turns out the hatches on the MK1 inline don't work
they are replaced by freeiva have the handle on them etc but you cannot open them
can be opened from the other side
so if you have mk1 crew cabin - > mk1 inline docking port you can open and close the hatch from the crew cabin side but not from the other side

sofie.zip

Tidbit of extra weirdness. The MK2 inline port does work

That's good info, the key factor here is probably that all 4 variants (2 stock and 2 restock) have different animation names.

Seems likely

Can't repro this. I need a picture of the ship, detailed repro steps, and the ksp.log.