TRAMP and scp

[Michael Powe <michael+gnus@trollope.org>]

i installed tramp and when i try to access a remote file, i get the
known error message

Out of band method `scp' not applicable for remote shell asking for
a password

i don't understand this.  the default behavior is for scp to ask for
the ssh password to log in at the remote.  scp works fine from the
command line.  why is there an issue with this behavior here?  if i
use ange-ftp, i get prompted for the password & that works fine.

aside from obvious security issues, i want to edit files on a server
that has only ssh access for logins, no ftp or telnet &c, and i'd
rather do it from here than in a terminal window.

i've seen some discussion of the error message which seems to imply
that it is a problem with scp.  that doesn't make sense to me.  it's
no more "interactive" than ftp with regard to entering a password.
can someone explain to me the difference?

thanks.

mp

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