Index: dbfile.scm
==================================================================
--- dbfile.scm
+++ dbfile.scm
@@ -272,13 +272,13 @@
 ;;   NOTE: returns a dbdat not a dbstruct!
 ;;
 (define (dbfile:open-sqlite3-db dbpath init-proc)
   (let* ((dbexists     (file-exists? dbpath))
 	 (write-access (file-write-access? dbpath))
-	 (db           (dbfile:cautious-open-database dbpath))) #;(sqlite3:open-database dbpath)
+	 (db           (dbfile:cautious-open-database dbpath init-proc))) #;(sqlite3:open-database dbpath)
     (sqlite3:set-busy-handler! db (sqlite3:make-busy-timeout 10000))
-    (init-proc db)
+    ;; (init-proc db)
     (make-dbr:dbdat dbfile: dbpath dbh: db read-only: (not write-access))))
 
 (define (dbfile:print-and-exit . params)
   (with-output-to-port
       (current-error-port)
@@ -440,24 +440,28 @@
 ;; if we are not a server create a db handle. this is not finalized
 ;; so watch for problems. I'm still not clear if it is needed to manually
 ;; finalize sqlite3 dbs with the sqlite3 egg.
 ;;
 
-(define (dbfile:cautious-open-database fname #!optional (tries-left 5))
+(define (dbfile:cautious-open-database fname init-proc #!optional (tries-left 10))
   (let* ((lock-file (conc fname".lock"))
 	 (retry (lambda ()
 		  (thread-sleep! 1.1)
 		  (if (> tries-left 0)
-		      (dbfile:cautious-open-database fname (- tries-left 1))))))
+		      (dbfile:cautious-open-database fname init-proc (- tries-left 1))))))
     (assert (>= tries-left 0) (conc "FATAL: Five attempts in dbfile:cautious-open-database of "fname", giving up."))
     (if (not (dbfile:simple-file-lock lock-file))
 	(begin
-	  (dbfile:print-err "INFO: lock file "lock-file" exists, trying again in 3 seconds.")
-	  (thread-sleep! 3)
-	  (dbfile:cautious-open-database fname (- tries-left 1)))
-	(let ((result (condition-case
-			  (sqlite3:open-database fname)
+	  (dbfile:print-err "INFO: lock file "lock-file" exists, trying again in 1 second.")
+	  (thread-sleep! 1)
+	  (dbfile:cautious-open-database fname init-proc (- tries-left 1)))
+	(let* ((db-exists (file-exists? fname))
+	       (result (condition-case
+			   (let* ((db (sqlite3:open-database fname)))
+			     (if (and init-proc (not db-exists))
+				 (init-proc db))
+			     db)
 			(exn (io-error)
 			     (dbfile:print-err exn "ERROR: i/o error with " fname ". Check permissions, disk space etc. and try again.")
 			     (retry))
 			(exn (corrupt)
 			     (dbfile:print-err exn "ERROR: database " fname " is corrupt. Repair it to proceed.")
@@ -482,17 +486,19 @@
       (begin
 	(if (not (file-exists? dbpath))
 	    (create-directory dbpath #t))
 	(let* ((dbname    (conc dbpath "/no-sync.db"))
 	       (db-exists (file-exists? dbname))
-	       (db        (dbfile:cautious-open-database dbname))) ;; (sqlite3:open-database dbname)))
+	       (init-proc (lambda (db)
+			    (if (not db-exists)
+				(begin
+				  (sqlite3:execute db "PRAGMA synchronous = 0;")
+				  (sqlite3:execute db "CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS no_sync_metadat (var TEXT,val TEXT, CONSTRAINT no_sync_metadat_constraint UNIQUE (var));"))
+				)))
+	       (db        (dbfile:cautious-open-database dbname init-proc))) ;; (sqlite3:open-database dbname)))
 	  (sqlite3:set-busy-handler! db (sqlite3:make-busy-timeout 136000))
-	  (if (not db-exists)
-	      (begin
-		(sqlite3:execute db "PRAGMA synchronous = 0;")
-		(sqlite3:execute db "CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS no_sync_metadat (var TEXT,val TEXT, CONSTRAINT no_sync_metadat_constraint UNIQUE (var));")
-		#;(sqlite3:execute db "PRAGMA journal_mode=WAL;")))
+	  ;;(sqlite3:execute db "PRAGMA journal_mode=WAL;")
 	  (set! *no-sync-db* db)
 	  db))))
 
 (define (db:no-sync-set db var val)
   (sqlite3:execute db "INSERT OR REPLACE INTO no_sync_metadat (var,val) VALUES (?,?);" var val))
@@ -590,11 +596,11 @@
 	  (with-output-to-port
 	      oup
 	    (lambda ()
 	      (print key-string)))
 	  (close-output-port oup)
-	  #;(with-output-to-file fname
+	  #;(with-output-to-file fname ;; bizarre. with-output-to-file does not seem to be cleaning up after itself.
 	    (lambda ()
 	  (print key-string)))
 	  (thread-sleep! 0.25)
 	  (if (file-exists? fname)
 	      (handle-exceptions exn