'atal: Reference has invalid format: 'refs/Icon

Question

I'm trying to upload a file to github and I keep getting this error when I type "git add ." or "git commit -m 'message'" in command line (on mac os x 10.9). I am not sure what this means

'atal: Reference has invalid format: 'refs/Icon

Answer 1

Same problem I had with Google Drive. I simply deleted all the "Icon" files in my project folder, then, git works.

find . -name "Icon*" -type f -delete

In case you have a file named "Icon" something, use the command below will keep your own "Icon" file.

find . -type f \( -name "Icon*" ! -name "*.*" \) -delete

Answer 2

I had the same problem trying to push from Google Docs shared directory. When moved (and recreated) .git into local home, problem gone away.

Answer 3

The answer "Git fatal: Reference has invalid format: 'refs/heads/master'" mentions looking for "*conflicted*' files in .git

find .git -name '*conflicted*'

The OP confirms having done a similar operation.

The file I opened was in .git/refs/heads/ and had some weird text which didn't seem necessary

I would rather try and clone again the repo, report my modification (add, commit), and try to push again.