Bug#704191: HP EliteBook 8570p BIOS-GPT install fails

[Mike <debian@good-with-numbers.com>]

Package: installation-reports

Boot method: ISO on USB stick on USB 2.0 port
Image version: http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/wheezy_di_rc1/amd64/iso-cd/debian-wheezy-DI-rc1-amd64-netinst.iso
Date: 2013-03-29

Machine: HP EliteBook 8570p (C6Z56UT)
Processor: Intel Core i5-3320M
Memory: 4 GiB
Partitions:
----------------------------------------
# df -Tl | human
rootfs               rootfs   /
udev                 devtmpfs /dev
tmpfs                tmpfs    /run
/dev/mapper/___-root ext4     /           <- dm_crypt
tmpfs                tmpfs    /run/lock
tmpfs                tmpfs    /run/shm
/dev/sda_            ext4     /boot
/dev/sda_            vfat     /boot/efi   <- ESP
----------------------------------------

Base System Installation Checklist:
[O] = OK, [E] = Error (please elaborate below), [ ] = didn't try it

Initial boot:           [O]
Detect network card:    [O]
Configure network:      [O]
Detect CD:              [O]
Load installer modules: [O]
Detect hard drives:     [O]
Partition hard drives:  [O]
Install base system:    [O]
Clock/timezone setup:   [O]
User/password setup:    [O]
Install tasks:          [O]
Install boot loader:    [E]
Overall install:        [E]

Comments/Problems:

Xen currently seems not to function with the 3.2.39 kernel for the
dom0 on a UEFI system, so I can't use UEFI.  This is an attempt to use
a GPT-partitioned disk with BIOS.

This assumes a "Boot Mode" of "Legacy".  (HP startup screen > Startup
Menu > BIOS Setup > System Configuration > Boot Options)

Boot to the "Startup Menu", "F9 Boot Device Options", choose "USB Hard
Drive 1", "Advanced options", "Expert install".  Following the advice
of http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/errata :

  When there is more than one disk available during installation (for
  example one hard disk and one USB stick, as it is commonly the case
  when booting the installer from a USB stick), grub-install may run
  into problems: it was reported several times, that the GRUB
  bootloader was installed onto the USB stick instead of the hard disk
  containing the newly-installed system.

  To avoid running into this, make sure to answer "No" when the
  following question is asked during the installation process:
  "Install the GRUB boot loader to the master boot record?"; it should
  be possible to specify the right device at the next step: "Device
  for boot loader installation".

or not, the result is the same: The d-i seems to think that GRUB
succeeded in the console:

----------------------------------------
grub-installer: Installation finished. No error reported.
grub-installer: info: grub-install ran successfully
----------------------------------------

But rebooting fails to find boot code, gives HP screen:

----------------------------------------
BootDevice Not Found

Please install an operating system on your hard disk.
[...]
----------------------------------------

Rebooting the USB stick to rescue mode, I umount the /boot and
/boot/efi partitions--because mount thinks they're mounted--before I
truly mount them.  Running "grub-install /dev/sda" appears to succeed,
but rebooting yields the same HP screen.

>From rescue mode, "aptitude install gdisk" on the target system, to
confirm that the biosgrub partition has GUID code
21686148-6449-6e6f-744e-656564454649.

So BIOS-GPT GRUB installation doesn't work, and I have no idea how to 
force it to.