# Problems after deleting submodule 3 messages from 2011-10-18 to 2011-10-19. Participants: Howard Miller, Jens Lehmann. Thread: https://gitlist.dev/t/28713 ## Howard Miller, 2011-10-18 11:54 Subject: Problems after deleting submodule Message-ID: URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/CAHVO_90UN_nNDbqxM2TkUjo_qfVhLgjUJoZTmYi6rsLnRMOUFg%40mail.gmail.com ``` I included a submodule in my project then decided I didn't like submodules and deleted it again. I followed the advice of delting .gitmodules, the bit from .git/config and then git rm'ing the submodule. Seemed to work. I then copied files with the same directory name into where the submodule was. However, I can't add them. Doing git add /path/to/old/submodule - does nothing, files are not staged, no error messages no nothing. If I try to git rm /path/to/old/submodule - it just says 'did not match any files'. It simply does not seem to want to add anything to the old submodule location. I had a grep around and could not see any obvious references in the repo. I'm a bit stuck... any suggestions for things I can try much appreciated. ``` ## Jens Lehmann, 2011-10-18 19:56 Subject: Re: Problems after deleting submodule Message-ID: <4E9DD9E0.80808@web.de> URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/4E9DD9E0.80808%40web.de In-Reply-To: ``` Am 18.10.2011 13:54, schrieb Howard Miller: > I included a submodule in my project then decided I didn't like > submodules and deleted it again. I followed the advice of delting > .gitmodules, the bit from .git/config and then git rm'ing the > submodule. Seemed to work. I then copied files with the same directory > name into where the submodule was. However, I can't add them. > > Doing git add /path/to/old/submodule - does nothing, files are not > staged, no error messages no nothing. > If I try to git rm /path/to/old/submodule - it just says 'did not > match any files'. > > It simply does not seem to want to add anything to the old submodule > location. I had a grep around and could not see any obvious references > in the repo. > > I'm a bit stuck... any suggestions for things I can try much appreciated. Looks like the gitlink entry of the submodule is still there. I assume git ls-files --stage | grep 160000 still shows the submodule? That would make it impossible to add anything in the former submodule directory. When I delete .gitmodules and the .git/config entry and do a git rm sub/ I get fatal: pathspec 'sub/' did not match any files If I omit the trailing slash it is: fatal: git rm: 'sub': Is a directory I have to do a rm -rf sub followed by git rm sub to get everything cleaned up. Does that help you? ``` ## Howard Miller, 2011-10-19 10:23 Subject: Re: Problems after deleting submodule Message-ID: URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/CAHVO_919up2OBtWDA5cvhOSzmN0QJG3FpxBi7D5_qLbtw3ETbg%40mail.gmail.com In-Reply-To: <4E9DD9E0.80808@web.de> ``` On 18 October 2011 20:56, Jens Lehmann wrote: > Am 18.10.2011 13:54, schrieb Howard Miller: >> I included a submodule in my project then decided I didn't like >> submodules and deleted it again. I followed the advice of delting >> .gitmodules, the bit from .git/config and then git rm'ing the >> submodule. Seemed to work. I then copied files with the same directory >> name into where the submodule was. However, I can't add them. >> >> Doing git add /path/to/old/submodule - does nothing, files are not >> staged, no error messages no nothing. >> If I try to git rm /path/to/old/submodule - it just says 'did not >> match any files'. >> >> It simply does not seem to want to add anything to the old submodule >> location. I had a grep around and could not see any obvious references >> in the repo. >> >> I'm a bit stuck... any suggestions for things I can try much appreciated. > > Looks like the gitlink entry of the submodule is still there. I assume >        git ls-files --stage | grep 160000 > still shows the submodule? That would make it impossible to add anything > in the former submodule directory. > > When I delete .gitmodules and the .git/config entry and do a >        git rm sub/ > I get >        fatal: pathspec 'sub/' did not match any files > > If I omit the trailing slash it is: >        fatal: git rm: 'sub': Is a directory > > I have to do a >        rm -rf sub > followed by >        git rm sub > to get everything cleaned up. > > Does that help you? Yes - that was exactly the problem. I'm slightly embarrassed I missed that. For some reason the initial delete of the submodule left the empty directory in place (could have been a mistake on my part). I didn't notice when I copied the new files back but it was enough to break it. I can't help thinking there could be some warning when doing an 'add' but I don't think I have my head around it enough :) Anyway, thanks for the help (again) everyone! ```