fatal: unable to create '.git/index': File exists

I kicked off a pull. Realized I was on the wrong branch and immediately did a ^C

Now I can't change branches:

# git checkout release fatal: unable to create '.git/index': File exists fatal: unable to create '.git/index': File exists

git reset --hard does not help.

curiously, moving .git/index to /tmp and repeating results in the same error.

clues?

thanks, -Len

Got this message once. The reason was a git process still had a lock on the index file. Make sure you have no git processes left running from the interruption of git pull.

ps -ux | grep "git"

Manu

On 1/5/07, Len Brown <lenb@kernel.org> wrote:

Hi,

On Fri, 5 Jan 2007, Len Brown wrote:

This usually means that .git/index.lock exists. Try removing that file.

However, it _should_ be removed by the atexit() handler, methinks. I have no idea why it does not.

Ciao, Dscho

On 1/5/07, Johannes Schindelin <Johannes.Schindelin@gmx.de> wrote:

We will get SIGINT when the user hits ^C so I don't think the atexit handler will run. However, we also install a signal handler for SIGINT which removes the lock file, so I don't really see how it can be left around...

There is a small race condition between open and signal as we do

    fd = open(lk->filename, O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_EXCL, 0666);
    ...
    signal(SIGINT, remove_lock_file_on_signal);
    atexit(remove_lock_file);

in lock_file:lockfile.c. But I think it is very improbable that the user hits ^C between "open" and "signal". It might be worth fixing though.

Are there any other signals we might get when the user hits ^C? SIGPIPE?

- Fredrik

On Friday 05 January 2007 11:50, Len Brown wrote:

rm .git/index.lock seemed to do the trick. Hopefully nothing is toasted by this...