Manjaro: `nvm is not compatible with the npm config "prefix" option: currently set to ""` #1968

Jan-Jan · 2018-12-27T15:35:59Z

All of a sudden nvm stopped working :-( I've done a clean install of nvm. It goes well. Then when I do nvm install lts/dubnium I get the following error.

nvm is not compatible with the npm config "prefix" option: currently set to ""
Run `npm config delete prefix` or `nvm use --delete-prefix v10.15.0` to unset it.

Since, lts/dubnium was successfully installed, I also tried nvm use lts/dubnium I get the same error.

If I run nvm use --delete-prefix v10.15.0, then the system node get used, and I cannot get it to use lts/dubnium.

There is no .npmrc file. I use zsh.

Operating system and version: 4.19.12-2-MANJARO #1 SMP PREEMPT x86_64 GNU/Linux
nvm debug output:

nvm --version: v0.33.11
$SHELL: /bin/zsh
$SHLVL: 1
$HOME: /home/naturgewalt
$NVM_DIR: '$HOME/.nvm'
$PATH: /usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/bin:/opt/android-sdk/platform-tools:/opt/android-sdk/tools:/opt/android-sdk/tools/bin:/opt/cuda/bin:/usr/lib/jvm/default/bin:/usr/bin/site_perl:/usr/bin/vendor_perl:/usr/bin/core_perl:/var/lib/snapd/snap/bin:$HOME/.gem/ruby/2.5.0/bin
$PREFIX: ''
$NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX: ''
$NVM_NODEJS_ORG_MIRROR: ''
$NVM_IOJS_ORG_MIRROR: ''
shell version: 'zsh 5.6.2 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)'
uname -a: 'Linux 4.19.12-2-MANJARO #1 SMP PREEMPT Sun Dec 23 19:08:00 UTC 2018 x86_64 GNU/Linux'
OS version: Manjaro Linux   () ()
curl: /usr/bin/curl, curl 7.62.0 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu) libcurl/7.62.0 OpenSSL/1.1.1a zlib/1.2.11 libidn2/2.0.5 libpsl/0.20.2 (+libidn2/2.0.4) libssh2/1.8.0 nghttp2/1.34.0
wget: /usr/bin/wget, GNU Wget 1.19.5 built on linux-gnu.
git: /usr/bin/git, git version 2.19.2
grep: grep: aliased to grep --color=auto (grep --color=auto), grep (GNU grep) 3.1
awk: /usr/bin/awk, GNU Awk 4.2.1, API: 2.0 (GNU MPFR 4.0.1, GNU MP 6.1.2)
sed: /usr/bin/sed, sed (GNU sed) 4.5
cut: /usr/bin/cut, cut (GNU coreutils) 8.30
basename: /usr/bin/basename, basename (GNU coreutils) 8.30
rm: /usr/bin/rm, rm (GNU coreutils) 8.30
mkdir: /usr/bin/mkdir, mkdir (GNU coreutils) 8.30
xargs: /usr/bin/xargs, xargs (GNU findutils) 4.6.0
nvm current: system
which node: /usr/bin/node
which iojs: iojs not found
which npm: /usr/bin/npm
npm config get prefix: /usr
npm root -g: /usr/lib/node_modules

nvm ls output:

       v10.15.0
->       system
default -> lts/dubnium (-> v10.15.0)
node -> stable (-> v10.15.0) (default)
stable -> 10.15 (-> v10.15.0) (default)
iojs -> N/A (default)
lts/* -> lts/dubnium (-> v10.15.0)
lts/argon -> v4.9.1 (-> N/A)
lts/boron -> v6.16.0 (-> N/A)
lts/carbon -> v8.15.0 (-> N/A)
lts/dubnium -> v10.15.0

How did you install nvm? (e.g. install script in readme, Homebrew):
What steps did you perform? What happened?

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.33.11/install.sh | bash

which worked great.

