installed correctly. From the mounds of mostly useless information online I have read its supposed to be both docking clamps with the dotted line on the side facing away from the craft. I have both my ports that way but it does not work. If I see it in a picture the correct way and it matches what I have exactly I am going to be even more annoyed then I am now.

Getting the two craft lined up is not a problem they just wont connect no matter how slow I move the ports together. Yes I turned off the sas on both ships. Yes I targeted the docking port itself and not the ship. Yes I clicked the crafts docking port I am piloting and selected the from here option. Everything should be setup correctly and yet it still wont work.

I also checked both ships name = ModuleDockingNode in notepad and they both say enabled true status ready

The only good thing from my wasted hours is I have perfected the art of matching orbits. Doesn't do me any good if once I get there I cant do a thing.

Edited May 9, 2014 by Stickyhammy

[GoatRider]

Are they the same sized docking ports? There are 3 sizes, they have to match.

[cantab]

Is there any magnetic pull as you come in at all? If so, have you accidentally git anything attached to the outward side of the docking port, like a decoupler or an octagonal strut?

[Claw]

Sr docking ports are nutorious for getting put on backwards or in too far, where you have it oriented correctly but connect to the node on the other side of the port.

Are you asking about all ports? Or one in particular?

[Kasuha]

Right-click on both docking ports you are going to use (you need to switch to the other ship to do it on the other port). If there is a "Decouple" button, click it. If the port flies away, it was placed wrong way.

Apart of that, a picture would probably help.

[Claw]

Eh. Here, perhaps this will help.

The junior and regular sized docking ports are reasonably obvious since each side is pretty distinct. The Sr docking port is a bit harder, because both sides are relatively flat. I've included the shielded docking port too, but that should be pretty obvious since you can only connect it one way.

Each docking port has a lighter ring on the docking side. Those two sides must meet at a reasonably flat angle for the ports to dock. You can be pretty far off, but if your ship is large then the ports will have a hard time swinging the ship around to lock.

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You can also probably find a ton of docking example videos on youtube.

By the way, welcome to the forums!

Edited May 7, 2014 by Claw

[Sirrobert]

Sounds like you probably put one or both of the docking ports on pointing the wrong side.

If that's not the case, we'll need some screenshots to determine the problem

[Tortoise]

It would be a lot more helpful if you can post a screen-shot of the two crafts when you are trying to dock.

[Remkeau]

In your save file, look for docking ports saying state = ready, it should say that. If it says state = acquire change it manually to ready.

edit: okay I guess I should have gone to sleep earlier, totally misread that you checked for this, sorry

Edited May 8, 2014 by Remkeau

[dbmorpher]

I think you may be trying to go too slow. Make sure you dock at between 1 and 2.5 m/s.

[Taki117]

I think you may be trying to go too slow. Make sure you dock at between 1 and 2.5 m/s.

This shouldn't have any effect. Once you get close enough (<2m) the magnets take over and pull you in. If however you do not get the magnetic pull then your docking ports are bugged, or one of the many other problems already stated.

[Stickyhammy]

Had to go to sleep because it took so long and now I need to go to work. The one thing I thought of in my nightmares was perhaps I need to roll the entire ship with q to line up the docks perfectly. That's the only thing I can think of. Not sure if that's required. Also they are both standard size ports.

Thank you you for the screenshots. That's what i needed. Will test when I get home. I only need to dock to get fuel into the orbiting can to get fuel into my grabber ship to collect the lander thats orbiting funky because I ran out of fuel leaving the mun canyons. Rescued my kerbal with an Eva a few days ago.

[Boomerang]

Had to go to sleep because it took so long and now I need to go to work. The one thing I thought of in my nightmares was perhaps I need to roll the entire ship with q to line up the docks perfectly. That's the only thing I can think of. Not sure if that's required. Also they are both standard size ports.

Thank you you for the screenshots. That's what i needed. Will test when I get home. I only need to dock to get fuel into the orbiting can to get fuel into my grabber ship to collect the lander thats orbiting funky because I ran out of fuel leaving the mun canyons. Rescued my kerbal with an Eva a few days ago.

