VirtualBox + Feisty, unable to format partitions

[wwwcre8r]

Install stops during partition phase... returns error
Whether I use the Guided or Manual method...

It says it is installing the system, "Detecting file systems..." and the progress bar gets to 15%

Then I get an error:
Failed to create a swap space
The creation of swap space in partition #5 of IDE1 master (hda) failed.

I tried running sudo gparted -> manually formatting the partition, similar error.

From the terminal, after gparted loads, I see this error in the terminal:
Unable to open /dev/hda - unrecognized disk label.

Then in gparted I get an error when trying to create a new partition in unallocated space; first a pop-up asks me to set disklabel on /dev/hda... I click "Create" (leaving the default of msdos)... accept the consequences and then get this error:
Error while setting new disklabel

In the terminal, I see a new message:
Input/output error during read on /dev/hda
Input/output error during write on /dev/hda

[wwwcre8r]

UPDATE: I got it to work!!!

Three things I changed in this new setup, not sure which of them were responsible.

1. Took a snapshot of the install process while still running from the live CD.
2. In Settings > General > Advanced > Extended Features... I enabled IO APIC
3. Used an ISO as the source instead of the CD for installation

[ajun007]

Thanks wwwcre8r. Just wanted to share that this worked for me also. Details:

1. i had IO APIC enabled from the beginning
2. took snapshot after liveCD loaded to desktop.
3. changed to ISO as suggested

other details:
I'm installing xubuntu 7.04 on VirtualBox 1.3.8.
manually edited partition table 512MB swap, remainder is ext3 as /

now let's see how well this multicore support works for the new version of VirtualBox : )