So I've built my own computer. Everything is peachy. However, when I boot from the Ubuntu installer disk and attempt to install I can't create partitions. Presumably there's a step I'm missing with my hard drive--most online resources assume I'm installing Windows and then partitioning from there to install Linux. Is there a way I can skip the Windows step?

Many thanks for the support, everyone.

If you want to use Ubuntu(Kubuntu,Xubuntu) exclusively on that
box, there is no reason, not to install Ubuntu straighr away.

Installation procedure will allow you to choose how you want your
disk partitioned and give you a choice to do it automatically for
you.(Guided partitioning)
Also, you can choose "Install" option when booting from install CD and go to installation straight away.
P.S.
There is also Partition editor GUI available (gparted)
if you boot to the desktop from CD.
And it also can be done by using sudo fdisk /dev/sda (or hda..)
from the command line (m for options).

For whatever reason when I go through the installation steps, step 4 (the partition preparation step) doesn't allow me to do much of anything except for quit installation. I can't add a partition, create a partition table, etc. Guided partitioning isn't even an option as far as I can tell. (I'm installing Ubuntu 8.10 if anyone is interested.) My hard drive is a WD Caviar SE16. Must I change any of the BIOS settings before I can partition the drive?

Bah. I've got Ubuntu 8.04. Forgive me dullness.

Well, what you are describing is probably what happens if the disk is inaccessible; the problem could be bios, data connector, power connector or a fault in either the mobo or the disk (or a cable). Oh, and there may be a link to set SATA 1 / SATA 2 mode.

If you go into the bios, does the disk show up as an option and the various characteritics (size, maybe some other stuff) show up?

What's on the disk - or is it zeroed ???.
Try any liveCD (gparted is good), or the Alternate (Ubuntu) CD; it let's you do manual partitioning easily.

If you do select install when system boot from CD, and you do installation in "next next finish" manner, everything will be fine.
If it complains then it is maybe hardware related?

Try fdisk command. Also, you can try to start installation.
Also you can post on what hardware are you trying to install?
if you have PATA Hdd inside and on same cable as CD, maybe master/slave settings are not correct.
Anyway, check how disk is viewed from BIOS settings etc..

Indeed the drive shows up (in SATA 1) in the BIOS.

Here's my hardware:

ASUS P5Q Pro mobo
WD Caviar SE 16 HDD

Anything else you all might want to know to help me out?

Also, there is absolutely nothing on the disk. I just finished building my machine tonight.

Sorry. Apparently I forgot to respond. It's getting awfully late in Chicago.

It's a SATA HDD.

Currently can't look at the spec of the ASUS P5Q Pro mobo as part of the Asus site is down; but if there are SATA ports provided by an add-on chip (while the basic situation is that there are SATA ports by Intel P45 chipset, frequently mobo manufacturers choose to use a third party add-on chip to add extra SATAs/extra RAID/PATA ports and maybe extra USB/Firewire ports in higher spec boards; these need drivers that are probably not present in the default package) so you may need to be careful which SATA port you use. The manual should offer some clarification (although I'll not claim that just because its in the manual necessarily means that it is trivial to decode).

I don't suppose checking out another distro is possible, is it?

Looking at other distributions is totally fair game! Any suggestions on which to try as a first-timer? All of them?

Here's the good news: I downloaded the latest beta of Ubuntu, figuring maybe the latest version would have better detection of SATA drives. Turns out that's the case. Whereas 8.04 couldn't detect my HDD, 8.10 was all over it. I partitioned the hard drive easily with 8.10, and things are working well for the most part.

Thanks again to everyone for the help and advice. These forums are wonderful.

It's the controller that's the likely issue, not the disk itself. Intrepid (8.10) is about to move from beta to public release, you might as well stick with it.