I had the same issue when I was using custom kernels late last year. Simply installing the .deb that make-kpkg produces for some reason doesn't run update-initramfs, so there is no initrd and the kernel won't start. Workaround: 'sudo update-initramfs && sudo update-grub' after installing the custom-built kernel.
I never got around to reporting / properly investigating the problem, and I'm still suspecting it has something to do with hooks in /etc/kernel-img.conf or the like. I don't understand what's different in the custom built vs official kernel .debs though... Florian -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-bugs-rc-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org