Error involving rankmirrors command

Question

Hello, I am new to Archlinux, and I have been reading off of your wiki to install. This is my 3rd time reinstalling and I always get to the same problem. I have made it to this part and  have done everything on this, including editing the mirrorlist.
Build a mirrorlist using the rankmirrors script
/usr/bin/rankmirrors is a python script which will attempt to detect the mirrors which are closest to the installation machine based on the mirrors specified in /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist. Faster mirrors will dramatically improve pacman performance, and the overall Arch Linux experience. This script may be run periodically, especially if the chosen mirrors provide inconsistent throughput and/or updates.
First, use pacman to install python:
# pacman -Sy python
cd to the /etc/pacman.d/ directory:
# cd /etc/pacman.d
Backup the existing /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist:
# cp mirrorlist mirrorlist.backup
Edit mirrorlist.backup and uncomment all mirrors on the same continent or within geographical proximity to test with rankmirrors.
# nano mirrorlist.backup
Run the script against the mirrorlist.backup with the -n switch and redirect output to a new /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist file:
# rankmirrors -n 6 mirrorlist.backup > mirrorlist
-n 6: rank the 6 fastest mirrors
Every time i get to the rankmirrors command it gives the following error:
: :  Synchronizing package databases...
error: failed to update core (no servers configured for repository)
error: failed to update extra (no servers configured for repository)
error: failed to update community (no servers configured for repository)
From what i can tell, I think it is a problem with /etc/pacman.conf but I'm no expert, so I am going to you guys for help. If anyone has any information on this please let me know. Thank you

Answer 1

/etc/pacman.conf:
# /etc/pacman.conf
# See the pacman.conf(5) manpage for option and repository directives
# GENERAL OPTIONS
[options]
# The following paths are commented out with their default values listed.
# If you wish to use different paths, uncomment and update the paths.
#RootDir = /
#DBPath = /var/lib/pacman/
#CacheDir = /var/cache/pacman/pkg/
#LogFile = /var/log/pacman.log
HoldPkg = pacman glibc
# If upgrades are available for these packages they will be asked for first
SyncFirst = pacman
#XferCommand = /usr/bin/wget --passive-ftp -c -O %o %u
#XferCommand = /usr/bin/curl %u > %o
# Pacman won't upgrade packages listed in IgnorePkg and members of IgnoreGroup
#IgnorePkg =
#IgnoreGroup =
#NoUpgrade =
#NoExtract =
# Misc options (all disabled by default)
#NoPassiveFtp
#UseSyslog
#ShowSize
#UseDelta
#TotalDownload
# REPOSITORIES
# - can be defined here or included from another file
# - pacman will search repositories in the order defined here
# - local/custom mirrors can be added here or in separate files
# - repositories listed first will take precedence when packages
# have identical names, regardless of version number
# - URLs will have $repo replaced by the name of the current repo
# Repository entries are of the format:
# [repo-name]
# Server = ServerName
# Include = IncludePath
# The header [repo-name] is crucial - it must be present and
# uncommented to enable the repo.
# Testing is disabled by default. To enable, uncomment the following
# two lines. You can add preferred servers immediately after the header,
# and they will be used before the default mirrors.
#[testing]
#Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
[core]
# Add your preferred servers here, they will be used first
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
[extra]
# Add your preferred servers here, they will be used first
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
[community]
# Add your preferred servers here, they will be used first
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
# An example of a custom package repository. See the pacman manpage for
# tips on creating your own repositories.
#[custom]
#Server = file:///home/custompkgs
and okay... this may sound wierd... but when i went to my laptop to read off the code /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist is completely gone... just a blank file. I'm guessing i fudged on the # cp mirrorlist.backup or something... My friend who turned me on to Arch linux just told me that it'd be better off if I do # pacman -Syu python instead of just doing -Sy. Anyone else have any other ideas?