(In reply to comment #8)
> Did you re-generate the initrd after installing the missing firmware?
> 
> If the problem is the missing firmware, it should continue booting after
> three minutes or so. Have you waited that long?

Yes. And just to be sure, I rebuilt the kernel tonight and reinstalled it (with
a new generated initramfs). I also decompressed the initramfs file and had a
look if the firmware had been packaged. There it was.

Also, it never timed out, it sat there for ever (I took time to have dinner).