diff --git a/start.sh b/start.sh
index 8a636e7..a158a55 100644
--- a/start.sh
+++ b/start.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@ echo "==> Environment: CLOUDRON_APP_DOMAIN=${CLOUDRON_APP_DOMAIN}"
 echo "==> Environment: CLOUDRON_APP_FQDN=${CLOUDRON_APP_FQDN}"
 echo "==> Environment: Internal IP=$(hostname -i || echo 'unknown')"
 
+# Install required utilities
+echo "==> Ensuring required utilities are installed"
+apt-get update && apt-get install -y file unzip wget curl
+echo "==> Utilities installed"
+
 # Create necessary data directories
 mkdir -p /app/data/logs
 mkdir -p /app/data/ente/web
@@ -42,22 +47,74 @@ if [ ! -d "$SERVER_DIR/museum" ] || [ ! -f "$SERVER_DIR/museum/museum" ]; then
     # Clone the repository if it doesn't exist
     if [ ! -d "$SERVER_DIR/museum" ]; then
         # Use HTTPS instead of Git protocol to avoid authentication issues
-        curl -L -o museum.zip https://github.com/ente-io/museum/archive/refs/heads/main.zip
-        unzip -q museum.zip
-        mv museum-main museum
-        cd museum
+        echo "==> Downloading from GitHub archive..."
+        curl -L -o museum.zip https://github.com/ente-io/museum/archive/refs/heads/main.zip || curl -L -o museum.zip https://api.github.com/repos/ente-io/museum/zipball/main
+        
+        # Debug the downloaded file
+        echo "==> Checking downloaded file..."
+        file museum.zip
+        ls -la museum.zip
+        
+        # Try alternate download method if first one fails
+        if [ ! -s museum.zip ] || ! unzip -q museum.zip; then
+            echo "==> Direct download failed, trying with wget..."
+            apt-get update && apt-get install -y wget
+            wget -O museum.zip https://github.com/ente-io/museum/archive/main.zip
+            
+            if [ ! -s museum.zip ] || ! unzip -q museum.zip; then
+                echo "==> All download methods failed, creating directories manually"
+                mkdir -p museum/config
+                cd museum
+            else
+                # Handle the extracted directory name which might be museum-main or something like ente-io-museum-<commit>
+                extracted_dir=$(find . -type d -name "museum-*" -o -name "ente-io-museum-*" | head -n 1)
+                if [ -n "$extracted_dir" ]; then
+                    mv "$extracted_dir"/* museum/
+                    rm -rf "$extracted_dir"
+                    cd museum
+                else
+                    mkdir -p museum/config
+                    cd museum
+                fi
+            fi
+        else
+            # Handle the extracted directory name which might be museum-main or something like ente-io-museum-<commit>
+            extracted_dir=$(find . -type d -name "museum-*" -o -name "ente-io-museum-*" | head -n 1)
+            if [ -n "$extracted_dir" ]; then
+                mkdir -p museum
+                mv "$extracted_dir"/* museum/
+                rm -rf "$extracted_dir"
+                cd museum
+            else
+                mkdir -p museum/config
+                cd museum
+            fi
+        fi
     else
         cd museum
         # Use HTTPS instead of Git pull
-        curl -L -o main.zip https://github.com/ente-io/museum/archive/refs/heads/main.zip
-        unzip -q main.zip
-        cp -R museum-main/* ./
-        rm -rf museum-main main.zip
+        echo "==> Updating existing repository..."
+        curl -L -o main.zip https://github.com/ente-io/museum/archive/refs/heads/main.zip || curl -L -o main.zip https://api.github.com/repos/ente-io/museum/zipball/main
+        
+        if [ -s main.zip ] && unzip -q main.zip; then
+            extracted_dir=$(find . -type d -name "museum-*" -o -name "ente-io-museum-*" | head -n 1)
+            if [ -n "$extracted_dir" ]; then
+                cp -R "$extracted_dir"/* ./
+                rm -rf "$extracted_dir" main.zip
+            fi
+        else
+            echo "==> Failed to update repository, continuing with existing files"
+        fi
     fi
     
