> rpc.bootparamd doesn't understand /etc/bootparams files with > comment lines in them. The default /etc/bootparams has comment > lines. rpc.bootparamd tries to interpret the # character as a > hostname.
Why hasn't this bug been fixed? It was reported 240 days ago and it took me more than an hour to find it out on my own yesterday. There's a fix in the original bug report: http://www.debian.org/Bugs/db/33/33218.html