What is in your /etc/inittab?
Since your init= value is point at init, that is the program that is first ran when the system boots. The traditional init, uses the /etc/inittab to configure what happens next. Your inittab will look something like this on a stock Debian setup.
# The default runlevel. id:2:initdefault: # Boot-time system configuration/initialization script. # This is run first except when booting in emergency (-b) mode. si::sysinit:/etc/init.d/rcS # /etc/init.d executes the S and K scripts upon change # of runlevel. # # Runlevel 0 is halt. # Runlevel 1 is single-user. # Runlevels 2-5 are multi-user. l0:0:wait:/etc/init.d/rc 0 l1:1:wait:/etc/init.d/rc 1 l2:2:wait:/etc/init.d/rc 2 The output of /proc/cmdline would also confirm what boot parameters are being passed to the kernel.