Can't connect to ssh host with Emacs tramp

[Ken Brown]

On 1/5/2018 11:37 AM, David Karr wrote:
> On Thu, Jan 4, 2018 at 5:15 PM, Ken Brown <kbrown@cornell.edu> wrote:
>> On 1/4/2018 5:42 PM, David Karr wrote:
>>>
>>> I've reviewed some of the Emacs tramp documentation, but I'm not sure
>>> what the issue is.
>>>
>>> If I'm using Cygwin, I don't need the putty components for this, do I?
>>
>>
>> No, I make ssh connections through Emacs tramp without putty.
>>
>>> When I attempt to open a text file in my homedir on a remote host,
>>> which I can ssh to (passwordless) from the shell, it just times out.
>>>
>>> The *Messages* buffer shows this (fqhn is the hostname):
>>> ------------------
>>> Tramp: Opening connection for fqhn using scp...
>>> Tramp: Sending command ‘exec ssh   -o ControlMaster=auto -o
>>> ControlPath='tramp.%C' -o ControlPersist=no -e none fqhn’
>>> Tramp: Waiting for prompts from remote shell...
>>> Timeout reached, see buffer ‘*tramp/scp fqhn*’ for details
>>> Tramp: Waiting for prompts from remote shell...failed
>>> Tramp: Opening connection for fqhn using scp...failed
>>> -----------------------
>>>
>>> There doesn't appear to be a buffer named "*tramp/scp fqhn*".
>>
>>
>> Sorry, I don't know enough about tramp to diagnose this.  Maybe it would
>> help if you would say exactly what commands you gave.  And does the problem
>> occur if you start with 'emacs -Q'?
> 
> What "commands" am I giving?  All I'm trying to do is open a single
> file on the remote host.

Yes, but I wanted to see exactly what you typed in order to specify the 
remote file.  Sorry if I confused you by saying "commands".

> I'm entering "//fqhn:/home/<myuid>/.bash_profile".

I'm not aware of any valid Tramp syntax that starts with a double slash. 
  [On Cygwin, I think file names starting with a double slash refer to 
network files, but I don't think this should cause Emacs to invoke 
Tramp.]  See the section "Remote Files" in the Emacs manual.  You might 
find this easier than the Tramp manual.  In particular, I suggest you 
try something like

   /ssh:fqhn:/home/<myuid>/.bash_profile

or

   /ssh:<user>@fqhn:/home/<myuid>/.bash_profile

You can omit "ssh:' in emacs-25, but this won't be allowed in emacs-26, 
so you might as well get used to using it.

I'm away from home at the moment and can't easily test that I've got all 
this exactly right.

> I get different behavior using "emacs -Q".  I don't get a timeout
> error, but I also don't think it even attempted to connect to the
> remote box.  The editor view just opens with the given name, but it's
> empty (it shouldn't be).

The file you specified with the double slash syntax doesn't exist.

> The "*Messages*" buffer doesn't indicate
> that it ever tried to make a connection.  It also says "Use M-x
> make-directory RET RET to create the directory and its parents".

So you must have some customization that's changing the behavior.  You 
might have to bisect your .emacs file to find it.

Ken


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