Comment 14 for bug 419911

The following script can be used from a LiveCD to initially structure a GPT disk properly.

There still seems to be some problem where update-grub is never run when a new kernel is installed, even when correct GPT structure is in place.

Be sure to run update-grub after any kernel update for grub.cfg to contain the new kernel.

Best to try this script on a victim disk and be sure to change $dev, $fsdev and $mount_point to match your system.

Use this test script carefully to avoid data loss on a live disk.
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david@home1:~/bin$ cat gpt-setup-example
#!/bin/bash

# research all these options
# tune2fs -I 256 -O sparse_super,filetype,resize_inode,dir_index,ext_attr,has_journal,\
# extents,huge_file,flex_bg,uninit_bg,dir_nlink,extra_isize

if [ "$USER" != "root" ] ; then
   echo "Must run as USER=root instead of USER=$USER"
   exit 1
fi

dev=/dev/sdb
fsdev=/dev/sdb3
tune_opts='extents,uninit_bg,dir_index,journal_data_writeback'
mount_opts='noatime,data=writeback,barrier=0,nobh,errors=remount-ro'
mount_point=/data

mount $fsdev $mount_point -o $mount_opts 2>/dev/null
filecount=$(find $mount_point -type f 2>/dev/null | wc -l)

if [ "$filecount" -gt 0 ] ; then
   echo "Operation will destroy all data on $mount_point"
   echo "Remove all files from $mount_point before proceeding"
   exit 1
fi

umount $fsdev 2>/dev/null

set -x

umount $fsdev 2>/dev/null
mkdir -p $mount_point

parted -s $dev mklabel gpt

# must use <1M as parted (through version 1.8.8.1.159-1e0e) has a bug
# where 1M is either converted to 0M or rounded down to nearest block
# using kB units seems to circumvent this problem well
###parted -s $dev mkpart primary 0 1.1M
###parted -s $dev mkpart swap 1.1M 8G

parted -s $dev mkpart primary 0 1100kB
parted -s $dev mkpart swap 1100kB 8G
parted -s $dev mkpart primary 8G 28G

# tell Grub 2 MBR is big enough to use without blocklists as
# using blocklists seems to create a vast array of instabilities
parted -s $dev set 1 bios_grub on

parted -s $dev unit kB p

mkfs.ext4 $fsdev

tune2fs -L disk2 -m 1 -o $tune_opts $fsdev

e2fsck -pfD $fsdev

mount $fsdev $mount_point -o $mount_opts

mount -l | grep $fsdev