Then I ran nvm install lts/dubnium resulting in

  % Total    % Received % Xferd  Average Speed   Time    Time     Time  Current
                                 Dload  Upload   Total   Spent    Left  Speed
100 12819  100 12819    0     0   1347      0  0:00:09  0:00:09 --:--:--  2268
=> Downloading nvm from git to '/home/naturgewalt/.nvm'
=> Cloning into '/home/naturgewalt/.nvm'...
remote: Enumerating objects: 267, done.
remote: Counting objects: 100% (267/267), done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (242/242), done.
remote: Total 267 (delta 31), reused 86 (delta 15), pack-reused 0
Receiving objects: 100% (267/267), 119.47 KiB | 26.00 KiB/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (31/31), done.
=> Compressing and cleaning up git repository

=> nvm source string already in /home/naturgewalt/.zshrc
=> bash_completion source string already in /home/naturgewalt/.zshrc
npm ERR! missing: semver@~5.3.0, required by node-gyp@3.8.0
=> You currently have modules installed globally with `npm`. These will no
=> longer be linked to the active version of Node when you install a new node
=> with `nvm`; and they may (depending on how you construct your `$PATH`)
=> override the binaries of modules installed with `nvm`:

/usr/lib
├── atom-package-manager@2.1.3
├── emojione@4.0.0
└── yarn@1.12.3
=> If you wish to uninstall them at a later point (or re-install them under your
=> `nvm` Nodes), you can remove them from the system Node as follows:

     $ nvm use system
     $ npm uninstall -g a_module

=> Close and reopen your terminal to start using nvm or run the following to use it now:

export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"  # This loads nvm
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/bash_completion" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/bash_completion"  # This loads nvm bash_completion

which installed the v10.15.0, but gave the error

nvm is not compatible with the npm config "prefix" option: currently set to ""
Run `npm config delete prefix` or `nvm use --delete-prefix v10.15.0` to unset it.

The text was updated successfully, but these errors were encountered:

Jan-Jan · 2018-12-27T17:16:07Z

I tried the following workaround (in .zshrc):

export NVM_DIR=~/.nvm
source "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"
export PATH=$NVM_DIR/versions/node/v10.14.0/bin:$PATH

Which does result in the correct which node or which npm, but if I try node I get segmentation fault (core dumped) node

ljharb · 2018-12-27T18:55:09Z

ok, so first, you def don’t need to manually overwrite the path.

as for the segmentation fault; what is manjaro? is there a chance that it’s 32-bit, which means node 10+ might not work on it? Does node 8 or 9 work?

Jan-Jan · 2018-12-27T21:43:04Z

it is 64 bit, and till the latest version everything worked.
there is a system node installed under /usr/bin/node and that works fine
if I don't override the $PATH, then ~/.nvm/versions/node/v10.14.0/bin/node also works fine, just that nvm doesn't

ljharb · 2018-12-27T21:44:54Z

OK - so you're saying that ~/.nvm/versions/node/v10.14.0/bin/node --version works, but when which node prints out that identical path, node --version does not?

Jan-Jan · 2018-12-28T09:10:15Z

~/.nvm/versions/node/v10.14.0/bin/node --version works
however which node prints out /usr/bin/node, and nvm is incapable of changing that
(node --version also works, and it gives the version as per /usr/bin/node)

ljharb · 2018-12-28T09:15:41Z

OK, so, let's see.

What's the output of the following?

echo $PATH
nvm use node --delete-prefix
echo $PATH

davidgf · 2018-12-28T11:49:54Z

I'm getting the same behavior as @Jan-Jan, with exactly the same OS version. However, if I switch to node v8.15.0 everything seems to work fine

Jan-Jan · 2018-12-28T14:55:14Z

/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/bin:/opt/android-sdk/platform-tools:/opt/android-sdk/tools:/opt/android-sdk/tools/bin:/opt/cuda/bin:/usr/lib/jvm/default/bin:/usr/bin/site_perl:/usr/bin/vendor_perl:/usr/bin/core_perl:/var/lib/snapd/snap/bin

and

/home/naturgewalt/.nvm/versions/node/v10.14.0/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/bin:/opt/android-sdk/platform-tools:/opt/android-sdk/tools:/opt/android-sdk/tools/bin:/opt/cuda/bin:/usr/lib/jvm/default/bin:/usr/bin/site_perl:/usr/bin/vendor_perl:/usr/bin/core_perl:/var/lib/snapd/snap/bin

however, if I run node after the second command I get seg fault

Jan-Jan · 2018-12-28T15:12:38Z

I could replicate the behaviour @davidgf saw:
nvm works 100% with node v8.15.0, but fails with v10.* and v11.6.0

Jan-Jan · 2018-12-28T17:21:48Z

I've tried building from source the problem remains exactly the same

ljharb · 2018-12-28T17:45:01Z

My hunch is that there’s something in your PATH that’s a shared library, that works with your system node (and node 8) but makes node 10+ crash - i assume of you upgraded your system node to 10 or 11, either 1) it’d fix nvm for node 10+ but break it for < 10; or 2) your system node would start crashing in the same way.

