diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index b46ac1d..4a027ed 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -51,33 +51,51 @@ jobs:
           tar -xJf /tmp/ow-snapshot.tar.xz -C ~/openwatcom-v2
           rm -f /tmp/ow-snapshot.tar.xz
 
+      - name: Configure OpenWatcom env
+        run: |
+          # Generate the setvars.sh that build_dos.sh sources automatically.
+          # The cache step skips its creation step so this also runs on
+          # cache hits; -f overwrites without complaint.
+          cat > ~/openwatcom-v2/setvars.sh <<'EOF'
+          export WATCOM=$HOME/openwatcom-v2
+          export PATH=$WATCOM/binl64:$WATCOM/binl:$PATH
+          export EDPATH=$WATCOM/eddat
+          export INCLUDE=$WATCOM/h
+          EOF
+          chmod +x ~/openwatcom-v2/setvars.sh
+          # Also export to subsequent steps directly so a missing
+          # setvars.sh on a future runner doesn't silently break the build.
+          {
+            echo "WATCOM=$HOME/openwatcom-v2"
+            echo "EDPATH=$HOME/openwatcom-v2/eddat"
+            echo "INCLUDE=$HOME/openwatcom-v2/h"
+          } >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+          echo "$HOME/openwatcom-v2/binl64" >> "$GITHUB_PATH"
+          echo "$HOME/openwatcom-v2/binl"   >> "$GITHUB_PATH"
+
       - name: Build 16-bit DOS target
-        run: ./build_dos.sh 16
+        run: |
+          ./build_dos.sh 16
+          mkdir -p .ci-stash
+          cp gwbasic16.exe .ci-stash/
 
       - name: Build 32-bit DOS target
         run: |
           ./build_dos.sh clean
           ./build_dos.sh 32
+          cp gwbasic.exe .ci-stash/
 
       - name: Verify binary sizes look sane
         run: |
-          test -f gwbasic.exe
-          # 32-bit LE executable; should be a few hundred KB
-          size=$(stat -c%s gwbasic.exe)
-          echo "gwbasic.exe = $size bytes"
-          [ "$size" -gt 100000 ] && [ "$size" -lt 500000 ]
-          # Rebuild 16-bit too for the artifact upload
-          ./build_dos.sh clean
-          ./build_dos.sh 16
-          test -f gwbasic16.exe
-          size16=$(stat -c%s gwbasic16.exe)
+          size16=$(stat -c%s .ci-stash/gwbasic16.exe)
+          size32=$(stat -c%s .ci-stash/gwbasic.exe)
           echo "gwbasic16.exe = $size16 bytes"
-          [ "$size16" -gt 80000 ] && [ "$size16" -lt 200000 ]
+          echo "gwbasic.exe   = $size32 bytes"
+          [ "$size16" -gt 80000 ]  && [ "$size16" -lt 200000 ]
+          [ "$size32" -gt 100000 ] && [ "$size32" -lt 500000 ]
 
       - name: Upload DOS artifacts
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
         with:
           name: dos-binaries
-          path: |
-            gwbasic16.exe
-            gwbasic.exe
+          path: .ci-stash/*.exe
diff --git a/docs/getting-started.md b/docs/getting-started.md
index c3d2467..5829e14 100644
--- a/docs/getting-started.md
+++ b/docs/getting-started.md
@@ -102,6 +102,12 @@ build/gwbasic-compile program.bas
 build/gwbasic-compile -c --runtime . program.bas
 ```
 
+Both numbered (`10 PRINT "HI"`) and unnumbered (`PRINT "HI"`) sources
+compile.  Unnumbered lines get auto-assigned numbers (10, 20, 30, ...) so
+the analysis pass and codegen can produce labeled statements; explicit
+line numbers are preserved.  Direct-mode scratchpad scripts and classic
+"just a list of statements" programs compile without manual renumbering.
+
 ### Compiler Options
 
