Encountering problems while executing : npm install exec-sync - node.js

Question

Version info :
node#4.6.0
node-gyp#3.4.0
npm#2.15.9
I try to install the following dependencies :
"canvas": "^1.1.6",
"exec-sync": "^0.1.6",
"fabric": "^1.6.0",
"request": "^2.67.0",
"word": "^0.2.4"
So i do an npm install the following dependencies are installed:
"canvas": "^1.1.6",
"fabric": "^1.6.0",
"request": "^2.67.0",
"word": "^0.2.4"
But the exec-sync delivers the following error:
1443 verbose stack Error: ffi#1.2.5 install: `node-gyp rebuild`
1443 verbose stack Exit status 1
1443 verbose stack at EventEmitter.<anonymous> (/usr/lib/node_modules/npm/lib/utils/lifecycle.js:217:16)
1443 verbose stack at emitTwo (events.js:87:13)
1443 verbose stack at EventEmitter.emit (events.js:172:7)
1443 verbose stack at ChildProcess.<anonymous> (/usr/lib/node_modules/npm/lib/utils/spawn.js:24:14)
1443 verbose stack at emitTwo (events.js:87:13)
1443 verbose stack at ChildProcess.emit (events.js:172:7)
1443 verbose stack at maybeClose (internal/child_process.js:829:16)
1443 verbose stack at Process.ChildProcess._handle.onexit (internal/child_process.js:211:5)
Im a litte bit lost at this point, i tried the following things:
Deleted all the node_modules and tried an fresh install;
Tried installing the modules seperately;
Is it a version problem of node.js vs the exec-sync build?, im lost.

Answer 1

I fixed it!
CD to node_modules
git clone https://github.com/jeremyfa/node-exec-sync edit
open node-exec-sync/package.json to remove the ffi dependency line
npm install ./node-exec-sync

Answer 2

Here are the steps I followed as a workaround to npm install for testing:
removed exec-sync dependency from package.json
npm install ffi (installs latest version ok)
git clone https://github.com/jeremyfa/node-exec-sync
edit node-exec-sync/package.json to remove the ffi dependency line
npm install ./node-exec-sync then npm install finished ok

Answer 3

Don't use node-exec-sync, it's very difficult to install, on every OS that I've tried, for different reasons.
Instead, use https://www.npmjs.com/package/cross-spawn , which doesn't have any of these unbuildable native dependencies. It's basically an all-around better replacement for node-exec-sync or the built-in child_process APIs.