Pavlovia data doesn't save due to index lock

experiment: action_training_combine_other_part_next [PsychoPy]

We have a few subjects taking the task from prolific. After participants performed the online task the data is not saved with the following index lock error.

when uploading participant’s results for experiment: eldarlabccl/combinedpart4
when saving data from a previously opened session on the server
unable to push data with key: 35_action_training_combine_other_part_next_2022-08-09_10h19.59.440.csv to GitLab repository: Cmd(‘git’) failed due to: exit code(128) cmdline: git add /var/www/pavlovia.org/run/eldarlabccl/combinedpart4/data//35_action_training_combine_other_part_next_2022-08-09_10h19.59.440.csv stderr: ‘fatal: Unable to create ‘/data/run/eldarlabccl/combinedpart4/.git/index.lock’: File exists. Another git process seems to be running in this repository, e.g. an editor opened by ‘git commit’. Please make sure all processes are terminated then try again. If it still fails, a git process may have crashed in this repository earlier: remove the file manually to continue.’
Try to run the experiment again. If the error persists, contact the experiment designer.

this error has cost us a lot of money (since we still need to compensate them for their time). any insights what could be driving this error?

furthermore, it appears that credits were consumed even though there is no data file available (we currently do not save incompletele results)