Comment 0 for bug 1468897

On a system with a multipath configuration, multipath bindings are being created for removable(USB) drives rendering them inaccessible as normal removable drives.

in this case, the usb drive is detected as /dev/sdi:

# lsblk|grep -A2 sdi
sdi 8:128 1 14.7G 0 disk
├─sdi1 8:129 1 14.7G 0 part
└─mpath4 (dm-9) 252:9 0 14.7G 0 mpath
  └─mpath4-part1 (dm-10) 252:10 0 14.7G 0 part

# cat /etc/multipath/bindings
# This file was created by curtin while installing the system.
mpath0 1IBM IPR-0 5EC2590000000080
# End of content generated by curtin.
# Everything below is maintained by multipath subsystem.
mpath1 1IBM IPR-0 5EC2590000000060
mpath2 1IBM IPR-0 5EC2590000000040
mpath3 1IBM IPR-0 5EC2590000000020
mpath4 1ADATA USB Flash Drive

Upon trying to format /dev/sdi1:

# mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdi1
mke2fs 1.42.9 (4-Feb-2014)
/dev/sdi1 is apparently in use by the system; will not make a filesystem here!

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: multipath-tools 0.4.9-3ubuntu7.2
ProcVersionSignature: User Name 3.16.0-41.55~14.04.1-generic 3.16.7-ckt11
Uname: Linux 3.16.0-41-generic ppc64le
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.10
Architecture: ppc64el
Date: Thu Jun 25 20:44:13 2015
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=screen
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: multipath-tools
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)