Detecting this error is simple; Git will warn you when you try to clone the repository:
$ git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git
# Clone a repo
> Cloning into 'repo'...
> remote: Counting objects: 66179, done.
> remote: Compressing objects: 100% (15587/15587), done.
> remote: Total 66179 (delta 46985), reused 65596 (delta 46402)
> Receiving objects: 100% (66179/66179), 51.66 MiB | 667 KiB/s, done.
> Resolving deltas: 100% (46985/46985), done.
> warning: remote HEAD refers to nonexistent ref, unable to checkout.
To fix the error, you'll need to be an administrator of the repository on GitHub. You'll want to change the default branch of the repository.
After that, you can get a list of all the available branches from the command line:
$ git branch -a
# Lists ALL the branches
> remotes/origin/awesome
> remotes/origin/more-work
> remotes/origin/new-master
Then, you can just switch to your new branch:
$ git checkout new-master
# Create and checkout a tracking branch
> Branch new-master set up to track remote branch new-master from origin.
> Switched to a new branch 'new-master'

Formed in 2009, the Archive Team (not to be confused with the archive.org Archive-It Team) is a rogue archivist collective dedicated to saving copies of rapidly dying or deleted websites for the sake of history and digital heritage. The group is 100% composed of volunteers and interested parties, and has expanded into a large amount of related projects for saving online and digital history.
