Index: dbmod.scm
==================================================================
--- dbmod.scm
+++ dbmod.scm
@@ -208,29 +208,38 @@
     (dbr:dbstruct-sync-proc-set! dbstruct
 				 (lambda (last-update)
 				   (if *sync-in-progress*
 				       (debug:print 3 *default-log-port* "WARNING: overlapping calls to sync to disk")
 				       (let* ((sync-cmd (conc "megatest -db2db -from "tmpdb" -to "dbfullname"&"))
-					      (synclock-file (conc dbfullname".sync-lock")))
-					 ;; (mutex-lock! *db-with-db-mutex*) ;; this mutex is used when overloaded or during a query that modifies the db
-					 ;; (if (eq? (dbfile:cache-method) 'cachedb)
-					 ;;     (dbmod:sync-gasket tables last-update cachedb db
-					 ;; 			dbfullname syncdir keys)
+					      (synclock-file     (conc dbfullname".sync-lock"))
+					      (synclock-mod-time (if (file-exists? synclock-file)
+								     (handle-exceptions
+									 exn
+								       #f
+								       (file-modification-time synclock-file))
+								     #f))
+					      (thethread         (lambda ()
+								   (thread-start!
+								    (make-thread
+								     (lambda ()
+								       (set! *sync-in-progress* #t)
+								       (debug:print-info "Running "sync-cmd)
+								       (system sync-cmd)
+								       (set! *sync-in-progress* #f)))))))
 					 (if (< (file-modification-time tmpdb)
 						(file-modification-time dbfullname))
 					     (debug:print 0 *default-log-port* "Skipping sync, "tmpdb" older than "dbfullname)
-					     (if (file-exists? synclock-file)
-						 (debug:print 0 *default-log-port* "Skipping sync, lockfile "synclock-file" found.")
-						 (thread-start! (make-thread
-								 (lambda ()
-								   (set! *sync-in-progress* #t)
-								   (debug:print-info "Running "sync-cmd)
-								   (system sync-cmd)
-								   ;; (mutex-unlock! *db-with-db-mutex*)
-								   ;; (thread-sleep! 0.5) ;; ensure at least 1/2 second down time between sync calls
-								   (set! *sync-in-progress* #f))))))
-					 ))))
+					     (if synclock-mod-time
+						 (if (< (- (current-seconds) synclock-mod-time) 20) ;; something wrong with sync, remove file
+						     (begin
+						       (handle-exceptions
+							   exn
+							 #f
+							 (delete-file synclock-file))
+						       (thethread))
+						     (debug:print 0 *default-log-port* "Skipping sync, lockfile "synclock-file" found."))
+						 (thethread)))))))
     ;; (dbmod:sync-tables tables #f db cachedb)
     ;; (if db
     (dbmod:sync-gasket tables #f cachedb db dbfullname 'fromdest keys) ;; ) ;; load into cachedb
     (dbr:dbstruct-last-update-set! dbstruct (current-seconds)) ;; should this be offset back in time by one second?
     dbstruct))

Index: tcp-transportmod.scm
==================================================================
--- tcp-transportmod.scm
+++ tcp-transportmod.scm
@@ -162,11 +162,11 @@
 			   pid: pid)))
 	       ;; verify we can talk to this server
 	       (let* ((result   (tt:timed-ping host port server-id))
 		      (ping-res (car result))
 		      (ping     (cdr result)))
-                 (debug:print-info 0 *default-log-port* "ping time:" ping)
+                 (debug:print-info 0 *default-log-port* "ping time: " ping)
 		 (case ping-res
 		   ((running)
 		    (hash-table-set! (tt-conns ttdat) dbfname conn) ;;; is this ok to save before validating that the connection is good?
 		    conn)
 		   ((starting)
@@ -734,18 +734,22 @@
   (assert testsuite "FATAL: tt:server-process-run called without testsuite defined.")
   (assert mtexe     "FATAL: tt:server-process-run called without mtexe defined.")
   ;; mtest -server - -m testsuite:ext-tests -db 6.db
   (let* ((dbfname  (dbmod:run-id->dbfname run-id))
 	 (load     (get-normalized-cpu-load))
+	 (trying   (length (tt:find-server areapath dbfname)))
 	 (nrun     (number-of-processes-running (conc "mtest.*server.*"testsuite".*"dbfname))))
     (cond
      ((> load 2.0)
       (debug:print 0 *default-log-port* "Normalized load "load" on " (get-host-name) " is over the limit of 2.0. Not starting a server.")
       (thread-sleep! 1))
      ((> nrun 100)
       (debug:print 0 *default-log-port* nrun" servers running on " (get-host-name) ", not starting another.")
       (thread-sleep! 1))
+     ((> trying 4)
+      (debug:print 0 *default-log-port* trying" servers registered in .servinfo dir. not starting another.")
+      (thread-sleep! 1))
      (else
       (if (not (file-exists? (conc areapath"/logs")))
 	      (create-directory (conc areapath"/logs") #t))
 	  (let* ((logfile   (conc areapath "/logs/server-"dbfname"-"(current-process-id)".log")) ;; -" curr-pid "-" target-host ".log"))
 		 (cmdln     (conc