Failed to load external module babel-register

[kepes]

How can this bug be reproduced?

1. Install dev system from docker "wordpress:4.8-php7.0-apache". This is a Debian Jessie
2. Install node and npm
3. npm install and npm start as des

What did you expect to happen?
FoundationPress starts

What happened instead?

root@ea2fc8081991:/var/www/html/wp-content/themes/FoundationPress# npm start

> foundationpress@2.10.3 start /var/www/html/wp-content/themes/FoundationPress
> gulp

[09:00:45] Failed to load external module babel-register
[09:00:45] Failed to load external module babel-core/register
[09:00:45] Failed to load external module babel/register
/var/www/html/wp-content/themes/FoundationPress/gulpfile.babel.js:3
import plugins       from 'gulp-load-plugins';
^^^^^^

SyntaxError: Unexpected token import
    at createScript (vm.js:56:10)
    at Object.runInThisContext (vm.js:97:10)
    at Module._compile (module.js:542:28)
    at Object.Module._extensions..js (module.js:579:10)
    at Module.load (module.js:487:32)
    at tryModuleLoad (module.js:446:12)
    at Function.Module._load (module.js:438:3)
    at Module.require (module.js:497:17)
    at require (internal/module.js:20:19)
    at execute (/var/www/html/wp-content/themes/FoundationPress/node_modules/gulp-cli/lib/versioned/^4.0.0-alpha.2/index.js:37:18)

npm ERR! Linux 4.4.66-boot2docker
npm ERR! argv "/usr/bin/node" "/usr/bin/npm" "start"
npm ERR! node v6.11.4
npm ERR! npm  v3.10.10
npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE
npm ERR! foundationpress@2.10.3 start: `gulp`
npm ERR! Exit status 1
npm ERR!
npm ERR! Failed at the foundationpress@2.10.3 start script 'gulp'.
npm ERR! Make sure you have the latest version of node.js and npm installed.
npm ERR! If you do, this is most likely a problem with the foundationpress package,
npm ERR! not with npm itself.
npm ERR! Tell the author that this fails on your system:
npm ERR!     gulp
npm ERR! You can get information on how to open an issue for this project with:
npm ERR!     npm bugs foundationpress
npm ERR! Or if that isn't available, you can get their info via:
npm ERR!     npm owner ls foundationpress
npm ERR! There is likely additional logging output above.

npm ERR! Please include the following file with any support request:
npm ERR!     `/var/www/html/wp-content/themes/FoundationPress/npm-debug.log

Please List the Following:

• OS & version: Debian Jessie on Docker (https://hub.docker.com/_/wordpress/)
• Node version (node -v) v6.11.4
• FoundationPress version: 2.10.3
• Foundation version:6.4.1

[colin-marshall]

@kepes please do the following:

• run rm -rf node_modules
• run npm cache clean
• run npm install
• provide us with all output from npm install

[rescriba01]

Thanks @colin-marshall that worked for me like a charm!

[colin-marshall]

@rescriba01 you're welcome. Those directions actually weren't supposed to solve a problem, but if they solved yours that's great!

[adambundy]

Im getting a similar babel/register error on running 'npm start' on a local dev instance, but everything seems to be working ok. Should I run the same steps you posted @colin-marshall?

[09:26:21] Failed to load external module @babel/register [09:26:21] Requiring external module babel-register

[colin-marshall]

@adambundy this has confused a lot of people because it's not really an error. Gulp tries one thing, it fails, and then it uses a fallback. As long as the fallback works (which in your case it does) there is nothing to worry about. See here:
gulpjs/gulp#1631

[colin-marshall]

@kepes is this still an issue?

[adambundy]

Thanks @colin-marshall!

[askdesigners]

I get that this is meant to be a warning, but then it also derails the script itself with the error

TypeError: require.extensions.hasOwnProperty is not a function
    at requireDir (/project/node_modules/gulp-git/node_modules/require-dir/index.js:93:37)
    at Object.<anonymous> (/project/node_modules/gulp-git/index.js:4:18)
    at Module._compile (module.js:635:30)
    at Module._extensions..js (module.js:646:10)
    at Object.require.extensions.(anonymous function) [as .js] (/project/node_modules/babel-register/lib/node.js:152:7)
    at Module.load (module.js:554:32)
    at tryModuleLoad (module.js:497:12)
    at Function.Module._load (module.js:489:3)
    at Module.require (module.js:579:17)
    at require (internal/module.js:11:18)

Are these related errors?

[tillydray]

I'm having the same error as @askdesigners.

$ gulp d
[10:53:51] Failed to load external module @babel/register
[10:53:51] Requiring external module babel-register
/<REDACTED>/node_modules/gulp-git/node_modules/require-dir/index.js:93
            if (!require.extensions.hasOwnProperty(ext)) {
                                    ^

TypeError: require.extensions.hasOwnProperty is not a function
    at requireDir (/<REDACTED>/node_modules/gulp-git/node_modules/require-dir/index.js:93:37)
    at Object.<anonymous> (/<REDACTED>/node_modules/gulp-git/index.js:4:18)
    at Module._compile (module.js:653:30)
    at Module._extensions..js (module.js:664:10)
    at Object.require.extensions.(anonymous function) [as .js] (/<REDACTED>/node_modules/babel-register/lib/node.js:154:7)
    at Module.load (module.js:566:32)
    at tryModuleLoad (module.js:506:12)
    at Function.Module._load (module.js:498:3)
    at Module.require (module.js:597:17)
    at require (internal/module.js:11:18)

[cruelmelody]

Going to chime in on this as well. I'm getting the exact same errors as the above two users:

tzr90lshth:<my-site> <redacted>$ gulp watch
[15:41:39] Failed to load external module @babel/register
[15:41:39] Requiring external module babel-register
fs.js:25
'use strict';
^

ReferenceError: internalBinding is not defined
    at fs.js:25:1
    at req_ (/Users/<redacted>/Sites/devdesktop/<my-site>/node_modules/natives/index.js:140:5)
    at Object.req [as require] (/Users/<redacted>/Sites/devdesktop/<my-site>/node_modules/natives/index.js:54:10)
    at Object.<anonymous> (/Users/<redacted>/Sites/devdesktop/<my-site>/node_modules/vinyl-fs/node_modules/graceful-fs/fs.js:1:37)
    at Module._compile (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:707:30)
    at Module._extensions..js (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:718:10)
    at Object.require.extensions.(anonymous function) [as .js] (/Users/<redacted>/Sites/devdesktop/<my-site>/node_modules/babel-register/lib/node.js:152:7)
    at Module.load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:605:32)
    at tryModuleLoad (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:544:12)
    at Function.Module._load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:536:3)

Has anybody experienced anything similar, or encountered a fix for this? Adding the @babel/register to my package.json file doesn't seem to work after installing it.

Running node JS v11.0.0 and npm v6.4.1.