# SOLVED Dolphin sftp - "Unable to request the SFTP subsystem"

## gkmac

All of a sudden I can no longer browse files on my server and MythTV box using KDE Dolphin's sftp kioslave.

For the longest time I could type (as an example) "sftp://servername.domain" and after a password prompt have it connect. Now all I get is a red banner at the top saying "Unable to request the SFTP subsystem. Make sure SFTP is enabled on the server."

Except that SFTP is enabled on my server. I think, since typing sftp servername.domain on the command line lets me in successfully.

Any ideas?

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## 666threesixes666

id further test.  id test ssh between the two machines.  then loop back ssh tests on local machines. to start tracking down the problem.  id look to see if you can roll back your dolphin in versions to where it works if everything on the ssh end is working.

https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Troubleshooting

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## Voltago

Seeing the same behavior here... As a workaround, you can just use the 'fish' protocol instead.

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## 666threesixes666

the internet says gftp is also an acceptable alternative.  i guess i should put up a note on using ssh keys working for sftp logins.

for me its domainname.com port blank user password blank (because of ssh keys) and ssh protocol and enter and connected with gftp.

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## ivan2k

I have the same problem with dolphin, but it's not a dolphin bug because even xbmc can't connect to sftp server. Fish protocol work.

This happen after upgrade openssh from 5.9 to 6 on the server.

Anyone know if there is some changes on openssh 6 ?

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## Chris W

I have this issue with KDE 4.11.5.   This appears to be a libssh (used by KDE) and OpenSSH server version mismatch issue.

I have two servers.  With Dolphin and sftp: URL I can access the server running OpenSSH 5.9 but get the "Unable to request the SFTP subsystem. Make sure SFTP is enabled on the server" message accessing the server running OpenSSH 6.4.   I can access either machine from the command line using OpenSSH 6.4's sftp client.  My client is running libssh 0.55, the latest stable at time of writing.

Updating to the unstable libssh 0.6.0 changes the error to:

 *Quote:*   

> The host key for this server was not found, but another type of key exists.
> 
> An attacker might change the default server key to confuse your client into thinking the key does not exist.
> 
> Please contact your system administrator.
> ...

 

for both servers.  Neither host key has changed as far as the command line tools are concerned.

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## Chris W

Upgrading to net-libs/libssh-0.6.3 (unstable at time of writing) on the KDE machine fixed the interoperability problem with OpenSSH 6.4

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## gkmac

net-libs/libssh-0.6.3 indeed went stable a couple of weeks ago.

But sftp:// is still not working for me. Now I get "Error. Out of memory. Could not set a timeout."

"free -m" shows that I have three gigabytes of memory free, so somehow the "out of memory" part of the message is a bit of a lie...

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## TomWij

 *gkmac wrote:*   

> net-libs/libssh-0.6.3 indeed went stable a couple of weeks ago.
> 
> But sftp:// is still not working for me. Now I get "Error. Out of memory. Could not set a timeout."
> 
> "free -m" shows that I have three gigabytes of memory free, so somehow the "out of memory" part of the message is a bit of a lie...

 

Can you file this bug at Gentoo Bugzilla? Read here how to write a bug report, for more in-depth details and troubleshooting steps you can read our Bugzilla HOWTO.

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## gkmac

Hmmm... just tried sftp again for the first time in a few days, and it seems to be working fully again.

Dunno what changed it from not-working to working, nevertheless I'll mark this SOLVED.

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