The kernel panic indicates it cannot find an ethernet adapter. I'd try to fix that symptom first.
Can you boot off a live-CD and check that networking works there. How are you building initramfs? Try adding the module name for your NIC to /etc/initramfs-tools/modules, rebuilding initramfs (update-initramfs -c -k all), and see if that helps.
Do you have a eth0 or are booting of an eth1 or similar?
The kernel panic indicates it cannot find an ethernet adapter. I'd try to fix that symptom first.
Can you boot off a live-CD and check that networking works there. How are you building initramfs? Try adding the module name for your NIC to /etc/initramfs- tools/modules, rebuilding initramfs (update-initramfs -c -k all), and see if that helps.
Do you have a eth0 or are booting of an eth1 or similar?