Re: why can't I remove a kernel module (or: what uses a given module)?

[Tobias Oed <tobiasoed@hotmail.com>]

Tomasz Chmielewski wrote:

> Ross Vandegrift wrote:
>> On Sun, Dec 03, 2006 at 12:58:24PM +0100, Tomasz Chmielewski wrote:
>>> You mean the "Used by" column? No, it's not used by any other module
>>> according to lsmod output.
>>>
>>> Any other methods of checking what uses /dev/sda*?
>> 
>> There's a good chance that if it was loaded at system boot, hald or
>> udev may be doing something with it.
> 
> This machine doesn't have hal; when I kill udevd still doesn't help.
> 
> Yes, something's using that drive, be it a program, a module (unlikely),
> or something that is compiled directly in the kernel (for example,
> md/raid1).
> But what is it?

Since you mention md, dm comes to mind. I have seen a couple of drives that
were previously attached to fake raid controllers becoming unavailable when
moved to a normal controller. I haven't found the one size workaround for
the problem yet. Can you check
/sys/block/sda/holders ?
Also /sys/bus/ide/whoevertheholderis/[bind|unbind] are 'curious' but I'm not
sure how one is supposed to use them.
Tobias