I' using a exclude file and I have tried the /ss with no success. I have a list of files:

/file1
/file2
/file3

have tried it or you mean this?:
/file1/
/file2/
/file3/

ignore this

/file1/ might be more precise, but shouldn't matter here. So if /file1 doesn't work, I'm at a loss. What rsync version and did ubuntu patch it 'til it broke? Another option, as I said, is to use an '--include-from' file as well as an exclude (or use '--filter's) and make sure the directory you want, but that rsync is excluding, is in the include file. If even that doesn't work, I guess all I can say is keep reading the man page looking for alternative angles and experimenting. Or searching bug db's for bug reports on your package of rsync.

I also tried with a .cvsignore file and got this:

excluding file testdir/pp/.cvsignore because of pattern *
excluding directory testdir/ss because of pattern *
excluding directory testdir/tt because of pattern *

I wanted to transfer /ss which has a directory within named /tt. Is there another way of doing this? Does not have to be using rsync only. Thanks