Most of the time this error occurs that is a bad disk or a bad drive (or a bad cable).
Ubuntu 8.10 seams (from own experience and google) to be commonly affected by this.

You can try the following (I try them in this order)

• If you only get buffer errors and no CRC errors, just try and wait (a few minutes) It might still be possible to install
• Try another installation CD [from the same installation image] – if this works, then the other disk is bad
• Try to swap out the cable to the drive (if you have a ribbon cable use one with 80 connectors, not one with 40)
• Try to swap out the drive
• Try another installation CD [from another installation image, old version, other dist, windows] – if this works then there is an issue with the installation image – there might be an issue worth reporting

If all this fails or you wish to install the version you have, then using a usb stick to install the image might be a good idea.