I’m not sure how to debug it; but it might be worth filing an issue on node itself - when which node points to an nvm-installed node, at that point nvm has done its job :-/

Let’s keep this open in case more ideas surface about a direction.

Jan-Jan · 2018-12-28T18:37:28Z

My system node is node 11. nvm on node 11 does not work

ljharb · 2018-12-28T21:09:07Z

Hmm, that's very strange. Still, the segmentation fault seems to be an issue with node, specifically - I'd still suspect that uninstalling your system node might fix the problem.

myf · 2018-12-30T06:22:13Z

i am noticing the same behavior on archlinux. `signal1 fails to build because of this nvm issue
at https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/signal/

==> Starting build()...
v10.13.0 is already installed.
nvm is not compatible with the npm config "prefix" option: currently set to ""
Run `npm config delete prefix` or `nvm use --delete-prefix v10.13.0` to unset it.
Found '/tmp/yaourt-tmp-user/aur-signal/src/signal-git-repo/.nvmrc' with version <10.13.0>
v10.13.0 is already installed.
nvm is not compatible with the npm config "prefix" option: currently set to ""
Run `npm config delete prefix` or `nvm use --delete-prefix v10.13.0` to unset it.
Found '/tmp/yaourt-tmp-user/aur-signal/src/signal-git-repo/.nvmrc' with version <10.13.0>
nvm is not compatible with the npm config "prefix" option: currently set to ""
Run `npm config delete prefix` or `nvm use --delete-prefix v10.13.0` to unset it.

myf · 2018-12-30T07:28:22Z

ok i did some digging around but because i am really not familar with the codebase itself i think someone might be better equipped at fixing this than me.
the problem seems to be that line 2177 at nvm.sh https://github.com/creationix/nvm/blob/master/nvm.sh#L2177 cannot be executed correctly. $(npm config get prefix) returns nothing, and actually $(npm ANYTHING) will return nothing. just to test myself not going crazy i swapped it with $(date) or $(python SOMETHING) which both worked. there might be some phrase in this gigantic file that bars node or npm from executing and if prefix is derived from npm then this won't work. i think it's a simple fix though but i am unable to correctly identify what caused it..

ljharb · 2018-12-30T07:49:32Z

npm config get prefix should definitely return something on that line; at the point where that "returns nothing" for you, what does type npm and which npm print out?

myf · 2018-12-30T08:03:13Z

which npm give me /home/myf/.nvm/versions/node/v10.13.0/bin/npm
ahh now i remember when i tried to use this version by nvm --delete-prefix use v10.13.0 i got coredump. maybe that's the reason of no return??

ljharb · 2018-12-30T08:08:29Z

@myf certainly if node and npm won't both compile and execute properly, such that you get a core dump, then there's not much nvm can do :-/

myf · 2018-12-30T08:10:45Z

@ljharb i just tried to run node and npm directly from .nvm/versions/node/v10.13.0/bin/ it works correctly

ljharb · 2018-12-30T08:11:47Z

That is baffling! Why would invoking it directly work, but PATH=".nvm/versions/node/v10.13.0/bin/:$PATH" node fail? Does PATH=".nvm/versions/node/v10.13.0/bin/" node also fail?

myf · 2018-12-30T08:17:14Z

@ljharb

[1]    11838 segmentation fault (core dumped)  PATH=".nvm/versions/node/v10.13.0/bin/:$PATH" node
➜  ~ PATH=".nvm/versions/node/v10.13.0/bin/" node 
[1]    11862 segmentation fault (core dumped)  PATH=".nvm/versions/node/v10.13.0/bin/" node

ljharb · 2018-12-30T08:17:45Z

yet .nvm/versions/node/v10.13.0/bin/node sends you into the repl?

