E: Unable to lock the administration directory (/var/lib/dpkg/), are you root?

[NoOp]

On 06/15/2011 02:07 AM, amritpal pathak wrote:
> when i try to install any software by terminal ,it says:
>  E: Could not open lock file /var/lib/dpkg/lock - open (2: No such file or
> directory)
>  E: Unable to lock the administration directory (/var/lib/dpkg/), are you
> root?
> 
>  Tried to unlock as: sudo rm /var/lib/dpkg/lock .
>  It asked for password and then says:
>        rm: cannot remove `/var/lib/dpkg/lock': No such file or
>        directory i.e there is no suck a file/directory..but the  error shows
> it.
>    i am admin of my system(of cource) then why it  is asking for "are you
> root" and m unable to open synaptic package manager too..

What is the output of:
$ ls -al /var/lib/dpkg/