What does the subversion error "Could not read status line" mean?

Question

This is a fairly basic question, but it is driving me nuts. I have set up a brand new repository at beanstalk.com. They give me the url, http://my_name.svn.beanstalkapp.com/blog. They also automatically create the tag, trunk and branches folder in the repository. I have checked out the trunk folder and used

svn add

to add the new file. I am trying to do my first commit, but I get this error:

Commit failed (details follow):
CHECKOUT of '/foo/!svn/bln/1': Could not read status line: 
connection was closed by server. (http://user_name@my_name.svn.beanstalkapp.com)

What does this mean, and what causes it? I have googled for a definition of what "Could not read status line" means, but was unable to find anything explaining it.

edit: I was getting this error while trying to manipulate my repository from behind a firewall. I still don't know what was causing it, but I don't have this problem at home. Strangeness.

Subversion 1.4.4. Dunno if it is the most up to date, but it is working for another project that I am working on. That one was set up by someone else, but in setting up my own repository I am a bit lost. — jergason
You have a "." between the "@" and "svn". Are you sure it is correct? It gives a different message for me but does not work. — stribika
sorry, that was a typo on my part. Should be foo.svn.beanstalkapp.com. — jergason

John DB John DB · Accepted Answer · 2010-05-20T10:09:57

I also had the same problem when I typed the wrong URL:

Bad behavior:

$ svn list https://zh3.beanstalkapp.com/repo

To fix the problem, the URL should be: https://zh3.svn.beanstalkapp.com/repo

What does the subversion error "Could not read status line" mean?

4 Answers