 ```
diff --git a/src/codegen.c b/src/codegen.c
index e6fd455..4809e7e 100644
--- a/src/codegen.c
+++ b/src/codegen.c
@@ -486,19 +486,19 @@ static void emit_atom(void)
         if (xfunc == XFUNC_CVI) {
             EMIT("gw_fn_cvi(&(gw_value_t){.type=VT_STR,.sval=");
             if (cur() == '(') advance();
-            emit_str_atom();
+            emit_str_expr();
             if (cur() == ')') advance();
             EMIT("}).ival");
         } else if (xfunc == XFUNC_CVS) {
             EMIT("gw_fn_cvs(&(gw_value_t){.type=VT_STR,.sval=");
             if (cur() == '(') advance();
-            emit_str_atom();
+            emit_str_expr();
             if (cur() == ')') advance();
             EMIT("}).fval");
         } else if (xfunc == XFUNC_CVD) {
             EMIT("gw_fn_cvd(&(gw_value_t){.type=VT_STR,.sval=");
             if (cur() == '(') advance();
-            emit_str_atom();
+            emit_str_expr();
             if (cur() == ')') advance();
             EMIT("}).dval");
         } else {
@@ -823,20 +823,21 @@ static void emit_num_prec(int min_prec)
         /* For string comparisons, emit strcmp-based code */
         bool is_relational = cop || op == TOK_GT || op == TOK_LT || op == TOK_EQ;
         if (is_relational && left_type == VT_STR) {
-            /* Re-emit left as string (it was emitted as numeric atom) */
+            /* Re-emit left as a full string expression (was emitted as numeric
+             * atom); emit_str_expr stops at the comparison op since it only
+             * consumes TOK_PLUS. */
             uint8_t *save_tp = tp;
             tp = left_start;
             char *left_str;
             { FILE *orig = out; char *buf = NULL; size_t sz = 0;
               out = open_memstream(&buf, &sz);
-              emit_str_atom();
+              emit_str_expr();
               fclose(out); out = orig; left_str = buf; }
             tp = save_tp;
-            /* Buffer right as string expression */
             char *right_str;
             { FILE *orig = out; char *buf = NULL; size_t sz = 0;
               out = open_memstream(&buf, &sz);
-              emit_str_atom();
+              emit_str_expr();
               fclose(out); out = orig; right_str = buf; }
             const char *cmpop = cop ? cop : binop_c(op);
             char *combined = NULL; size_t csz = 0;
diff --git a/tests/run_freedos_qemu.sh b/tests/run_freedos_qemu.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..906ed72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/run_freedos_qemu.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Launch a FreeDOS 1.4 QEMU VM with gwbasic16.exe and the smoke test on a
+# FAT disk image, for manual verification of the BIOS-rendered TUI.
+#
+# Usage:  bash tests/run_freedos_qemu.sh
+#
+# The script is *not* a self-contained automated smoke test — DOS doesn't
+# pipe console input cleanly enough through QEMU's -serial stdio for that
+# to be reliable, and modern qemu-kvm builds don't expose -fda on the
+# default machine type.  Use tests/run_dos_smoke.sh (DOSBox-X) for the
+# automated smoke; this script is for going through the manual TUI
+# checklist in docs/getting-started.md against bare FreeDOS.
+#
+# Once FreeDOS boots, press a key to skip the boot menu (or wait for the
+# default), then at the C:\> prompt:
+#
+#     C:\> D:
+#     D:\> DIR                       (sanity-check the FAT image is mounted)
+#     D:\> GWBASIC.EXE SMOKE.BAS     (runs the non-interactive smoke)
+#     D:\> TYPE OUT.TXT              (compare against tests/expected/dos_smoke.expected)
+#     D:\> GWBASIC.EXE               (no args -- exercises the TUI editor)
+#
+# Quit QEMU: Ctrl-Alt-G then close the window, or in -nographic mode use
+# the QEMU monitor (Ctrl-A then X).
+set -e
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
+PROJECT_DIR="$(cd "$SCRIPT_DIR/.." && pwd)"
+EXE="$PROJECT_DIR/gwbasic16.exe"
+SMOKE="$SCRIPT_DIR/dos_smoke.bas"
+FREEDOS_IMG="${FREEDOS_IMG:-$HOME/DOS/images/freedos.qcow2}"
+QEMU="${QEMU:-/usr/libexec/qemu-kvm}"
+DATA_IMG="$HOME/.cache/gw-basic-2026/freedos_d.img"
+
+if [ ! -x "$EXE" ]; then
+    echo "ERROR: $EXE not found.  Run ./build_dos.sh 16 first." >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+if [ ! -f "$FREEDOS_IMG" ]; then
+    echo "ERROR: FreeDOS qcow2 not found at $FREEDOS_IMG." >&2
+    echo "Override with FREEDOS_IMG=/path/to/freedos.qcow2" >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+if [ ! -x "$QEMU" ]; then
+    echo "ERROR: qemu-kvm not found at $QEMU.  Override with QEMU=/path/to/qemu" >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "==> Building FAT data image at $DATA_IMG"
+mkdir -p "$(dirname "$DATA_IMG")"
+dd if=/dev/zero of="$DATA_IMG" bs=1M count=8 status=none
+mkfs.vfat "$DATA_IMG" >/dev/null
+mcopy -i "$DATA_IMG" "$EXE"   ::GWBASIC.EXE
+mcopy -i "$DATA_IMG" "$SMOKE" ::SMOKE.BAS
+sed 's/$/\r/' "$SMOKE" > /tmp/_smoke_crlf.bas
+mcopy -i "$DATA_IMG" -o /tmp/_smoke_crlf.bas ::SMOKE.BAS
+rm -f /tmp/_smoke_crlf.bas
+mdir -i "$DATA_IMG"
+
+echo
+echo "==> Launching FreeDOS QEMU.  See header of $0 for the manual test sequence."
+echo "==> Quit: Ctrl-Alt-G, close window. Press Enter to continue."
+read -r
+
+exec "$QEMU" \
+    -machine pc \
+    -cpu max \
+    -m 32 \
+    -hda "$FREEDOS_IMG" \
+    -hdb "$DATA_IMG" \
+    -nic none \
+    -boot c \
+    -display gtk \
+    -rtc base=localtime