And before you ask, yes I'm already aware that Ubuntu installs EFI Grub instead of Vanilla Grub. I am no newbie when it comes to Google. I've already tried reinstalling Grub, to no avail. I'm still getting the error message. Also tried insmod from the Grub Rescue prompt... that also gives that message.

By the way, I'm installing to an external USB drive.

I noticed something peculiar when I booted from my LiveCD, though - I can see the /boot/grub/i386-pc folder fine when I view my hard drive through the file manager (and the normal.mod is there), but when I try to view my hard drive through the terminal, the folders aren't there. It's like they're hidden. Is this the cause of the issue?

Is this a new installed that has never booted due to the error reported?
Surprised to see an i386-pc on a regular install but I haven't used 12.10??
Are you using the Ubuntu Live CD to access the hard drive? Do you mount your hard drive partition or is it auto-mounted under /media?

This is a new installation I've never booted from. I come from a background in Mandriva 2010, and wanted to try something new.

This is actually an x64 version I'm installing (as far as I'm aware - at least it said that on the ISO I burned), so I'm assuming it's just the naming conventions this distro uses.

Yes, as I mentioned before, I had to use the Live CD to repair Grub the first time I tried to boot my pc. I tried looking for the file myself when I found that didn't work, and had found it. Which means Grub isn't seeing it, possibly for the reason I mentioned above.

I'm not sure I understand this question. If you're talking about how I'm installing the OS, the setup program auto-partitions the drive. I'm not even aware of any way I can actually partition the drive myself. If you're talking about mounting the partition after booting to the Live CD, yes I'm using the mount command, as per these instructions.

I don't know what I did, but when I deleted my previous installation, and did a new one, the system somehow kicked in. I'm now in Ubuntu proper. Thanks for trying to help yancek.

This is one of the weirdest things I've ever experienced, LOL!

If you select the "Something Else" options under Installation Type, you will be able to select partitons, create partitions, format partitions and anything else. If you used one of the other options, they are pretty much auto-installs and you don't know what is happening behind the scenes. Something Else gives you a lot more control and you can see what is being done.

When you say the i386-pc directory, you were probably viewing the file on the CD not the hard drive but I don't really know for sure. Anyhow, you have it working and that's the important thing. Hope you enjoy using Ubuntu.