too small size error at the partition part of the ubuntu 8.04.1 install

Help. It seems no matter what I do, I always arrive at the "too small size" error window during step 4/7 on the ubuntu install. The live version runs great, but I always get this error when I go for the complete install. I tried the wubi installer packaged with ubuntu the first go around and yesterday I tried unetbootin. Both installers seemed to work fine so it looks to be strictly on the ubuntu side. I redownloaded the iso file twice so I don't think it is an error there.

On the last go around, I used EASEUS Partition Manager in Windows to create two partitions, one for Windows XP and the other for everything else. The ubuntu installers had well over 200GB available to them because I have a 320GB HDD. I've tried different combination's of partitions and formats. Each time I get a failure, then I defrag and try again. I even tried using the manual partition feature in ubuntu after I backed everything up, but that failed too. I want to keep Windows XP for now in a dual boot format because I am a linux newbie and want to make sure I'm more comfy before I go for the complete transition. I'm using the following:

ubuntu 8.01.1 i386 arch
I have a Dell Pentium 4 1.8Ghz
1 gig RAM
320 GB WD HDD
Windows XP SP2

I've seen other forums with similiar posts, but they don't ever seem to be resolved.

 

What'S the exact error message? What partitioning scheme did you choose exactly (i.e., how many partitions, partition sizes, etc.)?

 

The exact error message is a popup window in the GUI that says "Too small size" and an "ok" button below it. This happens regardless of the size I choose. It always happens when I choose the first option in step 4/7 that says guided partition and gives you an adjustable graphic bar that you can change for the size you want. I want to run several OS's including Windows XP and Ubuntu is the first one I am trying to install so the adjustable bar always has Windows XP in the lefthand side partition and it lets me adjust the right hand size. I always get the failure after the dialog box that pops up and says that the installer needs to write the current changes to disk before I can proceed. I click ok, the partitioner dialog comes up for a minute, disappears, then I hit forward button in bottom corner and get the too small size error.

I am trying to get one partition at 50GB for the / and then plan to make a 5GB partition for the swap, but I never get to that stage. I had success choosing the manual option at the bottom instead of the guided option, setting / as one of the partitions at 50GB, using ext2, formatting, and leaving everything else as defaults, and once those settings are installed, I set another partition as swap at 10GB, use ext2, format, and leave everything as default. The entire install runs its course and I get to the screen after the BIOS where I can choose between XP and unetbootin. I chose unetbootin and then I get a grub error I believe its error 2.

I should also mention that I has success installing Debian with unetbootin, restarted, got to the XP and unetbootin page after the BIOS window, chose unetbootin and got to the grub page for the Debian install, chose debian and everything went great from there. Then I went back and tried to do the process again with Ubuntu and had all this trouble. As you know, linux distros are new to me so I think I might be crossing wires with the debian and ubuntu install regarding the grub loader because only after I installed ubuntu was I not able to get past the grub error. I ended up having to use my XP recovery CD to get the MBR straight again regarding XP so I could get into an operating system since the grub loader is now seemingly inaccessible and I am assuming so is my successful debian install.

I'm going away for the weekend, but when I get home Monday I could definitely provide some screenshots if need be. Basically, I want to have a multiboot system like we talked about in my other post. Everywhere I go, I read that unetbootin makes that possible but I think I am doing something wrong.