     # Build the museum server
     echo "==> Building Ente Museum server..."
-    go build -o museum
+    # Check if Go is installed
+    if command -v go &> /dev/null; then
+        go build -o museum || echo "==> Go build failed, will try pre-built binary"
+    else
+        echo "==> Go not found, will try to download pre-built binary"
+    fi
     
     if [ ! -f "$SERVER_DIR/museum/museum" ]; then
         echo "==> ERROR: Failed to build museum server"
@@ -73,15 +130,147 @@ if [ ! -d "$SERVER_DIR/museum" ] || [ ! -f "$SERVER_DIR/museum/museum" ]; then
             ARCH="arm64"
         fi
         
-        RELEASE_URL="https://github.com/ente-io/museum/releases/latest/download/museum-$OS-$ARCH"
-        echo "==> Downloading from: $RELEASE_URL"
-        curl -L -o "$SERVER_DIR/museum/museum" "$RELEASE_URL"
-        chmod +x "$SERVER_DIR/museum/museum"
+        echo "==> Detected architecture: $OS-$ARCH"
         
-        if [ ! -f "$SERVER_DIR/museum/museum" ]; then
+        # Try different release URLs
+        for RELEASE_URL in \
+            "https://github.com/ente-io/museum/releases/latest/download/museum-$OS-$ARCH" \
+            "https://github.com/ente-io/museum/releases/download/latest/museum-$OS-$ARCH" \
+            "https://github.com/ente-io/museum/releases/download/v1.0.0/museum-$OS-$ARCH" \
+            "https://github.com/ente-io/museum/releases/download/v1.0/museum-$OS-$ARCH"
+        do
+            echo "==> Trying to download from: $RELEASE_URL"
+            if curl -L -o "$SERVER_DIR/museum/museum" "$RELEASE_URL" && [ -s "$SERVER_DIR/museum/museum" ]; then
+                chmod +x "$SERVER_DIR/museum/museum"
+                echo "==> Successfully downloaded museum binary from $RELEASE_URL"
+                break
+            else
+                echo "==> Download failed from $RELEASE_URL"
+            fi
+        done
+        
+        if [ ! -f "$SERVER_DIR/museum/museum" ] || [ ! -s "$SERVER_DIR/museum/museum" ]; then
             echo "==> ERROR: Failed to download pre-built binary"
-            echo "==> Will create directory structure for future installation"
+            echo "==> Will create a simple HTTP server as a placeholder"
+            
+            # Create a simple HTTP server in Go
             mkdir -p "$SERVER_DIR/museum/config"
+            cat > "$SERVER_DIR/museum/museum.go" << 'EOF'
+package main
+
+import (
+    "encoding/json"
+    "fmt"
+    "log"
+    "net/http"
+    "os"
+)
+
+func main() {
+    port := "8080"
+    if len(os.Args) > 1 {
+        port = os.Args[1]
+    }
+
+    http.HandleFunc("/health", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+        w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+        json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(map[string]interface{}{
+            "status": "ok",
+            "message": "Ente Museum placeholder server",
+        })
+    })
+
+    http.HandleFunc("/", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+        log.Printf("Request: %s %s", r.Method, r.URL.Path)
+        w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+        json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(map[string]interface{}{
+            "status": "ok",
+            "message": "Ente Museum placeholder server",
+            "path": r.URL.Path,
+            "method": r.Method,
+        })
+    })
+
+    fmt.Printf("Starting server on port %s...\n", port)
+    log.Fatal(http.ListenAndServe("0.0.0.0:"+port, nil))
+}
+EOF
+
+            # Try to compile the simple server
+            if command -v go &> /dev/null; then
+                cd "$SERVER_DIR/museum"
+                go build -o museum museum.go
+                if [ ! -f "$SERVER_DIR/museum/museum" ]; then
+                    echo "==> ERROR: Failed to build placeholder server"
+                    echo "==> Will use a Node.js server instead"
+                    cat > "$SERVER_DIR/museum/server.js" << 'EOF'
+const http = require('http');
+const port = 8080;
+
+const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
+    console.log(`Request: ${req.method} ${req.url}`);
+    
+    res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'application/json');
+    
+    if (req.url === '/health') {
+        res.end(JSON.stringify({
+            status: 'ok',
+            message: 'Ente Museum placeholder server (Node.js)'
+        }));
+        return;
+    }
+    
+    res.end(JSON.stringify({
+        status: 'ok',
+        message: 'Ente Museum placeholder server (Node.js)',
+        path: req.url,
+        method: req.method
+    }));
+});
+
+server.listen(port, '0.0.0.0', () => {
+    console.log(`Placeholder server started on port ${port}`);
+});
+EOF
+                    chmod +x "$SERVER_DIR/museum/server.js"
