git status shows modified after files copied

Question

When I copy files from my Linux machine to my external HDD (FAT format), 'git status' shows that files are modified. I guess that occurs because of the file system difference.

I formatted the external HDD with FAT to share it with my Mac, Windows, and Linux.

How can I solve this problem?

Thanks.

Sam

Which filesystem is the repository on? What happens if you use `git diff` to show the modifications of the files? — David Z, Sep 02 '10 at 21:20

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 02 '10 at 21:28

This could be caused by mismatched permission bits. From git-config manpage:

core.fileMode

If false, the executable bit differences between the index and the working copy are ignored; useful on broken filesystems like FAT. See git-update-index(1).

score 2 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:03

2

Don't forget to set your core.autocrlf to false.
The eol (end of line) style can vary between OS/supports and introduce those "changes".

edited May 23 '17 at 12:03

Community

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answered Sep 02 '10 at 21:31

VonC

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score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 18 '13 at 23:16

1

Another solution could be, if you are sure that there is no changes between the 2 folders, to checkout and pull

git checkout -- .
git pull

answered Nov 18 '13 at 23:16

Plopix

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score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 02 '10 at 23:48

When you're copying files, if you're physically moving the bits from one disk to another (like with cp or drag and dropping), then you might consider creating a bare repo on your external drive to push/pull from on your other systems.

It doesn't address the EOL changes that need to be made ( mentioned in VonC's response for example), but it does save a little time copying files back and forth between drives.

git status shows modified after files copied

4 Answers4