Your nightmare definitely is not the case. As long as you've got the docking ports arranged on your craft correctly (per the picture on the first page), the radial orientation of the ports to each other doesn't make a difference. If port A is at a 12 o'clock orientation, port B can be at any other position, as long as you're coming in at a reasonable speed and you haven't just failed to dock without backing away a bit.

Oftentimes if you glance the ports off each other without successfully docking, the magnetism that pulls them together will turn off until you back off a few metres. But then you can just come straight back in and try again. No magic buttons or switches.

[psyper]

If you get close (below 1 meter) the magnetic attraction should kick in - make sure you haven't got SAS on - switch it off otherwise it will fight against the magnetic locks. Once close and you're not getting any pull from the magenet try pressing f5 (quicksave) then press and hold f9 to reload it - this will reset the magnetic locks and should connect.

if you don't have too many mods would it be possible to post the craft files so we can take a look at them?

[Random Tank]

If he finds that he's put the docking ports on the wrong way round, I imagine many many facepalms will ensue...

Screenshots save lives: wanna fix a problem? Post a piccy!

[Stickyhammy]

Pictures didnt link so editing out post.

Edited May 8, 2014 by Stickyhammy
Didnt post pics

[Stickyhammy]

It took another 2 hours of bumping and grinding and load and save and load. I even De-orbited the fuel carrying ship and relaunched it after confirming the clamps were the right way. In the end I got it to dock. I got the picture to work on the forum with tiny pic instead of imgur.

[Sirrobert]

I'm sorry I have to say that, but that Jr Docking port is going to cause problems if you turn on the engine.

Jr ports are notorious for weak connection, and they probably can't handle the thrust coming from a Mainsail

[Claw]

My guess is you were having problems because the (relatively weak) Jr docking ports were trying to move around a pretty massive payload in order to connect. Also, like Sirrobert said, when you fire that thing up the port is probably going to bend. I wouldn't try to turn at all while the engine is firing.

Congrats on getting docked at least.

[Tortoise]

It took another 2 hours of bumping and grinding and load and save and load. I even De-orbited the fuel carrying ship and relaunched it after confirming the clamps were the right way. In the end I got it to dock. I got the picture to work on the forum with tiny pic instead of imgur.

http://i57.tinypic.com/kbx5s8.jpg

it looks like they are clamped together, to me.

[Claw]

it looks like they are clamped together, to me.

Yeah, he said that in his post.

[Stickyhammy]

Those are standard clamp o tron docking clamps not juniors. I dont have high enough research to get the smaller ones. Those cans are just so big that its deceptive. In the end I managed to dock and transfer fuel into the station before undocking and de orbiting. Thats all I wanted to do.

It turns out I didnt need the fuel with my pod catcher. Managed a catch and return for the 226 mun canyon science without fueling in orbit. Thanks for the help. I feel much better now that I know it works after all. Just need to change the post to answered. Dont know how to do that.

[Claw]

Those are standard clamp o tron docking clamps not juniors. I dont have high enough research to get the smaller ones. Those cans are just so big that its deceptive. In the end I managed to dock and transfer fuel into the station before undocking and de orbiting. Thats all I wanted to do.

It turns out I didnt need the fuel with my pod catcher. Managed a catch and return for the 226 mun canyon science without fueling in orbit. Thanks for the help. I feel much better now that I know it works after all. Just need to change the post to answered. Dont know how to do that.

Fantastic! Sorry for all the confusion, but I'm glad you got it all worked out.

To change your thread, edit the original post and click "Go Advanced". From there, you can change to "answered" via a dropdown, then save.

[LethalDose]

Glad to hear you got it working eventually. In addition to the difficulties getting craft to dock, there are also some bugs with the docking ports. It may be the source of your initial issues.

[Sirrobert]

Those are standard clamp o tron docking clamps not juniors. I dont have high enough research to get the smaller ones. Those cans are just so big that its deceptive. In the end I managed to dock and transfer fuel into the station before undocking and de orbiting. Thats all I wanted to do.

It turns out I didnt need the fuel with my pod catcher. Managed a catch and return for the 226 mun canyon science without fueling in orbit. Thanks for the help. I feel much better now that I know it works after all. Just need to change the post to answered. Dont know how to do that.

Damn you're right.

They look so small next to that Jumbo tank