diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/app/main.cpp b/apps/desktop/src/app/main.cpp
index 2f44b7cf..bf489082 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/app/main.cpp
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/app/main.cpp
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #include "config_center.h"
 #include "daemon.h"
 #include "path_manager.h"
+#include "rd_log.h"
 #include "render.h"
 
 #ifdef __linux__
@@ -192,6 +193,14 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
       std::strcmp(argv[1], crossdesk::kSlintRendererProbeArgument) == 0) {
     return crossdesk::RunSlintRendererProbe();
   }
+#endif
+
+  // Service operations and config migration can log before the GUI starts.
+  // Configure the directory first, including CLI and daemon child paths.
+  auto path_manager = std::make_unique<crossdesk::PathManager>("CrossDesk");
+  crossdesk::InitLogger(path_manager->GetLogPath().string());
+
+#ifdef _WIN32
   if (argc > 1 && IsServiceCliCommand(argv[1])) {
     return HandleServiceCliCommand(argv[1]);
   }
@@ -218,7 +227,6 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
 #endif
 
   bool enable_daemon = false;
-  auto path_manager = std::make_unique<crossdesk::PathManager>("CrossDesk");
   if (path_manager) {
     std::string cache_path = path_manager->GetCachePath().string();
     crossdesk::ConfigCenter config_center(cache_path + "/config.ini");
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/gui/application/gui_application.cpp b/apps/desktop/src/gui/application/gui_application.cpp
index ed116e9b..fe2843a9 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/gui/application/gui_application.cpp
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/gui/application/gui_application.cpp
@@ -950,10 +950,10 @@ int GuiApplication::Run() {
   }
   exec_log_path_ = path_manager_->GetLogPath().string();
   dll_log_path_ = exec_log_path_;
+  InitializeLogger();
   cache_path_ = path_manager_->GetCachePath().string();
   config_center_ = std::make_unique<ConfigCenter>(cache_path_ + "/config.ini");
 
-  InitializeLogger();
   LOG_INFO("CrossDesk version: {} (Slint UI)", CROSSDESK_VERSION);
 
   strncpy(signal_server_ip_self_, config_center_->GetSignalServerHost().c_str(),
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/log/rd_log.cpp b/apps/desktop/src/log/rd_log.cpp
index 5d8a65e4..1f5731ea 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/log/rd_log.cpp
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/log/rd_log.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 #include "rd_log.h"
 
-#include <atomic>
 #include <filesystem>
 
 namespace crossdesk {
@@ -9,26 +8,38 @@ namespace {
 
 std::string g_log_dir = "logs";
 std::once_flag g_logger_once_flag;
+std::mutex g_logger_mutex;
 std::shared_ptr<spdlog::logger> g_logger;
-std::atomic<bool> g_logger_created{false};
+
+std::string NormalizeLogDirectory(const std::string& log_dir) {
+  const std::filesystem::path path = log_dir.empty() ? "logs" : log_dir;
+  std::error_code ec;
+  const auto absolute = std::filesystem::absolute(path, ec);
+  return (ec ? path : absolute).lexically_normal().string();
+}
 
 }  // namespace
 
 void InitLogger(const std::string& log_dir) {
-  if (g_logger_created.load()) {
-    LOG_WARN(
-        "InitLogger called after logger initialized. Ignoring log_dir: {}, "
-        "using previous log_dir: {}",
-        log_dir, g_log_dir);
+  const auto directory = NormalizeLogDirectory(log_dir);
+  std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(g_logger_mutex);
+  if (g_logger) {
+    if (directory != g_log_dir) {
+      g_logger->warn(
+          "InitLogger called after logger initialized. Ignoring log_dir: {}, "
+          "using previous log_dir: {}",
+          directory, g_log_dir);
+    }
     return;
   }
 
-  g_log_dir = log_dir;
+  g_log_dir = directory;
 }
 
 std::shared_ptr<spdlog::logger> get_logger() {
   std::call_once(g_logger_once_flag, []() {
-    g_logger_created.store(true);
+    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(g_logger_mutex);
+    g_log_dir = NormalizeLogDirectory(g_log_dir);
 
     std::error_code ec;
     std::filesystem::create_directories(g_log_dir, ec);
@@ -54,10 +65,12 @@ std::shared_ptr<spdlog::logger> get_logger() {
     sinks.push_back(std::make_shared<spdlog::sinks::rotating_file_sink_mt>(
         filename, 5 * 1024 * 1024, 3));
 
-    g_logger = std::make_shared<spdlog::logger>(LOGGER_NAME, sinks.begin(),
-                                                sinks.end());
-    g_logger->flush_on(spdlog::level::info);
-    spdlog::register_logger(g_logger);
+    auto logger = std::make_shared<spdlog::logger>(LOGGER_NAME, sinks.begin(),
+                                                   sinks.end());
+    logger->flush_on(spdlog::level::info);
+    spdlog::register_logger(logger);
+    logger->info("Logger initialized: path={}", filename);
+    g_logger = std::move(logger);
   });
 
   return g_logger;
diff --git a/deps/submodules/minirtc b/deps/submodules/minirtc
index 6931e635..5b0ce343 160000
--- a/deps/submodules/minirtc
+++ b/deps/submodules/minirtc
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 6931e63554dc64037e264e741f67e66d90b00bdb
+Subproject commit 5b0ce34383f95ae97a01af9e0985c0628b25ad04