open lock file /var/lib/dpkg/lock - open (21: Is a directory)

Question

When ever i install a new application using terminal command, i get this error

E: Could not open lock file /var/lib/dpkg/lock - open (21: Is a directory)
E: Unable to lock the administration directory (/var/lib/dpkg/), are you root?

What I tried is

sudo apt-get update
sudo rm /var/lib/apt/lists/lock
sudo rm /var/cache/apt/archives/lock
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

But I cannot solve this. I made a refer to the other answers but it's not finding to workout. Can anyone help? Thanks in advance

Answer 1

Try this command in terminal to find what is running

ps -e | grep -e apt -e adept | grep -v grep

If that doesn’t print anything, type the following in terminal to remove the lock

sudo rm -rf /var/lib/dpkg/lock    
sudo rm -rf /var/cache/apt/archives/lock

Also

If you try

ps aux | grep apt

that will catch processes containing the word apt, at least. If you see an apt-get process or an aptitude process that looks stuck, you can try

sudo  kill processnumber

and if that doesn't work try

sudo kill -9 processnumber

This should kill the process and may remove the lock. Killing an apt or aptitude process is harmless unless it is actually in the middle of package installation.