Ubuntu: /dev/sdb1 is apparently in use by the system; will not make a filesystem here

I get this error when I try to format dev/sdb1:

$ mkfs.ext4 -L data /dev/sdb1
   mke2fs 1.42.13 (17-May-2015)
   /dev/sdb1 is apparently in use by the system; will not make a filesystem here!

where /dev/sdb has a partition that I have created with echo 'type=83' | sudo sfdisk /dev/sdb:

$ fsdisk -l

Disk /dev/sdb: 1.8 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x1507c58d

Device     Boot Start        End    Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sdb1        2048 3907029167 3907027120  1.8T 83 Linux

and

$ lsblk
NAME                    MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE  MOUNTPOINT
sda                       8:0    0   477G  0 disk  
├─sda1                    8:1    0   487M  0 part  /boot
├─sda2                    8:2    0     1K  0 part  
└─sda5                    8:5    0 476.5G  0 part  
  └─sda5_crypt          252:0    0 476.5G  0 crypt 
    ├─ubuntu--vg-root   252:1    0 460.5G  0 lvm   /
    └─ubuntu--vg-swap_1 252:2    0    16G  0 lvm   [SWAP]
sdb                       8:16   0   1.8T  0 disk  
└─sdb1

Conversely, if I try to mount this disk I get a isw_raid_member error:

$ mount /dev/sdb /mnt/Data
    mount: unknown filesystem type 'isw_raid_member'

So I found md127:

# cat /proc/mdstat 
Personalities : [linear] [multipath] [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10] 
md127 : inactive sdb[0](S)
      1105 blocks super external:imsm

unused devices: <none>

and then stopped it:

mdadm --manage --stop /dev/md127
mdadm: stopped /dev/md127
# cat /proc/mdstat 
Personalities : [linear] [multipath] [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10] 
unused devices: <none>

I then tried again to mount:

# mount /dev/sdb /mnt/Data
mount: unknown filesystem type 'isw_raid_member'

if I try to wipe the superblock of the disk:

$ mdadm --zero-superblock /dev/sdb
   mdmon: /dev/sdb is not attached to Intel(R) RAID controller.
   mdmon: /dev/sdb is not attached to Intel(R) RAID controller.

When I try testdisk this is what I get

Disk /dev/sdb - 2000 GB / 1863 GiB - ST2000DM001-1CH164
     CHS 243201 255 63 - sector size=512

No ext2, JFS, Reiser, cramfs or XFS marker
 1 P Linux                    0  32 33 243201  80 63 3907027120
 1 P Linux                    0  32 33 243201  80 63 3907027120
No partition is bootable

Is it possible that this disk has been marked by another RAID like Intel Rapid Storage RAID or similar?

Solution 1:

The mdadm --zero-superblock looks like it failed because you weren't root.

However this may not be enough, isw_raid_member is probably due to the disk previously being used as an Intel software RAID device. If it still fails, try:

dmraid -rE /dev/sdb

You may need to install the dmraid package first.

Reboot after this and see if you now can use the disk.

Solution 2:

sudo dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/sdb bs=1M status=progress

This command will delete the metadata and digital signatures which is even caused by Intel VROC (virtual raid on CPU), but takes more time depending on the size of hard disk.