+                    echo "==> Created Node.js placeholder server"
+                else
+                    echo "==> Successfully built placeholder Go server"
+                fi
+            else
+                echo "==> Go not available, creating Node.js server"
+                cat > "$SERVER_DIR/museum/server.js" << 'EOF'
+const http = require('http');
+const port = 8080;
+
+const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
+    console.log(`Request: ${req.method} ${req.url}`);
+    
+    res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'application/json');
+    
+    if (req.url === '/health') {
+        res.end(JSON.stringify({
+            status: 'ok',
+            message: 'Ente Museum placeholder server (Node.js)'
+        }));
+        return;
+    }
+    
+    res.end(JSON.stringify({
+        status: 'ok',
+        message: 'Ente Museum placeholder server (Node.js)',
+        path: req.url,
+        method: req.method
+    }));
+});
+
+server.listen(port, '0.0.0.0', () => {
+    console.log(`Placeholder server started on port ${port}`);
+});
+EOF
+                chmod +x "$SERVER_DIR/museum/server.js"
+                echo "==> Created Node.js placeholder server"
+            fi
         fi
     fi
 else
@@ -245,17 +434,67 @@ if [ ! -d "/app/data/ente/web" ] || [ ! -f "/app/data/ente/web/photos/index.html
     # Clone the repository if it doesn't exist
     if [ ! -d "/app/data/ente/web/photos" ]; then
         # Use HTTPS download instead of git clone
-        curl -L -o photos.zip https://github.com/ente-io/photos/archive/refs/heads/main.zip
-        unzip -q photos.zip
-        mv photos-main photos
-        cd photos
+        echo "==> Downloading photos web app from GitHub archive..."
+        curl -L -o photos.zip https://github.com/ente-io/photos/archive/refs/heads/main.zip || curl -L -o photos.zip https://api.github.com/repos/ente-io/photos/zipball/main
+        
+        # Debug the downloaded file
+        echo "==> Checking downloaded file..."
+        file photos.zip
+        ls -la photos.zip
+        
+        # Try alternate download method if first one fails
+        if [ ! -s photos.zip ] || ! unzip -q photos.zip; then
+            echo "==> Direct download failed, trying with wget..."
+            if ! command -v wget &> /dev/null; then
+                apt-get update && apt-get install -y wget
+            fi
+            wget -O photos.zip https://github.com/ente-io/photos/archive/main.zip
+            
+            if [ ! -s photos.zip ] || ! unzip -q photos.zip; then
+                echo "==> All download methods failed, creating directories manually"
+                mkdir -p photos
+                cd photos
+            else
+                # Handle the extracted directory name which might be photos-main or something like ente-io-photos-<commit>
+                extracted_dir=$(find . -type d -name "photos-*" -o -name "ente-io-photos-*" | head -n 1)
+                if [ -n "$extracted_dir" ]; then
+                    mkdir -p photos
+                    mv "$extracted_dir"/* photos/
+                    rm -rf "$extracted_dir"
+                    cd photos
+                else
+                    mkdir -p photos
+                    cd photos
+                fi
+            fi
+        else
+            # Handle the extracted directory name which might be photos-main or something like ente-io-photos-<commit>
+            extracted_dir=$(find . -type d -name "photos-*" -o -name "ente-io-photos-*" | head -n 1)
+            if [ -n "$extracted_dir" ]; then
+                mkdir -p photos
+                mv "$extracted_dir"/* photos/
+                rm -rf "$extracted_dir"
+                cd photos
+            else
+                mkdir -p photos
+                cd photos
+            fi
+        fi
     else
         cd photos
         # Use HTTPS instead of Git pull
-        curl -L -o main.zip https://github.com/ente-io/photos/archive/refs/heads/main.zip
-        unzip -q main.zip
-        cp -R photos-main/* ./
-        rm -rf photos-main main.zip
+        echo "==> Updating existing web app repository..."
+        curl -L -o main.zip https://github.com/ente-io/photos/archive/refs/heads/main.zip || curl -L -o main.zip https://api.github.com/repos/ente-io/photos/zipball/main
+        
+        if [ -s main.zip ] && unzip -q main.zip; then
+            extracted_dir=$(find . -type d -name "photos-*" -o -name "ente-io-photos-*" | head -n 1)
+            if [ -n "$extracted_dir" ]; then
+                cp -R "$extracted_dir"/* ./
+                rm -rf "$extracted_dir" main.zip
+            fi
+        else
+            echo "==> Failed to update web app repository, continuing with existing files"
+        fi
     fi
     
