diff --git a/app/bin/diet_guard_desktop.dart b/app/bin/diet_guard_desktop.dart
index d4a2f61..90b71d8 100644
--- a/app/bin/diet_guard_desktop.dart
+++ b/app/bin/diet_guard_desktop.dart
@@ -103,7 +103,6 @@ Future<bool> _provisionSyncAccount(String home, int port) async {
     '--headless=new',
     '--disable-gpu',
     '--user-data-dir=${_profileDir(home)}',
-    '--virtual-time-budget=45000',
     // Surface the page's own log() output, so a failure inside the app
     // is visible in the terminal that started the provisioning run.
     '--enable-logging=stderr',
diff --git a/app/lib/services/background_sync_service.dart b/app/lib/services/background_sync_service.dart
index 10abd11..29b1dae 100644
--- a/app/lib/services/background_sync_service.dart
+++ b/app/lib/services/background_sync_service.dart
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 /// reconnect and uploads the log without the app being reopened.
 library;
 
+import 'dart:developer';
 import 'package:diet_guard_app/services/app_settings_service.dart';
 import 'package:diet_guard_app/services/budget_history_service.dart';
 import 'package:diet_guard_app/services/firebase_backend.dart';
@@ -41,16 +42,38 @@ Future<bool> backgroundSyncPush({http.Client? httpClient}) async {
   final SyncSettings settings;
   try {
     settings = await SyncSettings.load();
-  } on Exception {
-    return false; // couldn't read config in-isolate; let WorkManager retry
+  } on Exception catch (error, stackTrace) {
+    log(
+      'diet_guard background sync: cannot read config in-isolate',
+      level: 900,
+      error: error,
+      stackTrace: stackTrace,
+    );
+    return false; // let WorkManager retry
+  }
+  // Either backend counts. `isConfigured` means "has a GitHub token", so
+  // gating on it alone silently skips every background push on a device
+  // connected only to Firebase.
+  if (!settings.isConfigured && await openFirebase() == null) {
+    log(
+      'diet_guard background sync: no backend configured; nothing to push',
+      level: 900,
+    );
+    return true; // nothing to push; don't retry
   }
-  if (!settings.isConfigured) return true; // nothing to push; don't retry
   final client = createGitHubClient(settings, httpClient: httpClient);
   try {
     await runSync(await syncBackend(client));
     return true;
-  } on Exception {
-    return false; // offline / transient GitHub error -> retry with backoff
+  } on Exception catch (error, stackTrace) {
+    // Never silent: this is the only signal that a background push failed.
+    log(
+      'diet_guard background sync failed',
+      level: 1000,
+      error: error,
+      stackTrace: stackTrace,
+    );
+    return false; // offline / transient error -> retry with backoff
   } finally {
     client.close();
   }
diff --git a/app/lib/services/firebase_backend.dart b/app/lib/services/firebase_backend.dart
index 8b86649..327b011 100644
--- a/app/lib/services/firebase_backend.dart
+++ b/app/lib/services/firebase_backend.dart
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 /// half. On Android there is no such file.
 library;
 
+import 'dart:developer';
 import 'package:crdt_sync/crdt_sync.dart';
 import 'package:flutter_secure_storage/flutter_secure_storage.dart';
 
@@ -59,9 +60,16 @@ Future<FirebaseAccount?> loadAccount() async {
     final provisioned = await accountFromWrapper(Uri.base);
     if (provisioned != null) await saveAccount(provisioned);
     return provisioned;
-  } on Object {
-    // No secret service available: behave as "not configured" rather than
-    // crashing the settings screen.
+  } on Object catch (error, stackTrace) {
+    // Still "not configured" rather than crashing the settings screen -- but
+    // never silent: this hid *why* provisioning failed, which is
+    // indistinguishable from "no account set" until you say so.
+    log(
+      'loadAccount failed; treating this device as not configured',
+      level: 1000,
+      error: error,
+      stackTrace: stackTrace,
+    );
     return null;
   }
 }