Performing the same test as above (removal of initrd.img and modification of GRUB's menu.lst) using 2.6.32-14-generic further confirms that the issue is with something that gets included in the initramfs image.
The relevant GRUB menu excerpt:
title Ubuntu lucid (development branch), kernel 2.6.32-14-generic kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-14-generic rootfstype=ext4 root=/dev/sda1 ro vga=795 quiet splash quiet
Performing the same test as above (removal of initrd.img and modification of GRUB's menu.lst) using 2.6.32-14-generic further confirms that the issue is with something that gets included in the initramfs image.
The relevant GRUB menu excerpt:
title Ubuntu lucid (development branch), kernel 2.6.32-14-generic 2.6.32- 14-generic rootfstype=ext4 root=/dev/sda1 ro vga=795 quiet splash
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-
quiet