[SOLVED] Hard drive is busy during installation

a_weeb_programmer · 2021-08-06 02:41:19

Hi people. I am installing arch linux on my computer, and I am having trouble with partitioning the disk. I am able to connect to the internet and boot it in UEFI mode, but when I run fdisk on /dev/sda, it'll say the the disk is busy even though the system should be running on the usb, not the hard drive. I tried unmounting it and running swapoff, but it wouldn't do anything. Also, when I try formatting the partition's, I get this output:

# mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda3
mkfs.ext4: Cannot open /dev/sda3: Device or resource busy

I tried reading the wiki and searching the web, and I tried every potential fix I found, and they all didn't work.

Any suggestions?

Last edited by a_weeb_programmer (2021-08-13 02:21:21)

skunktrader · 2021-08-06 02:48:41

Are you sure that /dev/sda refers to your hard drive? If you booted from the USB drive then /dev/sda may have been assigned to the USB drive. Have you tried running lsblk ?

Last edited by skunktrader (2021-08-06 02:51:27)

a_weeb_programmer · 2021-08-06 02:54:27

skunktrader wrote:

Are you sure that /dev/sda refers to your hard drive? If you booted from the USB drive then /dev/sda may have been assigned to the USB drive. Have you tried running lsblk ?

I am pretty sure that /dev/sda refers to my hard drive because when I ran fdisk -l, /dev/sda has the same storage capacity listed on it as my hard drive.

Last edited by a_weeb_programmer (2021-08-06 02:56:11)

Xyne · 2021-08-06 03:17:59

a_weeb_programmer wrote:

skunktrader wrote:
Are you sure that /dev/sda refers to your hard drive? If you booted from the USB drive then /dev/sda may have been assigned to the USB drive. Have you tried running lsblk ?
I am pretty sure that /dev/sda refers to my hard drive because when I ran fdisk -l, /dev/sda has the same storage capacity listed on it as my hard drive.

"pretty sure" != "absolutely certain". Don't use storage capacity as the sole identifier because it's not necessarily unique. Run the command `lsblk` to double-check your disks and mount points.

If the disk really is mounted and in use, consult the following links to track down the culprit.

https://unix.stackexchange.com/question … hard-drive
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/624 … ing-umount

However, if disks are getting unexpectedly mounted while installing from a live medium. there's something very wrong with either your medium or the commands that you've been running.

thomasol · 2021-08-08 03:24:51

a_weeb_programmer wrote:

Hi people. I am installing arch linux on my computer, and I am having trouble with partitioning the disk. I am able to connect to the internet and boot it in UEFI mode, but when I run fdisk on /dev/sda, it'll say the the disk is busy even though the system should be running on the usb, not the hard drive. I tried unmounting it and running swapoff, but it wouldn't do anything. Also, when I try formatting the partition's, I get this output:
# mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda3
mkfs.ext4: Cannot open /dev/sda3: Device or resource busy
I tried reading the wiki and searching the web, and I tried every potential fix I found, and they all didn't work.
Any suggestions?

can you run

fdisk -x

and post it here

a_weeb_programmer · 2021-08-13 02:20:42

OK, I solved the problem. My computer had a RAID feature, but I was able to disable it from the BIOS, which stopped the hard drive from being used by the system. I was able to proceed through the installation process without any other problems, and I was able to successfully install arch linux. Thank you all for giving me your suggestions.

Arch Linux

#1 2021-08-06 02:41:19

[SOLVED] Hard drive is busy during installation

#2 2021-08-06 02:48:41

Re: [SOLVED] Hard drive is busy during installation

#3 2021-08-06 02:54:27

Re: [SOLVED] Hard drive is busy during installation

#4 2021-08-06 03:17:59

Re: [SOLVED] Hard drive is busy during installation

#5 2021-08-08 03:24:51

Re: [SOLVED] Hard drive is busy during installation

#6 2021-08-13 02:20:42

Re: [SOLVED] Hard drive is busy during installation

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