ljharb · 2018-12-30T08:18:04Z

if so, this really seems like something you'd need to file on node itself.

myf · 2018-12-30T08:20:26Z

@ljharb yup that is the behavior! from that signal aur error posted above i think i am not alone in this. we are using node@11.6.0 at the moment

ljharb · 2018-12-30T08:22:00Z

Given that everyone with this issue is on "manjaro" I still am inclined to believe it's an issue with node itself, not nvm.

myf · 2018-12-30T08:42:17Z

@ljharb one sec, i think v10.13.0 is the one that is affected. v8.9.3 worked fine on my system
PATH=".nvm/versions/node/v8.9.3/bin/" node would drop me in the repl

barraponto · 2019-01-01T19:52:52Z

I'm having the same message printed on Archlinux (Manjaro is based on it).
But I get no segfault.

CrowderSoup · 2019-01-02T22:55:55Z

I'm having this issue as well, on OSX Mojave with node v10.15.0

ljharb · 2019-01-02T23:31:13Z

@CrowderSoup everyone else seems to be using Arch or Manjaro; you're the first that's using OS X. Can you provide your nvm debug output? If you have a system node, how did you install it and what version is it? If you try the steps here, what happens?

santiini · 2019-01-08T01:29:20Z

I resolve it with this issuse

ljharb · 2019-01-08T08:22:35Z

v0.34.0 is released; can all of you try updating and see if the problem is still there? I don't expect it'll fix things, but it's worth a shot.

myf · 2019-01-09T03:18:37Z

@ljharb tested, same issue with v10.x node branches

AdrienLemaire · 2019-01-17T05:52:22Z

@ljharb if you can check out this related issue: lukechilds/zsh-nvm#52. I had the same problem whether I tried archlinux's nvm package or zgen's zsh-nvm package.
Wondering why /usr/bin/env seemingly causes so many problems ^^

ljharb · 2019-01-17T07:27:59Z

Considering it's a best practice to always filter everything through /usr/bin/env, i'm not really sure what to do there :-/

cryptosalomao · 2019-03-28T21:20:38Z

I'm getting a segfault when trying to use npm after changing my node version through nvm. It returns me:

nvm is not compatible with the npm config "prefix" option: currently set to ""
Run `npm config delete prefix` or `nvm use --delete-prefix v10.10.0` to unset it.

Currently i'm using Arch Linux too.

DimitrK · 2019-04-01T22:48:07Z

Same issue here as well on Manjaro with nvm 0.34. Can use previous LTS versions just fine but not dubnium

knshetty · 2019-04-06T16:18:42Z

I'm also able to reproduce this issue on my Manjaro Linux running nvm version: 0.34.0.
Following versions of node works:

v8.15.1(Latest LTS: Carbon) until v9.11.2
v11.7.0 until v11.13.0

However, nvm fails to switch over to following versions of node:

v10.0.0 until v11.6.0

ljharb · 2019-04-06T21:23:39Z

This then seems like an issue with node itself, and its compatibility with Manjaro - and not something nvm can fix. Has an issue been filed on node?

DimitrK · 2019-04-06T21:32:12Z

I am having same issue on one of my OSX machines at work. Installing node v11 standalone works though.

ljharb · 2019-04-06T22:25:29Z

@DimitrK can you file a separate issue about your OS X problem? There's a few comments on this issue unrelated to manjaro but it'd be great if you could file something separate (@CrowderSoup figured out their problem, and it was unrelated)

srgl · 2019-04-16T17:15:46Z

nvm 0.34, fresh manjaro, oh-my-zsh, facing the same issue while trying to switch to node 10:
8.15.1 - works
9.11.2 - works
10.15.3 - doesn't work
11.14.0 - works

mikeehun · 2019-04-18T14:17:47Z

For the time being, after trying out many things suggested, I think the easiest solution on manjaro/zsh to just install the version in the repo, which works fine if you only need 10.15.3 node:

sudo pacman -S nodejs-lts-dubnium npm

ljharb · 2019-04-18T16:21:42Z

This clearly seems to be an issue with node 10 and Manjaro.

If there ends up being a simple workaround nvm can detect and apply to make it work, I’ll happily reopen this and add it.

