Comment 4 for bug 1960141

I went through a fresh install. Here are the details:

Using a new image of Ubuntu 21.10.
Download ISO. Verify using checksum. Use "USB Image writer" on virgin 32GB Stick. gdisk shows stick has 3 partitions: Basic, EFI, and Basic. MBR is protective, GPT is present.
Format 120GB SSD to Fat32. Box BIOS is set to "NO EFI". Installation proceeded using all defaults. Reboot.
Boot message "Boot Failure". Go to F10 screen and select hard drive: Normal Startup.
Replace disk with a Ubuntu 20.04.2 hard drive: System boots normally without any failure message.

Data 1:
GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 1.0.8

Partition table scan:
  MBR: protective
  BSD: not present
  APM: not present
  GPT: present

Found valid GPT with protective MBR; using GPT.
Disk /dev/sda: 234441648 sectors, 111.8 GiB
Model: ADATA SU655
Sector size (logical/physical): 512/512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): 2AA7FA81-FDCB-4C2D-BF94-267833FC182A
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
Main partition table begins at sector 2 and ends at sector 33
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 234441614
Partitions will be aligned on 2-sector boundaries
Total free space is 16 sectors (8.0 KiB)

Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name
   1 34 1987 977.0 KiB EF02
   2 1988 1052769 513.1 MiB EF00 EFI System Partition
   3 1052770 234441598 111.3 GiB 8300

DATA 2
{
  "Version": "21.10",
  "BIOS": {
    "Vendor": "Intel Corp.",
    "Version": "TYG4110H.86A.0036.2009.1126.2047"
  },
  "CPU": {
    "OpMode": "32-bit, 64-bit",
    "CPUs": "4",
    "Threads": "1",
    "Cores": "4",
    "Sockets": "1",
    "Vendor": "GenuineIntel",
    "Family": "6",
    "Model": "23",
    "Stepping": "10",
    "Name": "Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q9400 @ 2.66GHz",
    "Virtualization": "VT-x"
  },
  "Arch": "amd64",
  "HwCap": "-",
  "GPU": [
    {
      "Vendor": "8086",
      "Model": "2e32"
    }
  ],
  "RAM": 8.1,
  "Disks": [
    120
  ],
  "Partitions": [
    114.3,
    0.5
  ],
  "Screens": [
    {
      "Size": "530mmx290mm",
      "Resolution": "1920x1080",
      "Frequency": "59.96"
    },
    {
      "Size": "410mmx230mm",
      "Resolution": "1366x768",
      "Frequency": "59.62"
    }
  ],
  "Autologin": true,
  "LivePatch": false,
  "Session": {
    "DE": "ubuntu:GNOME",
    "Name": "ubuntu",
    "Type": "wayland"
  },
  "Language": "en_US",
  "Timezone": "America/New_York",
  "Install": {
    "Media": "Ubuntu 21.10 \"Impish Indri\" - Release amd64 (20211012)",
    "Type": "GTK",
    "OEM": false,
    "PartitionMethod": "use_device",
    "DownloadUpdates": true,
    "Language": "en",
    "Minimal": false,
    "RestrictedAddons": false,
    "Stages": {
      "0": "language",
      "1": "language",
      "566": "console_setup",
      "590": "prepare",
      "607": "partman",
      "631": "start_install",
      "749": "timezone",
      "770": "usersetup",
      "1053": "user_done",
      "1574": "done"
    }
  }
}