diff --git a/lib/common.sh b/lib/common.sh
index adb408d..554fac8 100644
--- a/lib/common.sh
+++ b/lib/common.sh
@@ -91,21 +91,49 @@ ui_quiet_run() {
     local log="${SETUP_DNF_LOG:-/tmp/fedora-setup-dnf.log}"
     local before n
 
-    if ! have_gum; then
+    # Live-quiet mode needs only an interactive terminal (stdin tty + writable
+    # /dev/tty), NOT gum — the progress line is pure bash. Unattended runs and
+    # pipes keep plain full output (logs/cron contract).
+    if [[ "${ASSUME_YES:-false}" == "true" ]] || [ ! -t 0 ] || [ ! -w /dev/tty ]; then
         "$@"
         return $?
     fi
 
     before=$(wc -l < "$log" 2>/dev/null || echo 0)
-    if LOGFILE="$log" gum spin --title "$msg" -- \
-        bash -c 'exec "$@" >>"$LOGFILE" 2>&1' _ "$@"; then
+
+    # Child writes to the log; we draw a LIVE line: spinner frame + the package
+    # dnf is currently working on. gum spin was tried here first but rendered
+    # as a frozen block on the real VM ("looks like it hangs") — this variant
+    # animates independently of gum and shows real progress, not just motion.
+    "$@" >>"$log" 2>&1 &
+    local pid=$!
+    local frames=( '⠋' '⠙' '⠹' '⠸' '⠼' '⠴' '⠦' '⠧' '⠇' '⠏' )
+    local f=0 cur
+    while kill -0 "$pid" 2>/dev/null; do
+        cur=$(sed -n "$((before+1)),\$p" "$log" 2>/dev/null \
+                | grep -E '^(Installing|Upgrading|Downgrading|Removing|Verifying|Preparing|Cleanup):' \
+                | tail -n 1 || true)
+        if [[ -n "$cur" ]]; then
+            printf '\r  %s %s — %s' "${frames[$f]}" "$msg" "$cur" >&2
+        else
+            printf '\r  %s %s' "${frames[$f]}" "$msg" >&2
+        fi
+        f=$(( (f + 1) % ${#frames[@]} ))
+        sleep 0.15
+    done
+
+    local rc=0
+    wait "$pid" || rc=$?
+    # wipe the progress line before printing the result
+    printf '\r%*s\r' 100 '' >&2
+
+    if (( rc == 0 )); then
         n=$(sed -n "$((before+1)),\$p" "$log" 2>/dev/null | grep -c '^Installing:' || true)
         local plural="s"
         (( n == 1 )) && plural=""
         ok "$msg (${n} package${plural})"
         return 0
     else
-        local rc=$?
         color_red "  Failed: $msg"
         color_red "  Last lines from $log:"
         sed -n "$((before+1)),\$p" "$log" 2>/dev/null | tail -n 20 | sed 's/^/    /' >&2