diff --git a/shell/windows/LayersShell/MainWindow.xaml.cs b/shell/windows/LayersShell/MainWindow.xaml.cs
index 3b27cea..8cf4bb0 100644
--- a/shell/windows/LayersShell/MainWindow.xaml.cs
+++ b/shell/windows/LayersShell/MainWindow.xaml.cs
@@ -124,17 +124,28 @@ public sealed partial class MainWindow : Window
         var scale = (float)RenderSurface.CompositionScaleX;
         var width = (float)RenderSurface.ActualWidth;
         var height = (float)RenderSurface.ActualHeight;
-        if (width <= 0 || height <= 0 || scale <= 0) return;
+        App.Log($"CreateNativeHandle: w={width} h={height} scale={scale}");
+        if (width <= 0 || height <= 0 || scale <= 0)
+        {
+            App.Log("CreateNativeHandle: skipped (panel not laid out yet)");
+            return;
+        }
 
-        // wgpu's dx12 backend wants an ISwapChainPanelNative*, not the raw IUnknown.
         var iid = typeof(ISwapChainPanelNative).GUID;
         var unknown = Marshal.GetIUnknownForObject(RenderSurface);
         IntPtr native = IntPtr.Zero;
         try
         {
             int hr = Marshal.QueryInterface(unknown, in iid, out native);
+            App.Log($"QueryInterface hr=0x{hr:X} native=0x{native.ToInt64():X}");
             if (hr < 0 || native == IntPtr.Zero) return;
             _handle = LayersNative.layers_create_from_swap_chain_panel(native, width, height, scale);
+            App.Log($"layers_create_from_swap_chain_panel -> 0x{_handle.ToInt64():X}");
+        }
+        catch (Exception ex)
+        {
+            App.Log($"CreateNativeHandle threw: {ex}");
+            throw;
         }
         finally
         {
diff --git a/shell/windows/LayersShell/Program.cs b/shell/windows/LayersShell/Program.cs
index 2954758..a7c73b5 100644
--- a/shell/windows/LayersShell/Program.cs
+++ b/shell/windows/LayersShell/Program.cs
@@ -15,14 +15,14 @@ public static class Program
         {
             WinRT.ComWrappersSupport.InitializeComWrappers();
             App.Log("ComWrappers initialised");
-            Application.Start(_ =>
+            Application.Start(p =>
             {
                 App.Log("Application.Start callback enter");
                 var ctx = new DispatcherQueueSynchronizationContext(DispatcherQueue.GetForCurrentThread());
                 SynchronizationContext.SetSynchronizationContext(ctx);
                 App.Log("SyncContext set — creating App");
-                _ = new App();
-                App.Log("App instance created");
+                var app = new App();
+                App.Log($"App instance created ({app.GetType().Name})");
             });
             App.Log("Application.Start returned");
         }