OK, I've decoded the number from the wrong end. Now I see that it represents new-line and 3 letters "Log". So it is actually the header of finger table :-)

Hi. This fast support is amazing. the problem was caused by a finger command in the global .bashrc file, outside the interactive part. thanx again!

Are you sure you've typed the number (172781415) correctly?

The problem is typically caused by some message printed from .bashrc or similar script. It violates the SFTP protocol. .bashrc script (and others) is executed even for non-interactive (no TTY) sessions, so they cannot print anything (not ask user to type something). Such things can be included in .profile script, which should not be executed for non-interactive sessions.

The number 172781415 represents the first four bytes read from the server. In such case it is typically the first four characters of the message. However the number you've posted does not represent readable text (or at least readable in Latin). Typo?

Hy! SCP working fine, but when I try to connect to the server with sftp, i allways get that message in the subject. How that can be solved? the machine is a Debian GNU/Linux Woody, with openssh and kernel 2.4.24 installed, working properly. :(