npm ERR! Unexpected end of JSON input while parsing near '...,"stringstream":"~0.0'

[Elvis254]

Description:

Hi am encountering an error when I try to globally install ionic and cordova on my Windows pc. Below is the error am getting when I try to. Please, clearly advice on how I should go about it because its the first time am getting this error.

**C:\Windows\System32> npm install -g ionic cordova
npm ERR! Unexpected end of JSON input while parsing near '...,"stringstream":"~0.0'

npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in:
npm ERR! C:\Users\pc\AppData\Roaming\npm-cache_logs\2018-06-09T15_59_38_387Z-debug.log**

[Elvis254]

2018-06-09T15_59_38_387Z-debug.log

Hi, check this log file. I forgot to upload it before. Thank you!

[imhoffd]

@Elvis254 I highly recommend not running commands within your System32 folder. Have you tried installing the latest LTS Node & npm? I recommend Node 8 and then updating npm: npm install -g npm

[Elvis254]

@dwieeb am still getting the error even when not within my System32 folder. I have installed the latest Node. Below is the error am getting and attached is the log file.

C:> npm install -g ionic cordova
npm ERR! Unexpected end of JSON input while parsing near '...,"stringstream":"~0.0'

npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in:
npm ERR! C:\Users\pc\AppData\Roaming\npm-cache_logs\2018-06-11T19_53_09_890Z-debug.log

2018-06-11T19_53_09_890Z-debug.log

[imhoffd]

I need the output of node -v and npm -v

Did you try installing them separately? npm install -g ionic and then npm install -g cordova

Are you behind a network proxy?

What else have you tried?

[Elvis254]

node -v is v10.4.0 and npm -v is 6.1.0

Below is an error I get when I try npm install -g ionic

npm install -g ionic
npm ERR! Unexpected end of JSON input while parsing near '...:{"name":"qs","versio'

npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in:
npm ERR! C:\Users\pc\AppData\Roaming\npm-cache_logs\2018-06-11T20_22_08_987Z-debug.log

While npm install -g cordova gives me the error below.

C:> npm install -g cordova
npm ERR! Unexpected end of JSON input while parsing near '...,"stringstream":"~0.0'

npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in:
npm ERR! C:\Users\pc\AppData\Roaming\npm-cache_logs\2018-06-11T20_25_45_519Z-debug.log

[Elvis254]

Am not behind a proxy. I have also tried uninstalling Nodejs and installing a new version altogether. I think there is an error on the JSON being returned from one the repositories its installing on my pc.

[imhoffd]

Please try Node 8 and npm 5.

The npm registry is known to be buggy at times, but not for entire days. The entire world uses it. I am guessing something on your computer or network is interfering with the requests. Node 10 is also fairly unstable.

[Elvis254]

Hi, I have found a solution when using a Windows PC. You have to delete all files in these folders:

C:\Users\pc\AppData\Roaming\npm and
C:\Users\pc\AppData\Roaming\npm-cache

Then update your npm to the latest version by running npm i npm@latest -g

This should solve the JSON errors you are experiencing when globally installing ionic and cordova.

[imhoffd]

Thanks for following up on the solution, @Elvis254 !

I believe the npm cache clean command also works.

[CodeADH]

Just FYI, when I tried npm cache clean, it gives following message...

"npm ERR! As of npm@5, the npm cache self-heals from corruption issues and data extracted from the cache is guaranteed to be valid. If you want to make sure everything is consistent, use 'npm cache verify' instead. On the other hand, if you're debugging an issue with the installer,
you can use npm install --cache /tmp/empty-cache to use a temporary cache instead of nuking the actual one."

npm install --cache /tmp/empty-cache works fine..