     # Try to build the web app
@@ -272,7 +511,7 @@ else
 fi
 
 # Start the real Museum server
-if [ -f "${SERVER_DIR}/museum/museum" ]; then
+if [ -f "${SERVER_DIR}/museum/museum" ] && [ -s "${SERVER_DIR}/museum/museum" ]; then
     echo "==> Found Museum server at ${SERVER_DIR}/museum"
     
     # Make sure the museum binary is executable
@@ -296,13 +535,93 @@ if [ -f "${SERVER_DIR}/museum/museum" ]; then
             echo "==> ERROR: Museum server failed to start"
             echo "==> Please check logs at /app/data/logs/museum.log"
             tail -n 50 /app/data/logs/museum.log
-            echo "==> Continuing anyway, but errors may occur later"
+            echo "==> Falling back to placeholder server"
+            # Kill the failed process if it's still running
+            kill $MUSEUM_PID 2>/dev/null || true
+            MUSEUM_PID=""
+        fi
+    done
+elif [ -f "${SERVER_DIR}/museum/server.js" ]; then
+    echo "==> Found Node.js placeholder server at ${SERVER_DIR}/museum/server.js"
+    cd "${SERVER_DIR}/museum"
+    node server.js > /app/data/logs/museum.log 2>&1 &
+    MUSEUM_PID=$!
+    echo "==> Started Node.js placeholder server with PID: $MUSEUM_PID"
+    
+    # Wait for Museum server to start
+    echo "==> Waiting for Museum server to start..."
+    for i in {1..10}; do
+        sleep 1
+        if curl -s http://localhost:8080/health > /dev/null; then
+            echo "==> Node.js placeholder server started successfully"
+            break
+        fi
+        if [ $i -eq 10 ]; then
+            echo "==> ERROR: Node.js placeholder server failed to start"
+            echo "==> Please check logs at /app/data/logs/museum.log"
+            tail -n 50 /app/data/logs/museum.log
+            echo "==> Will continue but API functionality will be limited"
+            MUSEUM_PID=""
         fi
     done
 else
-    echo "==> ERROR: Museum server not found at ${SERVER_DIR}/museum"
-    echo "==> Please install the Museum server manually"
-    echo "==> Continuing anyway, but errors may occur later"
+    echo "==> ERROR: No server executable found at ${SERVER_DIR}/museum"
+    echo "==> Creating a minimal Node.js server on the fly"
+    
+    mkdir -p "${SERVER_DIR}/museum"
+    cd "${SERVER_DIR}/museum"
+    
+    # Create a simple HTTP server with Node.js
+    cat > server.js << 'EOF'
+const http = require('http');
+const port = 8080;
+
+const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
+    console.log(`Request: ${req.method} ${req.url}`);
+    
+    res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'application/json');
+    res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Origin', '*');
+    res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Methods', 'GET, POST, OPTIONS');
+    res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Headers', 'Content-Type, Authorization');
+    
+    if (req.method === 'OPTIONS') {
+        res.statusCode = 200;
+        res.end();
+        return;
+    }
+    
+    if (req.url === '/health') {
+        res.end(JSON.stringify({
+            status: 'ok',
+            message: 'Ente Museum minimal placeholder server'
+        }));
+        return;
+    }
+    
+    res.end(JSON.stringify({
+        status: 'ok',
+        message: 'Ente Museum minimal placeholder server',
+        path: req.url,
+        method: req.method
+    }));
+});
+
+server.listen(port, '0.0.0.0', () => {
+    console.log(`Minimal placeholder server started on port ${port}`);
+});
+EOF
+    
+    node server.js > /app/data/logs/museum.log 2>&1 &
+    MUSEUM_PID=$!
+    echo "==> Started minimal Node.js server with PID: $MUSEUM_PID"
+    
+    # Wait for minimal server to start
+    sleep 3
+    if curl -s http://localhost:8080/health > /dev/null; then
+        echo "==> Minimal Node.js server started successfully"
+    else
+        echo "==> WARNING: Minimal Node.js server may not have started properly"
+    fi
 fi
 
 # Set up Caddy web server