I'm attempting to run fsck -p /dev/sda5 to repair errors on an ext4 partition, however the command outputsfsck from util-linux-ng 2.17.2fsck.ext4: Device or resource busy while trying to open /dev/sda5Filesystem mounted or opened exclusively by another program?I have confirmed using /etc/mtab and lsof that nothing is using the partition and it's not mounted. I also used fuser -k /dev/sda5 to forcibly close anything using the file, and umount to attempt to unmount it to no avail.How can I force fsck to at least check, and hopefully to repair, the partition despite the fact that it reads as busy? Assuming I'm confident enough that it's neither mounted nor in use, and that the possibility of data corruption isn't an issue.All commands were executed as root from an Ubuntu 10.04 32-bit liveCD. The partition is the system (non-home) portion of an Ubuntu 10.04 32-bit installation.
How can I fsck a partition when the device reads as busy (but has been confirmed otherwise)?
ubuntu;ext4;fsck;unmounting
There are things (usually in the kernel, like the NFS threads, swap files, bind mounts, etc.) that can keep a filesystem busy that won't show up in fuser.If you try to fsck a filesystem that is mounted, it will get corrupted.  You should find a live CD that doesn't automatically mount your filesystems, like Knoppix or Fedora.