Unmounting devices in Linux can be a bothersome because of the error “Device is Busy”. This particular error comes up when trying to unmount a drive or device that is being used by the filesystem:
# umount /media/WinXP
umount: /mediaWinXP: device is busy.
One workaround to this is to do a ‘lazy’ unmount:
# umount -l /media/WinXP
The switch -l disconnects the device from the filesystem even if it is being used. This works but quite messy since no further information will be given. If you want a cleaner unmount, fuser commands works well, too:
# fuser -m /dev/sdb1
/dev/sdb1: 1124
# ps axu | grep 1124
rai ... xmms
The ps command showed that xmms is the PID that uses the device /dev/sdb1. Close xmms and the drive can be unmounted safely.
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I was taught this by someone when I was starting out with Linux. I was almost panicky when I couldn’t eject my CD. The lazy unmount is very helpful because time and again I encounter those moments when nothing works but that.
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