diff --git a/backend/api/test-render.php b/backend/api/test-render.php
index 797c6b1..abc709a 100644
--- a/backend/api/test-render.php
+++ b/backend/api/test-render.php
@@ -1,28 +1,59 @@
 <?php
 header('Content-Type: application/json');
 
-$fontDir = __DIR__ . '/../fonts';
-$roboto = $fontDir . '/Roboto-Bold.ttf';
-$lora = $fontDir . '/Lora-Bold.ttf';
+// Capture PHP errors/warnings
+$errors = [];
+set_error_handler(function($errno, $errstr, $errfile, $errline) use (&$errors) {
+    $errors[] = [
+        'level' => $errno,
+        'message' => $errstr,
+        'file' => $errfile,
+        'line' => $errline
+    ];
+    return true;
+});
 
-$results = [];
+require_once __DIR__ . '/../includes/WhatsApp.php';
+
+// Trigger download if any fonts are missing
+try {
+    WhatsAppClient::generateOtpImageBase64('123');
+} catch (\Throwable $e) {
+    $errors[] = ['exception' => $e->getMessage()];
+}
+
+$fontDir = realpath(__DIR__ . '/../fonts');
+$roboto = $fontDir ? $fontDir . '/Roboto-Bold.ttf' : '';
+$lora = $fontDir ? $fontDir . '/Lora-Bold.ttf' : '';
+
+$results = [
+    'font_dir' => $fontDir,
+    'roboto_path' => $roboto,
+    'lora_path' => $lora,
+    'roboto_exists' => file_exists($roboto),
+    'lora_exists' => file_exists($lora),
+    'php_errors_during_init' => $errors
+];
+
+// Reset captured errors for rendering phase
+$errors = [];
 
 $im = imagecreatetruecolor(100, 100);
 $color = imagecolorallocate($im, 0, 0, 0);
 
 function testFont($im, $fontPath, $color) {
-    if (!file_exists($fontPath)) {
+    if (!$fontPath || !file_exists($fontPath)) {
         return ['error' => 'File does not exist'];
     }
     
     $fontResults = [];
     for ($i = 0; $i <= 9; $i++) {
-        // Attempt to render the digit using imagettftext
-        $res = @imagettftext($im, 12, 0, 10, 50, $color, $fontPath, (string)$i);
+        // Run WITHOUT @ to trigger the error handler
+        $res = imagettftext($im, 12, 0, 10, 50, $color, $fontPath, (string)$i);
         if ($res === false) {
-            $fontResults[$i] = 'Failed (returned false)';
+            $fontResults[$i] = 'Failed';
         } else {
-            $fontResults[$i] = 'Success: ' . json_encode($res);
+            $fontResults[$i] = 'Success';
         }
     }
     return $fontResults;
@@ -30,6 +61,7 @@ function testFont($im, $fontPath, $color) {
 
 $results['Roboto-Bold.ttf'] = testFont($im, $roboto, $color);
 $results['Lora-Bold.ttf'] = testFont($im, $lora, $color);
+$results['rendering_errors'] = $errors;
 
 imagedestroy($im);
 
diff --git a/backend/includes/WhatsApp.php b/backend/includes/WhatsApp.php
index 5bef0c3..fd417d4 100644
--- a/backend/includes/WhatsApp.php
+++ b/backend/includes/WhatsApp.php
@@ -108,6 +108,11 @@ class WhatsAppClient {
         if (!is_dir($fontDir)) {
             @mkdir($fontDir, 0755, true);
         }
+        $fontDir = realpath($fontDir);
+
+        if (!$fontDir) {
+            return;
+        }
 
         $fonts = [
             'Roboto-Bold.ttf' => 'https://github.com/google/fonts/raw/main/apache/roboto/static/Roboto-Bold.ttf',
@@ -166,15 +171,17 @@ class WhatsAppClient {
         $useTtf = false;
         $availableFonts = [];
         if (function_exists('imagettftext')) {
-            $fontDir = __DIR__ . '/../fonts';
-            if (file_exists($fontDir . '/Roboto-Bold.ttf') && @filesize($fontDir . '/Roboto-Bold.ttf') > 20000) {
-                $availableFonts[] = $fontDir . '/Roboto-Bold.ttf';
-            }
-            if (file_exists($fontDir . '/Lora-Bold.ttf') && @filesize($fontDir . '/Lora-Bold.ttf') > 20000) {
-                $availableFonts[] = $fontDir . '/Lora-Bold.ttf';
-            }
-            if (!empty($availableFonts)) {
-                $useTtf = true;
+            $fontDir = realpath(__DIR__ . '/../fonts');
+            if ($fontDir) {
+                if (file_exists($fontDir . '/Roboto-Bold.ttf') && @filesize($fontDir . '/Roboto-Bold.ttf') > 20000) {
+                    $availableFonts[] = $fontDir . '/Roboto-Bold.ttf';
+                }
+                if (file_exists($fontDir . '/Lora-Bold.ttf') && @filesize($fontDir . '/Lora-Bold.ttf') > 20000) {
+                    $availableFonts[] = $fontDir . '/Lora-Bold.ttf';
+                }
+                if (!empty($availableFonts)) {
+                    $useTtf = true;
+                }
             }
         }