Here's another attempt, trying to follow marioxcc's suggestion:
Source of the procedure: http://www.av8n.com/computer/htm/grub-reinstall.htm
1. sudo mkdir /x
2. sudo grub-install --root-directory=/x /dev/sdb
Result:
> Installing for i386-pc platform.
> grub-install: warning: this GPT partition label contains no BIOS Boot
Partition; embedding won't be possible.
> grub-install: error: embedding is not possible, but this is required for
cross-disk install.
http://www.howtogeek.com/193669/whats-the-difference-between-gpt-and-mbr-when-partitioning-a-drive/
says:
"MBR (Master Boot Record) and GPT (GUID Partition Table) are two different
ways of storing the partitioning information on a drive."
Aha. Read on:
https://www.linux.com/learn/tutorials/730440-using-the-new-guid-partition-table-in-linux-good-bye-ancient-mbr-
" GPT does not have primary and logical partitions, but just partitions as
GParted shows (figure 1).
" When you're formatting a hard disk in GParted and want to use GPT, just
select the gpt option, as in figure 2:
" fig-2 using-gparted: Figure 2: Using GParted to format a hard disk in GPT.
"GPT has several advantages over the MBR: ..."
