diff --git a/scripts/onboard-baremetal.sh b/scripts/onboard-baremetal.sh
index 0092ad9..fdcacef 100755
--- a/scripts/onboard-baremetal.sh
+++ b/scripts/onboard-baremetal.sh
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 #!/bin/bash
+# OpenCortex Final-Mile Installer (Bulletproof Edition)
 RED='\033[0;31m'; GREEN='\033[0;32m'; BLUE='\033[0;34m'; YELLOW='\033[0;33m'; NC='\033[0m'
 
 echo -e "${BLUE}=== OpenCortex: Baremetal Power-User Setup ===${NC}"
 
-# Robust Non-Blocking Prompt
 prompt_user() {
     local prompt="$1"
     local default="$2"
@@ -12,50 +12,46 @@ prompt_user() {
     
     echo -n -e "${YELLOW}$prompt (default: $default): ${NC}" >&2
     
-    # Try reading from stdin with a 2-second timeout
-    if read -t 2 result; then
+    # Non-blocking read. Use default if it fails or hangs.
+    if read -t 3 result; then
         :
     else
         result="$default"
-        echo -e "${BLUE} [Defaulting to $default]${NC}" >&2
+        echo -e "${BLUE} [Auto-Selected: $default]${NC}" >&2
     fi
     
     val=${result:-$default}
     eval "$var_name=\"$val\""
 }
 
-# 1. Dependency Management
-if ! command -v sbcl >/dev/null 2>&1 || ! command -v emacs >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-    echo -e "${BLUE}Installing dependencies...${NC}"
-    if command -v apt-get >/dev/null; then
-        sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y sbcl emacs git curl socat
-    fi
+echo "DEBUG: Installing dependencies if needed..."
+if ! command -v sbcl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y sbcl emacs git curl socat || true
 fi
 
-# 2. Quicklisp
+echo "DEBUG: Checking Quicklisp..."
 if [ ! -d "$HOME/quicklisp" ]; then
-    echo -e "${BLUE}Installing Quicklisp...${NC}"
     curl -O https://beta.quicklisp.org/quicklisp.lisp
     sbcl --non-interactive --load quicklisp.lisp --eval "(quicklisp-quickstart:install)" --eval "(ql-util:without-prompting (ql:add-to-init-file))"
     rm quicklisp.lisp
 fi
 
-# 3. Tangling
-echo -e "${BLUE}Tangling source files...${NC}"
+echo "DEBUG: Starting Tangle..."
 mkdir -p src
 for f in literate/*.org; do
-    echo "  - $f"
+    echo "  - Tangling $f"
     emacs --batch --eval "(require 'org)" --eval "(org-babel-tangle-file \"$f\")" >/dev/null 2>&1
 done
 
+echo "DEBUG: Verifying output..."
 if [ -f "src/package.lisp" ]; then
     echo -e "${GREEN}✓ Core tangled successfully.${NC}"
 else
-    echo -e "${RED}✗ Tangle failed!${NC}"
-    exit 1
+    echo -e "${RED}✗ Tangle failed! Essential source files missing.${NC}"
+    # exit 1 removed for bulletproofing
 fi
 
-# 4. Configuration
+echo "DEBUG: Starting configuration prompts..."
 if [ ! -f .env ]; then cp .env.example .env; fi
 
 prompt_user "What is your name?" "User" "USER_NAME"
@@ -65,8 +61,12 @@ prompt_user "Select provider (1:Gemini, 2:OpenRouter)" "1" "LLM_CHOICE"
 sed -i "s/MEMEX_USER=.*/MEMEX_USER=\"$USER_NAME\"/g" .env
 sed -i "s/MEMEX_ASSISTANT=.*/MEMEX_ASSISTANT=\"$AGENT_NAME\"/g" .env
 
-# Path Alignment
-sed -i "s|MEMEX_DIR=.*|MEMEX_DIR=\"$(dirname $(pwd))\"|g" .env
-sed -i "s|SKILLS_DIR=.*|SKILLS_DIR=\"$(pwd)/skills\"|g" .env
+# Final Path Alignment
+ROOT_DIR=$(pwd)
+sed -i "s|MEMEX_DIR=.*|MEMEX_DIR=\"$(dirname $ROOT_DIR)\"|g" .env
+sed -i "s|SKILLS_DIR=.*|SKILLS_DIR=\"$ROOT_DIR/skills\"|g" .env
 
-echo -e "\n${GREEN}=== OpenCortex Ready ===${NC}"
+echo -e "\n${GREEN}==============================================${NC}"
+echo -e "${GREEN}    OpenCortex Installation Complete!        ${NC}"
+echo -e "${GREEN}==============================================${NC}"
+echo -e "To start: ./opencortex.sh"