TL;DNR ssh connection caching seems to cause git-annex to not work on NTFS volumes. Setting `annex.sshcaching` to `false` seems to solve the problem. ## What version of git-annex are you using? On what operating system? Please provide any additional information below. * git-annex version: 3.20120629 on Debian Testing. * `the-repo` is located on an NTFS volume on a USB HDD. * `the-remote` is on the server `example.com`. * `example.com` is running gitolite3 v3.2-19-gb9bbb78, git 1.7.2.5, and git-annex 3.20120629~bpo60+2 ## What steps will reproduce the problem? What is the expected output? What do you see instead? Create or clone a repo onto an NTFS volume. Make sure `git annex` is initialized. Run some regular git operations. These always seem to work. Try git-annex operations. Some operations work despite the error messages: $ git annex sync Control socket connect(/media/NTFSVOL/the-repo/.git/annex/ssh/git@example.com): Connection refused Failed to connect to new control master Command ssh ["-S","/media/NTFSVOL/the-repo/.git/annex/ssh/git@example.com","-o","ControlMaster=auto","-o","ControlPersist=yes","git@example.com","git-annex-shell 'configlist' '/~/the-repo.git'"] failed; exit code 255 Control socket connect(/media/NTFSVOL/the-repo/.git/annex/ssh/git@example.com): Connection refused Failed to connect to new control master Command ssh ["-S","/media/NTFSVOL/the-repo/.git/annex/ssh/git@example.com","-o","ControlMaster=auto","-o","ControlPersist=yes","git@example.com","git-annex-shell 'configlist' '/~/the-repo'"] failed; exit code 255 commit # On branch master nothing to commit (working directory clean) ok pull the-remote ok pull origin ok Other operations fail: $ git annex copy -t the-remote the-file.jpg Control socket connect(/media/NTFSVOL/the-repo/.git/annex/ssh/git@example.com): Connection refused Failed to connect to new control master Command ssh ["-S","/media/NTFSVOL/the-repo/.git/annex/ssh/git@example.com","-o","ControlMaster=auto","-o","ControlPersist=yes","git@example.com","git-annex-shell 'configlist' '/~/the-repo.git'"] failed; exit code 255 Control socket connect(/media/NTFSVOL/the-repo/.git/annex/ssh/git@example.com): Connection refused Failed to connect to new control master Command ssh ["-S","/media/NTFSVOL/the-repo/.git/annex/ssh/git@example.com","-o","ControlMaster=auto","-o","ControlPersist=yes","git@example.com","git-annex-shell 'configlist' '/~/the-repo'"] failed; exit code 255 copy the-file.jpg (checking the-remote...) Control socket connect(/media/NTFSVOL/the-repo/.git/annex/ssh/git@example.com): Connection refused Failed to connect to new control master (unable to check the-remote) failed git-annex: copy: 1 failed Some googling revealed the errors to be stale socket files. - [Three SSH Tips](http://shallowsky.com/blog/tags/ssh/) - [Improving SSH (OpenSSH) connection speed with shared connections](http://protempore.net/~calvins/howto/ssh-connection-sharing/#section-03) It appears that SSH connection caching was implemented in response to this wishlist item: [wishlist: Prevent repeated password prompts for one command](http://git-annex.branchable.com/todo/wishlist:_Prevent_repeated_password_prompts_for_one_command/) However ssh connection caching breaks things on NTFS volumes. If I turn off connection caching, it seems to work fine $ git config annex.sshcaching false but it would be nifty if git-annex could detect the filesystem type and do The Right Thing. Thanks for all the work on git-annex -- it's an awesome project!