ungoogled-software/ungoogled-chromium · error · FileNotFoundError

Could not find series file in existing destination: {destina

Error message

Could not find series file in existing destination: {destination / 'series'}

What it means

merge_patches raises FileNotFoundError when prepend=True and the destination directory exists but has no `series` file. Prepending requires an existing series file to read current patch order so new patches can be placed before it; without it the merge cannot proceed.

Source

Thrown at utils/patches.py:169

    """Copy files from source to destination with relative paths from path_iter"""
    for path in path_iter:
        (destination / path).parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
        shutil.copy2(str(source / path), str(destination / path))


def merge_patches(source_iter, destination, prepend=False):
    """
    Merges GNU quilt-formatted patches directories from sources into destination

    destination must not already exist, unless prepend is True. If prepend is True, then
    the source patches will be prepended to the destination.
    """
    series = []
    known_paths = set()
    if destination.exists():
        if prepend:
            if not (destination / 'series').exists():
                raise FileNotFoundError(
                    f"Could not find series file in existing destination: {destination / 'series'}")
            known_paths.update(generate_patches_from_series(destination))
        else:
            raise FileExistsError(f'destination already exists: {destination}')
    for source_dir in source_iter:
        patch_paths = tuple(generate_patches_from_series(source_dir))
        patch_intersection = known_paths.intersection(patch_paths)
        if patch_intersection:
            raise FileExistsError(f'Patches from {source_dir} have conflicting paths '
                                  f'with other sources: {patch_intersection}')
        series.extend(patch_paths)
        _copy_files(patch_paths, source_dir, destination)
    if prepend and (destination / 'series').exists():
        series.extend(generate_patches_from_series(destination))
    with (destination / 'series').open('w') as series_file:
        series_file.write('\n'.join(map(str, series)))

View on GitHub (pinned to f85e84a480)

Solutions

1. Create the missing `destination/series` file (possibly empty) or populate it with the existing patch list
2. Remove the empty/stale destination directory so merge_patches can create it fresh
3. Pass prepend=False if you intended a fresh merge into a new directory
4. Verify destination points at a directory produced by a prior merge_patches run

Example fix

# before
merge_patches(sources, dest, prepend=True)  # dest exists but has no series
# after
(dest / 'series').touch()  # or delete stale dest
merge_patches(sources, dest, prepend=True)

from pathlib import Path
dest = Path(destination)
if dest.exists() and prepend and not (dest / 'series').exists():
    (dest / 'series').touch()  # or abort: raise SystemExit(f'{dest}/series missing')

def is_mergeable_destination(dest):
    d = Path(dest)
    return not d.exists() or (d / 'series').is_file()

try:
    merge_patches(sources, dest, prepend=True)
except FileNotFoundError as e:
    logger.error('destination not usable for prepend: %s', e)
    shutil.rmtree(dest)
    merge_patches(sources, dest, prepend=True)

When it happens

Trigger: Calling merge_patches (or merge_platform_patches) with prepend=True while `destination` exists as a directory but lacks a `series` file — e.g. an empty or partially-created destination directory.

Common situations: Destination created by a previous failed merge or `mkdir -p` without copying the series file; typo in destination path pointing at an existing but unrelated directory; interrupted first merge left an empty dir.

Related errors

• destination already exists: {destination}
• Patches from {source_dir} have conflicting paths with other

AI-assisted analysis of ungoogled-software/ungoogled-chromium@f85e84a480 (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ff9ec06d2c2d5079. Report an issue: GitHub.