Boot hangs after firmware update I flashed my Samsung Galaxy Ace (GT-S5830) with the Cyanogenmod 7.2 release, the install went fine without any errors.  

Powering the phone on shows a black screen with the word "ANDROID" in white, and it stays there. I left it alone for up to 30 minutes to humor the "may take up to 5 minutes" caveat.

I tried this answer without success (broken link to PDA zip, the one I googled is obviously incorrect). Looking into this issue more, this answer also yields broken links. (Seems a common issue for fast-paced firmware releases. . .)

I cannot seem to find a firmware for GT-S5830, which I could update via Odin. I can still power on into recovery mode, so installing from sd card is also possible, but I'm lost for what to install if the CMod did not work.

Edit: I had the phone reset by the store staff. I am a bit jaded that I could not install a nicer release on it, but hope to get this right next time!
Sounds like you're stuck in a bootloop. If you backed up your phone before you flashed the release, reflash that image. 

If not... Well try reflashing the ROM release. If this still doesn't work, flash an older version of CyanogenMod, or your phones stock, factory ROM.