problem with SVN access from command line

[r.oostenveld]

Hi,

I am trying to get access to the BCI2000 source code using svn/subversion from the command line. The reason behind it is that I want to read the code locally on my Apple OSX computer. In due time the software will be compiled and executed on a windows machine. As TortoiseSVN is not available for OSX, I have to use the command line interface to svn.

My account (user+password) works fine for the wiki, this forum and for trac. I presume that I should use the same credentials for the svn server

I have tried the following (and a couple of variations thereof)

laprob> svn checkout http://www.bci2000.org/svn/trunk@HEAD --username roostenveld
Authentication realm: <http://www.bci2000.org:80> BCI2000
Password for 'roostenveld': XXXXX
Authentication realm: <http://www.bci2000.org:80> BCI2000
Username: roostenveld
Password for 'roostenveld': XXXXX
Authentication realm: <http://www.bci2000.org:80> BCI2000
Username: roostenveld
Password for 'roostenveld': XXXXX
subversion/libsvn_ra_dav/util.c:826: (apr_err=170001)
svn: PROPFIND request failed on '/svn/trunk'
subversion/libsvn_ra_dav/util.c:296: (apr_err=170001)
svn: PROPFIND of '/svn/trunk': authorization failed (http://www.bci2000.org)

It seems that the authentication is the problem, after the third attempt it fails. Since I have never used svn before (but I am using cvs on the command line on a daily basis), it might also be that my use of the svn command is incorrect. Note that I checked and double-checked my password.

I am using the following version:

laprob> svn --version
svn, version 1.3.1 (r19032)
compiled Apr 4 2006, 00:30:54

Does any one have experience with svn on the command line in combination with the BCI2000 source code? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

best regards,
Robert

[mellinger]

Hi Robert,

I don't think that OSX is the problem. I have been successfully using SVN from my own Apple notebook to check out BCI2000.

In the log file, there are error messages indicating a "password mismatch" for your user account.
Please note that the forum user account is maintained separately from the wiki/trac/svn account, so passwords may differ. Especially, you cannot change the password for the latter account, and will need to use the one that came with your account information.

If you still experience problems, you might try https://... rather than ! h t t p !... to avoid firewall software to interfere with SVN -- this has been reported to be a problem for some users.

Regards,
Juergen

[r.oostenveld]

Hi Juergen,

Thanks for your suggestion, but still no luck. I have tried it now from a different location (university instead of home) with different firewall settings, but no change. Using https://... as you suggest also did not solve it. Note that the password that I am trying is the one supplied (i.e. as image) in the bci2000.org account information email.

However, if I point my web browser directy to http://www.bci2000.org/svn/trunk then I can see the repository contents. Within that same web browser session I was logged in on the wiki, hence a cookie may be set that explains the open access. If I subsequently open a different and completely clean browser (firefox instead of safari) and go to the repository, then it ask for my credentials. After entering roostenveld and the password that I have been trying sofar it again grants me access to the repository and I can browse around. So the credentials seem to be correct, which means that the problem relate to the svn client software that I am using ...

I have installed another version of SVN (version 1.1.4-11) using FinkCommander and it works!

The previous version that did not work was SVN version 1.3.1 as obtained from the precompiled subversion-client-1.3.1.dmg disk-image from http://metissian.com/projects/macosx/subversion as linked to from the http://subversion.tigris.org website. I don't know why the more recent version does not work. At least I can now work on a local copy of the BCI2000 source.

best regards,
Robert

[mellinger]

Hi Robert,

thanks for your extensive report. I was using the fink version, and wasn't aware that there is another port being linked to from the SVN homepage.

We use digest authentification for password transmission. I guess this is a rarely used configuration, so it might even be broken in that binary distribution.

Regards,
Juergen