Otherwise, please file an issue on one or both of node or manjaro, since it’s a bug with one of them (probably not node).

agaskell · 2019-04-22T05:04:26Z

I figured this out on my system. For other Arch/Manjaro users here's how you can find the cause:

Install the crashing version of node with nvm.
Add the crashing version to your path so when you run node it executes:
export PATH="/home/foo/.nvm/versions/node/v10.15.3/bin:$PATH"
Run node, have it segfault.
Run coredumpctl gdb -1. You'll see information from the core dump. At the very bottom you will likely see a .so file referenced, here's mine:

#0 0x00007fea7b0f114d in v8::FunctionTemplate::New(v8::Isolate*, void (*)(v8::FunctionCallbackInfo<v8::Value> const&), v8::Local<v8::Value>, v8::Local<v8::Signature>, int, v8::ConstructorBehavior) () from /usr/lib/popcorntime/0.3.10/libnw.so

So for me it was Popcorn Time installed from the AUR (popcorntime-bin). After I removed Popcorn Time all versions of node worked.

smac89 · 2019-04-27T17:09:32Z

@agaskell Good eye

I'm on arcolinux here and my output definitely points to libnw.so, but says nothing about where it is from (i.e. popcorntime), however I did have popcorntime-bin installed. After removing popcorntime, I didn't even have to close my terminal; but instead ran node again and it worked!

Thank you!

EDIT:
I have installed this popcorntime (https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/popcorntime-git/) and it works with NVM. It does take a bit to download, compile and install (about 4 mins for me).

dberruezo · 2019-05-06T22:19:22Z

I'm having the same issue but with Kubuntu. As said here: #1968 (comment), the same versions give me the "prefix" error and "npm" fails to execute. The only difference is that I don't get a segfault but "zsh: command not found: npm" message.

I got a segfault once but can't seem to reproduce it and afterwards "node" and "npm" run just fine if executed from ".nvm" folder, ~~"npm" does not work at all.~~ both "node" and "npm" are not found when trying to change to v10.x branches.

dagadbm · 2019-05-08T14:33:27Z

just changing the nvm_dir script code on my zshrc fixed it:

  export NVM_DIR="$(realpath ~/.nvm)"
  [ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"                   # This loads nvm
  [ -s "$NVM_DIR/bash_completion" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/bash_completion" # This loads nvm bash_completion

ljharb · 2019-05-08T15:29:49Z

@dagadbm that’s because nvm doesn’t work if NVM_DIR or HOME are symlinks. See #617.

dagadbm · 2019-05-08T15:44:37Z

yh I know. I thought this might be related. or someone else might come in here and try and look for answers as I did.
My case was because I was using WSL (wsl even does some crazy permissions on the sym linked folders that made zsh complain lol).

mikelane · 2020-07-13T18:10:39Z

just changing the nvm_dir script code on my zshrc fixed it:
  export NVM_DIR="$(realpath ~/.nvm)"

This is what fixed me. My work system has my home directory symlinked to a different volume.

ljharb · 2020-07-13T18:15:54Z

@mikelane see #617.

myf mentioned this issue Dec 30, 2018

PATH=".nvm/versions/node/v10.13.0/bin/" node results in segment fault nodejs/node#25283

Closed

AdrienLemaire mentioned this issue Jan 17, 2019

nvm is not compatible with the npm config prefix option currently set to "" lukechilds/zsh-nvm#52

Open

ljharb closed this as completed Apr 18, 2019

ljharb added installing node Issues with installing node/io.js versions. OS: manjaro labels Apr 18, 2019

ljharb mentioned this issue May 9, 2019

Node 10.15.3 does not work, while others do #2043

Closed

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Manjaro: nvm is not compatible with the npm config "prefix" option: currently set to "" #1968

Manjaro: nvm is not compatible with the npm config "prefix" option: currently set to "" #1968

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Jan-Jan commented Dec 27, 2018 • edited Loading

Jan-Jan commented Dec 27, 2018

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Jan-Jan commented Dec 28, 2018

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davidgf commented Dec 28, 2018

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Manjaro: `nvm is not compatible with the npm config "prefix" option: currently set to ""` #1968

Manjaro: `nvm is not compatible with the npm config "prefix" option: currently set to ""` #1968

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