Bug#586738: can't install because 'write changes to disk' fails

[Lachlan <lachlan.00@gmail.com>]

Package: debian-installer
Version: testing

attempting to install debian testing from weekly images (tried cd1 and
netinstall images)

create partitions for root home and swap

when it goes to write these changes to disk i get the error:
	"failed to create a file system"
this happens no matter which file system i attempt to use.

I have downloaded the most recent testing images and i am attempting
to install to a brand new Alienware MX-11 laptop.

I've never run into this error before so i'm not sure where to look.
because this laptop is pretty recent should i try and use a different
version of the installer?
are there ways to create my own squeeze image with the latest
installer for this purpose?