Git error on git pull (unable to update local ref)

Question

I only have branch master and im getting this error every time i try to \"git pull\":

error: Couldn\'t set refs/remotes/origin/master
From /var/lib/git/xxx/p         


        

Answer 1

This work for me

rm .git/logs/refs/remotes/origin/master 

Answer 2

This is probably a very niche situation, but: I run Windows in a Parallels VM on my MacBook Pro, with my local repos stored on the VM's disk, which is shared with macOS.

If I have a file open in a Mac app from a repo that's located on the Windows VM, I sometimes get the "unable to update local ref" error. The solution when this happens is to simply close the file or quit the Mac app.

Answer 3

rm .git/refs/remotes/origin/master

It works to me!

Answer 4

My team and I ran into this error, unable to update local ref, when doing a pull in SourceTree.

Update 2020: Per @Edward Yang's answer below, @bryan's comment on this answer, and this question/answer you may need to run both git gc --prune=now and git remote prune origin. Running only the former has always worked for me but based on ppl's responses I think both are necessary to address different causes of the error.

We used:

git gc --prune=now

This removes any duplicate reference objects which should fix the issue.

Here are a few links where you can learn more about git references and pruning :

git tip of the week

git-prune documentation

git references

Answer 5

Speaking from a PC user - Reboot.

Honestly, it worked for me. I've solved two strange git issues I thought were corruptions this way.

Answer 6

I solved as below:

git remote prune origin