empty partition table when installing

[roberto]

hello, i tried to install a live kubuntu 8.10 desktop i386 on a
pendrive following the steps in
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/FromUSBStick

the live works fine but when i try to go to the installation via the
live on the pendrive the first three steps are ok but then, when i
have to choose the disk to use for the installation ... no disks are
displayed !
not my hard drive, not the pendrive, nothing

on the other hand i can access correctly to all my disks from dolphin

thank you very much in advance for any help
-- 
roberto
OS: GNU/Linux
       Debian
       Kubuntu, Edubuntu