SVN won't import *.a library

Have you checked your global ignore settings. On linux they are stored in ~/.subversion/config

The default on my machine is :

global-ignores = *.o *.lo *.la *.al .libs *.so *.so.[0-9]* *.a *.pyc *.pyo

so it ignores *.a files

more info here

You should be able to add the file with

svn add "file" --no-ignore

to bypass any ignore rule set.

If the command:

svn status --no-ignore

returns with I in front you have a local Ignore. Run:

svn propedit svn:ignore

rapidSVN view/show ignoried entries