diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index aca50d5..e9fed03 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
-use anyhow::{Context, Result};
+use anyhow::{Context, Result, bail};
 use clap::{Parser, Subcommand};
+use flate2::write::GzEncoder;
 use std::fs::{self, File};
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 use std::process::{Command, Stdio};
 
 #[derive(Parser, Debug)]
-#[command(name = "slim")]
 #[command(about = "Build bootable initrd VMs from container images")]
 struct Cli {
     #[command(subcommand)]
@@ -42,10 +42,15 @@ fn main() -> Result<()> {
     Ok(())
 }
 
-fn registry_dir(image: &str) -> PathBuf {
+fn registry_dir(image: &str) -> Result<PathBuf> {
     let base = xdg::BaseDirectories::with_prefix("slim-rs");
-    let initrd_path = base.place_data_file(format!("registry/{}/initrd", image));
-    initrd_path.unwrap().parent().unwrap().to_path_buf()
+    let initrd_path = base
+        .place_data_file(format!("registry/{}/initrd", image))
+        .context("Failed to write to XDG_DATA_HOME")?;
+    Ok(initrd_path
+        .parent()
+        .expect("data file has a parent")
+        .to_owned())
 }
 
 fn build(image: &str) -> Result<()> {
@@ -75,7 +80,7 @@ fn mount_image(image: &str) -> Result<PathBuf> {
         .context("Failed to run podman image mount")?;
     let mount_path = String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stdout).trim().to_string();
     if !output.status.success() || mount_path.is_empty() {
-        anyhow::bail!(
+        bail!(
             "podman image mount failed: {}",
             String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr).trim()
         );
@@ -95,12 +100,10 @@ fn build_artifacts(image: &str, mount_path: &Path) -> Result<()> {
         .status()
         .context("Failed to check for /vmlinuz inside the image mount")?;
     if !has_kernel.success() {
-        anyhow::bail!(
-            "Image missing required /vmlinuz. Place kernel at /vmlinuz in Containerfile."
-        );
+        bail!("Image missing required /vmlinuz. Place kernel at /vmlinuz in Containerfile.");
     }
 
-    let reg_dir = registry_dir(image);
+    let reg_dir = registry_dir(image)?;
     fs::create_dir_all(&reg_dir)?;
     println!("Registry: {}", reg_dir.display());
 
@@ -116,7 +119,7 @@ fn build_artifacts(image: &str, mount_path: &Path) -> Result<()> {
         .status()
         .context("Failed to copy vmlinuz out of the image mount")?;
     if !cp_status.success() {
-        anyhow::bail!("Failed to copy vmlinuz to registry");
+        bail!("Failed to copy vmlinuz to registry");
     }
     println!("Copied vmlinuz -> {}", vmlinuz_dst.display());
 
@@ -132,7 +135,7 @@ fn build_artifacts(image: &str, mount_path: &Path) -> Result<()> {
         .context("Failed to spawn the cpio pipeline")?;
 
     let initrd_file = File::create(&initrd_path).context("Failed to create initrd file")?;
-    let mut encoder = flate2::write::GzEncoder::new(initrd_file, flate2::Compression::default());
+    let mut encoder = GzEncoder::new(initrd_file, flate2::Compression::default());
     let cpio_stdout = cpio.stdout.take().context("cpio stdout was not piped")?;
     let copied = std::io::copy(&mut std::io::BufReader::new(cpio_stdout), &mut encoder);
     let stream_result = copied
@@ -148,7 +151,7 @@ fn build_artifacts(image: &str, mount_path: &Path) -> Result<()> {
     }
     if !cpio_status.success() {
         let _ = fs::remove_file(&initrd_path);
-        anyhow::bail!("find/cpio pipeline failed with status {cpio_status}");
+        bail!("find/cpio pipeline failed with status {cpio_status}");
     }
     println!("Created initrd -> {}", initrd_path.display());
 
@@ -156,11 +159,11 @@ fn build_artifacts(image: &str, mount_path: &Path) -> Result<()> {
 }
 
 fn run(name: &str) -> Result<()> {
-    let reg_dir = registry_dir(name);
+    let reg_dir = registry_dir(name)?;
     let vmlinuz_path = reg_dir.join("vmlinuz");
     let initrd_path = reg_dir.join("initrd");
     if !vmlinuz_path.exists() || !initrd_path.exists() {
-        anyhow::bail!(
+        bail!(
             "Registry missing vmlinuz/initrd for '{}'. Run `slim build` first.",
             name
         );
@@ -171,34 +174,36 @@ fn run(name: &str) -> Result<()> {
         vmlinuz_path.display(),
         initrd_path.display()
     );
+
+    let cmdline = [
+        "console=ttyS0,115200",
+        "root=/dev/ram0",
+        "rw",
+        "earlyprintk=serial",
+        "nokaslr",
+        "raid=noautodetect",
+    ]
+    .join(" ");
+
     // Launch with a 5-second timeout for quick smoke verification
-    let status = Command::new("timeout")
-        .args([
-            "5",
-            "qemu-system-x86_64",
-            "-m",
-            "256",
-            "-nographic",
-            "-kernel",
-            vmlinuz_path.to_str().unwrap(),
-            "-initrd",
-            initrd_path.to_str().unwrap(),
-            "-append",
-            "console=ttyS0",
-        ])
+    let status = Command::new("qemu-system-x86_64")
+        .args(["-m", "1024M"])
+        .arg("-kernel")
+        .arg(vmlinuz_path.as_os_str())
+        .arg("-initrd")
+        .arg(initrd_path.as_os_str())
+        .args(["-append", &cmdline])
+        .args(["-nographic"])
         .status()
         .context("Failed to launch qemu-system-x86_64")?;
 
-    // `timeout` exits 124 when it kills QEMU after the 5s smoke-test
-    // window; any other non-zero status is a real failure.
     match status.code() {
         Some(0) => println!("QEMU exited cleanly."),
-        Some(124) => println!("QEMU timed out after 5s (expected during smoke boot)."),
         Some(126) | Some(127) => {
-            anyhow::bail!("Failed to start qemu-system-x86_64 (is it installed and in PATH?)")
+            bail!("Failed to start qemu-system-x86_64 (is it installed and in PATH?)")
         }
-        Some(code) => anyhow::bail!("QEMU exited with code {code}"),
-        None => anyhow::bail!("QEMU terminated by a signal"),
+        Some(code) => bail!("QEMU exited with code {code}"),
+        None => bail!("QEMU terminated by a signal"),
     }
     Ok(())
 }