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

问题

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/project
 ! a0f80ea..49177a3  master     -> origin/master  (unable to update local ref)

and when i do "git pull origin master" i get:

error: Couldn't set ORIG_HEAD
fatal: Cannot update the ref 'ORIG_HEAD'.

i have been searching but cant find why

回答1:

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

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

回答2:

I solved as below:

git remote prune origin

回答3:

I discoverd the same Error message trying to pull from a Bitbuck Repo into my lokal copy. There is also only one Branche Master and the command git pull origin master lead to this Error Message

From https://bitbucket.org/xxx
 * branch            master     -> FETCH_HEAD
error: Couldn't set ORIG_HEAD
fatal: Cannot update the ref 'ORIG_HEAD'.

Solution as follows

1. git reflog find the number of the last commit
2. git reset --hard <numnber> reset to the last commit
3. git pull origin master pull again without error

回答4:

Try to use this command in your git repository root folder:

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

回答5:

rm .git/refs/remotes/origin/master

It works to me!

回答6:

Ensure the user that is executing the git pull is the same user that created the repository. The file permissions are incorrect.

回答7:

This happened to me on OSX where I use a case insensitive file system. Somehow another developer pushed a branch with the same name but different case: My-Branch vs my-branch.

I already had My-Branch checked out and got the error "unable to update local ref" when I did a pull probably because the file system thinks My-Branch == my-branch.

Since we use Github I could solve the problem by deleting one of the branches via Github's GUI.

回答8:

Speaking from a PC user - Reboot.

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

回答9:

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.

回答10:

This error with (unable to update local ref) can also happen if you have changed passwords recently and there's some fancy stuff integrating your Windows and Linux logins.

回答11:

Clone the repository again, and copy the .git folder in your broken project.

回答12:

I had the same issue on my debian server as the disk is full. No temp file could be created as no space left on device. After cleaning some files, it worked out fine.

来源：https://stackoverflow.com/questions/10068640/git-error-on-git-pull-unable-to-update-local-ref