NPM cannot install dependencies - Attempt to unlock something which hasn't been locked

Question

I\'ve been trying to run an npm install on my package.json file, but I\'m having a lot of trouble. It keeps saying \"Error: Attempt to unlock XXX, which hasn\'t been locke

Answer 1

Had the same issue and fixed it by changing the persmissions as per the accepted answer:

sudo chown -R $USER ~/.npm

However, the second command should be avoided as it downgrades the permissions of a system resource (sudo chown -R $USER /usr/local/lib/node_modules). Not a good idea.

For the record: "usr" in /usr/local stands for Unix System Resources.