svn 1.7.8 database is locked, cannot release

Question

when I run:

svn cleanup

I get the error message:

svn: E200033: database is locked, executing statement 'RELEASE   s0'

or any other command to change DB, e.g. commit, update etc.

This is on linux server, the directory is nfs.

I can checkout another version and copy my changes, but it is a hassle and I think this error will come back.

how do I fix this on a working directory, and is there a way to prevent it.

p.s. there are no processes currently running, maybe eclipse crashed in the middle of some action.

Answer 1

This helped me solve the problem (subversion 1.7.10):

$ cd /my/repository/.svn
$ mv wc.db wc.db.old
$ sqlite3 wc.db.old
sqlite> .backup main wc.db
sqlite> .exit

After making sure it works, you can remove wc.db.old.

See also: http://technosophos.com/content/sqlite-database-locked-error-and-unlocking-database