If you get the following error message while applying git patch:

$ git am /path/to/0001-My-awesome-change.patch
Patch format detection failed.

It means that the patch was not generated with git format-patch and transmitted correctly. Either ask the contributor to try again using the above patch creation instructions, or apply each patch separately using git apply:

$ git apply --whitespace=fix /path/to/0001-My-awesome-change.patch
$ git commit --author='Contributor Name <contributor@thedomain.com>'

If the patch does not fit, check out older version. I usually checkout a version from the same date (or hour), that usually works.

Remember; writing is learning. That's all folks. At least for today. Cheers.