Bug#623124: grub2: grub 2.02~beta2-22 fails to install itself after fresh install; system unbootable

[Răzvan Sandu]

Source: grub2
Version: 2.02~beta2-22
Followup-For: Bug #623124

Dear Maintainer,

I've repeatedly tried to install stock Debian 8.2.0 stable (x86_64) on an Intel server system
containing:

/dev/sda -  80 GB (IDE)
/dev/sdb - 130 GB (SATA)

BIOS is non-UEFI, AMBIOS. MBR/DOS partition tables are present on both
drives (created via the Debian installer itself).

Installation is a clean one, with no other operating system present - via
USB removable DVD-ROM.

Partitioning scheme (manual) is:

/dev/sda1 - 2 GB  /boot, ext4
/dev/sda2 - 70 GB / ext4
/dev/sda3 - 8 GB swap
/dev/sdb1 - 130GB /var ext4

The installation process performs normally. At the end of the install, grub does not install itself
in /dev/sda (master boot record) and the log on the Alt-F4 console says:

grub-installer: Installing for i386-pc platform
grub-installer: warning: Attempting to install GRUB to a disk with multiple
partition labels. This is not supported yet..
grub-installer: warning: Embedding is not possible.  GRUB can only be
installed in this setup by using blocklists.  However, blocklists are
UNRELIABLE and their use is discouraged..
grub-installer: error:: wiil not proceed with blocklists.


-- System Information:
Debian Release: 8.2
  APT prefers stable-updates
  APT policy: (500, 'stable-updates'), (500, 'stable')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)

Kernel: Linux 3.16.0-4-amd64 (SMP w/4 CPU cores)
Locale: LANG=ro_RO.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=ro_RO.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/dash
Init: systemd (via /run/systemd/system)


Thanks for your help.

Best regards,
Răzvan