Blinking cursor after new partition and install (ubuntu-mate)

Following these instructions exactly:

1. ubuntu-mate.community/t/gpar...dows-users/797

2. ubuntu-mate.community/t/inst...lse-method/651 to partition a 1TB SSD and install Ubuntu-Mate off a live USB.

My partitioning is different than the instructions as follows(also see attached image)

At the blinking cursor, I can either ALT-F4 to boot to UEFI or ESC and I (capital i) or continue to boot to my 2nd SSD with a Windows 10 install.

If I try holding the SHIFT key on reboot I instead see capital GRUB with a blinking cursor on a black screen.

Hitting RETURN takes me to my 2nd SSD with a Win 10 install.

The only change I have made to my UEFI is to disable FastBoot.

Next I tried Boot Repair from a live USB, and attempted to reinstall my grub, but for some reason it did not 'see' my ESP at sda1, only sda and sda2 which is my root partition.

So, probably a mistake, I let it go ahead and install grub in sda2.

After rebooting, same result, blinking cursor.

Next I relaunched gparted from a live USB and reexamined my partitions.

Now I was seeing an error icon on my ESP at sda1, saying it wasn't recognized because I was missing certain files (see attached esp_warning).

I am also getting a warning whenever launching gparted about a discrepancy between Linux and the driver descriptor in regards to physical block size. (attached LibParted_warning)

Question> For my GPT partitioned drive, does it matter what partition flag I have set for my ESP? It was set to 'boot', then I tried 'bios-grub' but neither worked. Results of boot-repair herepaste.ubuntu.com/23750353

The Boot Repair results DO seem to indicate a few things wrong. I assume that reinstalling grub with Boot repair AFTER setting my ESP flag to bios-grub may be part of the reason?

And before anyone comments on my swap size

1- storage is relatively cheap.

2- I use my Linux PC primarily for particle simulations in Houdini and got some feedback from Linux-Houdini experts a lot more knowledgeable than I

3- If after several months of use I discover I rarely use that amount, I assume I can easily increase my home partition and reduce swap.

I realize this is a long post but trying to include as much information as possible.

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