diff --git a/src/common/repository/sqlite/SqliteDatabase.cxx b/src/common/repository/sqlite/SqliteDatabase.cxx
index ecc8e3f8c..c30964c34 100644
--- a/src/common/repository/sqlite/SqliteDatabase.cxx
+++ b/src/common/repository/sqlite/SqliteDatabase.cxx
@@ -75,10 +75,22 @@ void SqliteDatabase::initialize()
     throw SqliteError("unable to initialize sqlite DB for unknown reason");
   };
 
+  Logger::log("successfully opened " + myDatabaseFile, 2);
+
   exec("PRAGMA journal_mode=WAL");
 
-  if (sqlite3_wal_checkpoint_v2(myHandle, nullptr, SQLITE_CHECKPOINT_TRUNCATE, nullptr, nullptr) != SQLITE_OK)
-    throw SqliteError(sqlite3_errmsg(myHandle));
+  switch (sqlite3_wal_checkpoint_v2(myHandle, nullptr, SQLITE_CHECKPOINT_TRUNCATE, nullptr, nullptr)) {
+    case SQLITE_OK:
+      break;
+
+    case SQLITE_MISUSE:
+      Logger::log("failed to checkpoint WAL on " + myDatabaseFile + " - WAL probably unavailable", 1);
+      break;
+
+    default:
+      Logger::log("failed to checkpoint WAL on " + myDatabaseFile + " : " + sqlite3_errmsg(myHandle), 1);
+      break;
+  }
 }
 
 // - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
diff --git a/src/emucore/OSystem.cxx b/src/emucore/OSystem.cxx
index 22224f867..3841cd32c 100644
--- a/src/emucore/OSystem.cxx
+++ b/src/emucore/OSystem.cxx
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ namespace {
 OSystem::OSystem()
   : myLauncherUsed(false),
     myQuitLoop(false),
+    mySettingsLoaded(false),
     myFpsMeter(FPS_METER_QUEUE_SIZE)
 {
   // Get built-in features
@@ -224,6 +225,7 @@ void OSystem::loadConfig(const Settings::Options& options)
 
   Logger::log("Loading config options ...", 2);
   mySettings->load(options);
+  mySettingsLoaded = true;
 
   myPropSet->load(myPropertiesFile);
 }
@@ -492,7 +494,7 @@ void OSystem::logMessage(const string& message, uInt8 level)
     cout << message << endl << std::flush;
     myLogMessages += message + "\n";
   }
-  else if(level <= uInt8(mySettings->getInt("loglevel")))
+  else if(level <= uInt8(mySettings->getInt("loglevel")) || !mySettingsLoaded)
   {
     if(mySettings->getBool("logtoconsole"))
       cout << message << endl << std::flush;
diff --git a/src/emucore/OSystem.hxx b/src/emucore/OSystem.hxx
index 8dd18e909..46a750ec0 100644
--- a/src/emucore/OSystem.hxx
+++ b/src/emucore/OSystem.hxx
@@ -537,6 +537,8 @@ class OSystem
     string myDefaultSaveDir;
     string myDefaultLoadDir;
 
+    bool mySettingsLoaded;
+
     string myCheatFile;
     string myConfigFile;
     string myPaletteFile;