diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
index cf0437126..614dbc2f2 100755
--- a/install.sh
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -16,61 +16,120 @@ WAIT_TIMEOUT=300
 log(){ printf "\e[1;32m%s\e[0m\n" "$*"; }
 die(){ printf "\e[1;31m❌ %s\e[0m\n" "$*" >&2; exit 1; }
 
+wait_for_service() {
+  local url="$1"
+  local pattern="$2"
+  local timeout="$3"
+  local name="$4"
+  local start ts
+  log "⏳  Waiting for ${name}…"
+  start=$(date +%s)
+  while true; do
+    if curl --retry 5 --retry-delay 1 --retry-max-time "$timeout" --retry-all-errors --silent --fail "$url" 2>/dev/null | grep -q "$pattern"; then
+      break
+    fi
+    ts=$(date +%s)
+    if (( ts - start >= timeout )); then
+      return 1
+    fi
+    printf '.'
+    sleep 1
+  done
+  return 0
+}
+
 if command -v docker &> /dev/null; then
   ENGINE="docker"
-  HOST_DNS="host.docker.internal"
 elif command -v podman &> /dev/null; then
   ENGINE="podman"
-  HOST_DNS="host.containers.internal"
 else
   die "Docker or Podman is required. Install Docker: https://docs.docker.com/get-docker/ or Podman: https://podman.io/getting-started/installation"
 fi
 
+# Explicitly set the platform for the host architecture
+HOST_ARCH="$(uname -m)"
+if [ "$HOST_ARCH" = "arm64" ]; then
+  if [ "$ENGINE" = "docker" ]; then
+    PLATFORM_OPTS=( --platform linux/amd64 )
+  else
+    PLATFORM_OPTS=( --os linux --arch amd64 )
+  fi
+else
+  PLATFORM_OPTS=()
+fi
+
+# macOS + Podman: ensure VM is running before we try to launch containers
+# If you need GPU passthrough under Podman on macOS, init the VM with libkrun:
+#   CONTAINERS_MACHINE_PROVIDER=libkrun podman machine init
+if [ "$ENGINE" = "podman" ] && [ "$(uname -s)" = "Darwin" ]; then
+  if ! podman info &>/dev/null; then
+    log "⌛️ Initializing Podman VM…"
+    podman machine init &>/dev/null || true
+    podman machine start &>/dev/null || true
+
+    log "⌛️  Waiting for Podman API…"
+    until podman info &>/dev/null; do
+      sleep 1
+    done
+    log "✅  Podman VM is up"
+  fi
+fi
+
 # Clean up any leftovers from earlier runs
 for name in ollama-server llama-stack; do
   ids=$($ENGINE ps -aq --filter "name=^${name}$")
   if [ -n "$ids" ]; then
-    log "⚠️   Found existing container(s) for '${name}', removing..."
-    $ENGINE rm -f "$ids"
+    log "⚠️   Found existing container(s) for '${name}', removing…"
+    $ENGINE rm -f "$ids" > /dev/null 2>&1
   fi
 done
 
+###############################################################################
+# 0. Create a shared network
+###############################################################################
+if ! $ENGINE network inspect llama-net >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  log "🌐  Creating network…"
+  $ENGINE network create llama-net >/dev/null 2>&1
+fi
+
 ###############################################################################
 # 1. Ollama
 ###############################################################################
 log "🦙  Starting Ollama…"
-$ENGINE run -d --name ollama-server \
-  -p "${OLLAMA_PORT}:11434" \
+$ENGINE run -d "${PLATFORM_OPTS[@]}" --name ollama-server \
+  --network llama-net \
+  -p "${OLLAMA_PORT}:${OLLAMA_PORT}" \
   ollama/ollama > /dev/null 2>&1
 
-log "⏳  Waiting for Ollama daemon…"
-if ! timeout "$WAIT_TIMEOUT" bash -c \
-    "until curl -fsS http://localhost:${OLLAMA_PORT}/ 2>/dev/null | grep -q 'Ollama'; do sleep 1; done"; then
+if ! wait_for_service "http://localhost:${OLLAMA_PORT}/" "Ollama" "$WAIT_TIMEOUT" "Ollama daemon"; then
   log "❌  Ollama daemon did not become ready in ${WAIT_TIMEOUT}s; dumping container logs:"
-  $ENGINE logs ollama-server --tail=200
+  $ENGINE logs --tail 200 ollama-server
   die "Ollama startup failed"
 fi
 
-log "📦  Ensuring model is pulled: ${MODEL_ALIAS}..."
-$ENGINE exec ollama-server ollama pull "${MODEL_ALIAS}" > /dev/null 2>&1
+log "📦  Ensuring model is pulled: ${MODEL_ALIAS}…"
+if ! $ENGINE exec ollama-server ollama pull "${MODEL_ALIAS}" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+  log "❌  Failed to pull model ${MODEL_ALIAS}; dumping container logs:"
+  $ENGINE logs --tail 200 ollama-server
+  die "Model pull failed"
+fi
 
 ###############################################################################
 # 2. Llama‑Stack
 ###############################################################################
-log "🦙📦  Starting Llama‑Stack…"
-$ENGINE run -d --name llama-stack \
-  -p "${PORT}:${PORT}" \
-  --add-host="${HOST_DNS}:host-gateway" \
-  "${SERVER_IMAGE}" \
-  --port "${PORT}" \
-  --env INFERENCE_MODEL="${MODEL_ALIAS}" \
-  --env OLLAMA_URL="http://${HOST_DNS}:${OLLAMA_PORT}" > /dev/null 2>&1
+cmd=( run -d "${PLATFORM_OPTS[@]}" --name llama-stack \
+      --network llama-net \
+      -p "${PORT}:${PORT}" \
+      "${SERVER_IMAGE}" --port "${PORT}" \
+      --env INFERENCE_MODEL="${MODEL_ALIAS}" \
+      --env OLLAMA_URL="http://ollama-server:${OLLAMA_PORT}" )
 
-log "⏳  Waiting for Llama-Stack API…"
-if ! timeout "$WAIT_TIMEOUT" bash -c \
-  "until curl -fsS http://localhost:${PORT}/v1/health 2>/dev/null | grep -q 'OK'; do sleep 1; done"; then
+log "🦙  Starting Llama‑Stack…"
+$ENGINE "${cmd[@]}" > /dev/null 2>&1
+
+if ! wait_for_service "http://127.0.0.1:${PORT}/v1/health" "OK" "$WAIT_TIMEOUT" "Llama-Stack API"; then
   log "❌  Llama-Stack did not become ready in ${WAIT_TIMEOUT}s; dumping container logs:"
-  $ENGINE logs llama-stack --tail=200
+  $ENGINE logs --tail 200 llama-stack
   die "Llama-Stack startup failed"
 fi