# Cloning SWI-Prolog from GitHub. Package Zlib not cloning. Is it just me?

**URL:** <https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/t/cloning-swi-prolog-from-github-package-zlib-not-cloning-is-it-just-me/650>\
**Category:** Help!\
**Created:** [May 16, 2019, 11:39am UTC](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/t/cloning-swi-prolog-from-github-package-zlib-not-cloning-is-it-just-me/650 "2019-05-16T11:39:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![EricGT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f1d935/32.png) [@EricGT](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/u/EricGT)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 11:39am UTC](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/t/cloning-swi-prolog-from-github-package-zlib-not-cloning-is-it-just-me/650/1 "2019-05-16T11:39:00Z")

</div>

Normally I just install a [stable](http://www.swi-prolog.org/download/stable) release version of SWI-Prolog with no problems. Today Jan made a [patch](https://github.com/SWI-Prolog/swipl-devel/commit/4871ad8fa67048884e89c2a7967afbb82d322682) to package zlib that I need.

While I can use GitHub for cloning and have used it from time to time to create pull request (usually with a GUI interface) when a GitHub technical problem arise I seem to back in the stone age (don’t many of us know the feeling)

In trying to clone SWI-Prolog to my local system I first used a GUI which almost never fails, but not today.

Then upon further reading on the SWI-Prolog GitHub page read [Forking, cloning and submitting patches](https://github.com/SWI-Prolog/swipl-devel#forking-cloning-and-submitting-patches)

In running the commands

```prolog
Eric@WINDOWS-6F874NS MINGW64 swipl-devel (master)
$ git submodule update --init
Submodule 'bench' (https://github.com/SWI-Prolog/bench.git) registered for path 'bench'

...

Submodule path 'packages/xpce': checked out '27eb56ebaa498e03ceae098c3e18f1bc75c32006'
Submodule path 'packages/yaml': checked out 'c514ee45dd3b30a19cdc7b438fc22d70df69ab4f'
error: Server does not allow request for unadvertised object 0955fb5697693d3325703f2e8a582410c77aa5a7
Fetched in submodule path 'packages/zlib', but it did not contain 0955fb5697693d3325703f2e8a582410c77aa5a7. Direct fetching of that commit failed.

```

In my local directory `SWI-Prolog\swipl-devel\packages\zlib` is a file `.git` which contains

```prolog
gitdir: ../../.git/modules/packages/zlib

```

So was it something I did wrong? Do others have the same problem?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/swi-prolog.discourse.group/jan/32/4_2.png) [@jan](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/u/jan)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 12:19pm UTC](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/t/cloning-swi-prolog-from-github-package-zlib-not-cloning-is-it-just-me/650/2 "2019-05-16T12:19:17Z")

</div>

I forgot to push the submodule ☹ Please run the `git submodule update --init` again.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![EricGT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f1d935/32.png) [@EricGT](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/u/EricGT)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 12:23pm UTC](https://swi-prolog.discourse.group/t/cloning-swi-prolog-from-github-package-zlib-not-cloning-is-it-just-me/650/3 "2019-05-16T12:23:33Z")

</div>

Jan,

Worked great as expected. I have to say that you are the most helpful and responsive person I have ever had the pleasure of working with for free software and GitHub repositories. 👍😀

```prolog
Eric@WINDOWS-6F874NS MINGW64 swipl-devel (master)
$ git submodule update --init
remote: Enumerating objects: 3, done.
remote: Counting objects: 100% (3/3), done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (3/3), done.
remote: Total 3 (delta 0), reused 1 (delta 0), pack-reused 0
Unpacking objects: 100% (3/3), done.
From https://github.com/SWI-Prolog/packages-zlib
   a5d4ffa..0955fb5 master -> origin/master
Submodule path 'packages/zlib': checked out '0955fb5697693d3325703f2e8a582410c77aa5a7'

```