Your kernel log, dmesg, shows these messages: [ 98.905709] end_request: I/O error, dev hdb, sector 240121600 [ 98.905733] Buffer I/O error on device hdb, logical block 30015200
These are usually indicative of hardware failure or imminent failure. I recommend using smartctl from the smartmontools package to test your hard drive. I believe a test would look like 'smartctl -t short /dev/hdb' and then you check the output via 'smartctl -a /dev/hdb'. -- Partitions are not recognized by installation process https://launchpad.net/bugs/84780 -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs