diff --git a/src/hooks/hook-ethernet-dhcp.sh b/src/hooks/hook-ethernet-dhcp.sh
index 8ecf948..8af9661 100644
--- a/src/hooks/hook-ethernet-dhcp.sh
+++ b/src/hooks/hook-ethernet-dhcp.sh
@@ -3,11 +3,15 @@
 set -e
 
 # setup systemd-resolved
-systemctl start systemd-resolved.service
+systemctl start systemd-resolved.service || return
 systemctl enable systemd-resolved.service
 ln -sf /var/run/systemd/resolve/resolv.conf /etc/resolv.conf
 
+# determine first ethernet device
+eth="$(basename "$(find /sys/class/net/ -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -iname 'e*' | head -n1)")"
+[ -n "$eth" ] || eth="eth0"
+
 # setup netctl for ethernet-dhcp
-cp /etc/netctl/examples/ethernet-dhcp /etc/netctl/
-netctl start ethernet-dhcp
+sed "s/eth0/$eth/" /etc/netctl/examples/ethernet-dhcp > /etc/netctl/ethernet-dhcp
+netctl start ethernet-dhcp || return
 netctl enable ethernet-dhcp
diff --git a/src/pvmboot.sh b/src/pvmboot.sh
index aaa4aeb..0c89e37 100644
--- a/src/pvmboot.sh
+++ b/src/pvmboot.sh
@@ -193,6 +193,9 @@ main() {
   qemu_args+=("$@")
 
   (set -x; qemu-system-"$arch" "${qemu_args[@]}")
+
+  # clean up the terminal, in case SeaBIOS did something weird
+  echo -n "[?7h"
   pvm_umount
 }
 
diff --git a/src/pvmbootstrap.sh b/src/pvmbootstrap.sh
index 4993e8a..b964ef3 100644
--- a/src/pvmbootstrap.sh
+++ b/src/pvmbootstrap.sh
@@ -193,9 +193,17 @@ EOF
   # install a boot loader
   case "$arch" in
     i686|x86_64)
-      # install grub to the VM
-      sudo sed -i 's/^GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=.*/GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="console=tty0 console=ttyS0"/' \
+      # enable serial console
+      local field=GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT
+      local value="console=tty0 console=ttyS0"
+      sudo sed -i "s/.*$field=.*/$field=\"$value\"/" \
         "$workdir"/etc/default/grub || return
+      # disable boot menu timeout
+      local field=GRUB_TIMEOUT
+      local value=0
+      sudo sed -i "s/.*$field=.*/$field=$value/" \
+        "$workdir"/etc/default/grub || return
+      # install grub to the VM
       sudo arch-chroot "$workdir" grub-install --target=i386-pc "$loopdev" || return
       sudo arch-chroot "$workdir" grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg || return
       ;;
@@ -248,6 +256,8 @@ done
 rm -rf /root/hooks
 rm -f /root/hooks.sh
 rm -f /usr/lib/systemd/system/preinit.service
+
+echo "preinit hooks successful"
 EOF
 
   # create a preinit service to run the hooks
@@ -275,14 +285,26 @@ EOF
 
   # boot the machine, and run the preinit scripts
   local qemu_flags=(-no-reboot)
+  local pvmboot
   if [ -f "./src/pvmboot.sh" ]; then
-    DISPLAY='' bash ./src/pvmboot.sh "$file" "${qemu_flags[@]}" || return
+    pvmboot=(bash ./src/pvmboot.sh)
   elif type -p pvmboot &>/dev/null; then
-    DISPLAY='' pvmboot "$file" "${qemu_flags[@]}" || return
+    pvmboot=(pvmboot)
   else
     error "%s: pvmboot not available -- unable to run hooks" "$file"
     return "$EXIT_FAILURE"
   fi
+
+  exec 3>&1
+  DISPLAY='' "${pvmboot[@]}" "$file" "${qemu_flags[@]}" \
+    | tee /dev/fd/3 | grep -q "preinit hooks successful"
+  local res=$?
+  exec 3>&-
+
+  if [ "$res" -ne 0 ]; then
+    error "%s: failed to complete preinit hooks" "$file"
+    return "$res"
+  fi
 }
 
 pvm_cleanup() {