Works fine for me.
These are the steps I took to create a working example:
controller:
public class TestController : Controller {
  public ActionResult Index() {
     return View();
   }
   //This action will be called by Ajax
  public ActionResult PeopleGrid() {
      var people = new List<Person> {
            new Person() { Name = "Person 1", Id = 1 },
            new Person() { Name = "Person 2", Id = 2 },
            new Person() { Name = "Person 3", Id = 3 },
            new Person() { Name = "Person 4", Id = 4 },
         };
         ViewData["people"] = people;
        Â
         return View();
   }
}
Partial view - PeopleGrid.ascx
<%@ Control Language="C#" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewUserControl" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="MvcContrib.Samples.UI.Models"%>
<%@ Import Namespace="MvcContrib.UI.Grid"%>
<%= Html.Grid<Person>("people").Columns(column => {
      column.For(x => x.Id);
      column.For(x => x.Name);
}) %>
Main view - Index.aspx
<%@ Page Title="" Language="C#" MasterPageFile="~/Views/Shared/Site.Master" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewPage" %>
<asp:Content ID="Content1" ContentPlaceHolderID="MainContent" runat="server">
   <script type="text/javascript" src="/Scripts/MicrosoftAjax.js"></script>
   <script type="text/javascript" src="/Scripts/MicrosoftMvcAjax.js"></script>
  Â
  Â
   <% using (Ajax.BeginForm("PeopleGrid", new AjaxOptions { UpdateTargetId = "grid-placeholder" })) {%>
      <input type="submit" value="Load Grid" />
   <% } %>
   <div id="grid-placeholder"></div>
</asp:Content>
This works as expected.
Jeremy
Contact Jeffrey Palermo or Eric Hexter with specific questions about the MvcContrib project. Â Or go to
http://mvccontrib.org