Bug#852653: additional info

[martin <martin@luminoussheep.net>]

I booted using the install disk and used the rescue option

Trying to install grub again from the mounted drive, it reported this 
error:
grub-install: warning: Attempting to install GRUB to a disk with 
multiple partition labels.  This is not supported yet..
grub-install: 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-install: error: will not proceed with blocklists.

a quick search yielded this:

https://askubuntu.com/questions/666527/install-grub-claims-that-i-have-multiple-partiton-labels-and-that-embedding-is

The first partition was indeed 2048 so I ran the command as suggested:
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdX seek=1 count=2047

and then grub successfully installed and it all boots correctly

Not sure if that helps...