I experienced this problem as well, unrelated to a loose IDE cable. During an Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron install, I manually edited partitions so / was different than /home (the /home partition contained my existing Ubuntu home directory), and when the installer got to "Creating User", (around 79%) the "Installing system" dialog disappears.
The only workaround was not to configure the installer's partition editor to put /home on a separate partition, which I guess I'll have to rejigger after the install completes. -- Installer crashed when creating user https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/69970 You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs