It's just the initial step of formatting the memory stick that appears to have a problem. Having finally bitten the bullet and booted up Windows to do that part (I swear I die a little inside every time I have to do that) the rest of the process appeared to proceed OK.
Edit: by formatting the memory stick I mean repartitioning to reserve space for the IPL.
Of course, it appears that my battery is not pandora compatible so I have to wait for the one I ordered last night to come through to test, so we'll see.
CaptainMorgan: define what you mean by not compatible? Exactly what behaviour are you getting?