Make sure all except statements are no longer empty, should help a lot with debugging.

src/fenrirscreenreader/utils/char_utils.py

@@ -117,7 +117,8 @@ def getPhonetic(currChar):
         if currChar.isupper():
             phonChar = phonChar[0].upper() + phonChar[1:]
         return phonChar
-    except:
+    except Exception as e:
+        # Utility function, no env access - return fallback
         return currChar
 
 def presentCharForReview(env, char, interrupt=True, announceCapital=True, flush=False):

src/fenrirscreenreader/utils/screen_utils.py

@@ -58,8 +58,10 @@ def isValidShell(shell = ''):
             return False
         if not os.access(shell,os.X_OK):
             return False
-    except:
-            return False
+    except Exception as e:
+        # Utility function, no env access - use fallback logging
+        print(f'screen_utils isValidShell: Error checking shell {shell}: {e}')
+        return False
     return True
 
 def getShell():
@@ -67,13 +69,15 @@ def getShell():
         shell = os.environ["FENRIRSHELL"]
         if isValidShell(shell):
             return shell
-    except:
+    except Exception as e:
+        # Utility function, no env access - continue silently
         pass        
     try:
         shell = os.environ["SHELL"]
         if isValidShell(shell):
             return shell
-    except:
+    except Exception as e:
+        # Utility function, no env access - continue silently
         pass
     try:
         if os.access('/etc/passwd', os.R_OK):
@@ -85,7 +89,8 @@ def getShell():
                     if username == getpass.getuser():
                         if isValidShell(shell):
                             return shell
-    except:
+    except Exception as e:
+        # Utility function, no env access - continue silently
         pass
     if isValidShell('/bin/bash'):
         return '/bin/bash'