error: cannot spawn git: Invalid argument

[MagicAndre1981]

• I was not able to find an open or closed issue matching what I'm seeing

Setup

• Which version of Git for Windows are you using? Is it 32-bit or 64-bit? I use Git-2.16.1.2-64-bit.exe

$ git --version --build-options
git version 2.16.1.windows.2
cpu: x86_64
built from commit: e78e3c8ee9c219723d60aa1bccd8348c2269b9ba
sizeof-long: 4

• Which version of Windows are you running? Vista, 7, 8, 10? Is it 32-bit or 64-bit?

Windows 8.1 x64

$ cmd.exe /c ver
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.3.9600]

• What options did you set as part of the installation? Or did you choose the
  defaults?

# One of the following:
> type "C:\Program Files\Git\etc\install-options.txt"
> type "C:\Program Files (x86)\Git\etc\install-options.txt"
> type "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Programs\Git\etc\install-options.txt"
$ cat /etc/install-options.txt

C:\Users\André> type "C:\Program Files\Git\etc\install-options.txt"
Editor Option: Nano
Path Option: Cmd
SSH Option: OpenSSH
CURL Option: WinSSL
CRLF Option: CRLFCommitAsIs
Bash Terminal Option: ConHost
Performance Tweaks FSCache: Enabled
Use Credential Manager: Enabled
Enable Symlinks: Enabled

• Any other interesting things about your environment that might be related
  to the issue you're seeing?

n/a

Details

• Which terminal/shell are you running Git from? e.g Bash/CMD/PowerShell/other

I get the error when using TortoiseGit to to a pull.

• What commands did you run to trigger this issue? If you can provide a
  Minimal, Complete, and Verifiable example
  this will help us understand the issue.

I get the error when using TortoiseGit to to a pull.

• What did you expect to occur after running these commands?

Pull works fine and I get the new changes pulled.

• What actually happened instead?

I get this error:

git.exe pull --progress -v --no-rebase "origin"

error: cannot spawn git: Invalid argument

git did not exit cleanly (exit code 1)

• If the problem was occurring with a specific repository, can you provide the
  URL to that repository to help us with testing?

happens to all cloned repositories

[garretwilson]

I just ran into this with a fresh system with Git 2.16.1.windows.2 and TortoiseGit 2.5.7.0.

I note that someone has also asked about this problem on Stack Overflow.

[garretwilson]

Interestingly when I run the same command TortoiseGit claims it is running from the command line, it executes successfully:

git.exe pull --progress -v --no-rebase "origin"

But still TortoiseGit shows an error:

error: cannot spawn git: Invalid argument

git did not exit cleanly (exit code 1) (63 ms @ 2/6/2018 7:23:08 AM)

Maybe this version of Git is not returning the correct error code.

[MagicAndre1981]

thanks for the link @garretwilson . I did the downgrade to 2.16.0.2 as suggested in the SO topic and it works again.

[dscho]

Isn't this a duplicate of #1475?

[MagicAndre1981]

I run 8.1 and I don't get "Function not implemented". I have no idea if this is a duplicate. can we get a nightly build to test it?

[dscho]

Due to unfortunate other problems, the snapshot builds did not work recently, so there are no current snapshots.

However, what is there is a new version: v2.16.1(3), just released. It's just out of the oven, you may have to wait a little until it cools off ;-)

Seriously again, if you could try that one, and report back, that would be awesome.

[MagicAndre1981]

@dscho it is NO duplicate. I just installed Git-2.16.1.3-64-bit.exe and still get the same error message

[MagicAndre1981]

I did the downgrade to Git-2.16.1-64-bit.exe and this also fixes the issue. So there is a regression between 2.16.1 and 2.16.2

[MagicAndre1981]

@dscho
I've tried Git-2.16.1.3-64-bit.exe on my Windows 10 v1709 VM and I get the same error. So this is no issue related to Windows 8.1 and no duplicate.

[dscho]

So this is no issue related to Windows 8.1 and no duplicate.

sigh I just released a new Git for Windows version! Can't I ever have a good version?

Can you see (e.g. using Process Monitor) which git.exe is called (there are a couple of 'em...) in the working vs non-working case?

[Bendor]

The same problem on Windows 10 with Git-2.16.1.2-64-bit.exe and Git-2.16.1.3-64-bit.exe build

[Tim-bflow]

Same thing here. I can no longer Push anything because I need to Pull first and have clients waiting on my updates...

[ghost]

Same problem here

git stash push
error: cannot spawn git-stash: Invalid argument

Windows 10 1709 x64
MinGit busybox 2.16.1(3) x64
TortoiseGit 2.5.7 Beta x64

[dscho]

MinGit busybox 2.16.1(3) x64

Wait, are y'all talking about BusyBox-backed MinGit? Why is this the first time anybody tells me about this!

[TCHessen]

No. I had the same issue on Windows 10 without the busybox build.

[dscho]

@TCHessen could you kindly describe your setup precisely? And also verify that things still do not work correctly with PortableGit v2.16.1(3)?

[TCHessen]

Sure. I used TortoiseGIT 2.5.7 and

git version 2.16.1.windows.3
cpu: x86_64
built from commit: dc364ab
sizeof-long: 4

Any other infos needed?

[dscho]

Does TortoiseGit really play a role, or does it also occur if you use Git Bash or Git CMD directly?

BTW if you want, we can head over to https://gitter.im/git-for-windows/git and discuss more interactively. I would like to get to the bottom of this, and if you can help me with that, I will be very grateful.

[TCHessen]

TortoiseGIT plays a role, but I cannot say more. On the command line there occurs no error.
C:...\xxx>"C:\Program Files\Git\bin\git.exe" pull --progress -v --no-rebase "origin"
From https://git.sittig.local/Web/xxx
= [up to date] master -> origin/master
Already up to date.

[ghost]

I can confirm this. git stash push is also working well when called from cmd.exe

[aimbin]

After I update git to windows3(Git-2.16.1.3-64-bit.exe), still can not use git-tortoise to pull. But can do git remote show and git pull in command line.

[dscho]

TortoiseGIT plays a role, but I cannot say more.

Could you use the Process Monitor to log what is happening while TortoiseGit exposes that problem, then right-click on the git.exe that is spawned to verify its location? It could be that TortoiseGit bundles its own MinGit, after all.

[dscho]

@aimbin thank you for confirming. At this point, I would like to reduce the "#metoo" chatter, though, as I already know that it is a big problem, and do not need to be reminded of it. What I need is more information to recreate the problem here so I can work on a fix. Thank you.

[dscho]

I did the downgrade to 2.16.0.2 as suggested in the SO topic and it works again.

@MagicAndre1981 can you confirm or deny that downgrading to v2.16.1 works?

People, I need your help.

[TCHessen]

TortoiseGIT spawns "C:\Program Files\Git\bin\git.exe" pull --progress -v --no-rebase "origin" , I can confirm it with the ProcessMonitor. And only dll locates in windows path or git path are included.