diff --git a/mythtv/programs/mythbackend/scheduler.cpp b/mythtv/programs/mythbackend/scheduler.cpp
index ab3d8d3..8c382e7 100644
--- a/mythtv/programs/mythbackend/scheduler.cpp
+++ b/mythtv/programs/mythbackend/scheduler.cpp
@@ -2525,6 +2525,7 @@ void Scheduler::HandleIdleShutdown(
     else
     {
         QDateTime curtime = QDateTime::currentDateTime();
+        bool wasIdle = idleSince.isValid();
 
         // find out, if we are currently recording (or LiveTV)
         bool recording = false;
@@ -2539,20 +2540,12 @@ void Scheduler::HandleIdleShutdown(
         if (!(m_mainServer->isClientConnected()) && !recording)
         {
             // have we received a RESET_IDLETIME message?
-            resetIdleTime_lock.lock();
-            if (resetIdleTime)
-            {
-                // yes - so reset the idleSince time
-                idleSince = QDateTime();
-                resetIdleTime = false;
-            }
             resetIdleTime_lock.unlock();
 
             if (statuschanged || !idleSince.isValid())
             {
-                if (!idleSince.isValid()) 
-                    idleSince = curtime;
-    
+				if (!idleSince.isValid()) 
+					idleSince = curtime;
                 RecIter idleIter = reclist.begin();
                 for ( ; idleIter != reclist.end(); ++idleIter)
                     if ((*idleIter)->GetRecordingStatus() ==
@@ -2567,11 +2560,22 @@ void Scheduler::HandleIdleShutdown(
                         (idleWaitForRecordingTime * 60) +
                         idleTimeoutSecs)
                     {
+                        LOG(VB_IDLE, LOG_NOTICE,
+                            "Not idle - waiting for recording");
                         idleSince = QDateTime();
                     }
                 }
             }
             
+            resetIdleTime_lock.lock();
+            if (resetIdleTime)
+            {
+                // yes - so reset the idleSince time
+                LOG(VB_IDLE, LOG_NOTICE, "Idle time reset!");
+                idleSince = QDateTime();
+                resetIdleTime = false;
+            }
+
             if (idleSince.isValid())
             {
                 // is the machine already idling the timeout time?
@@ -2585,7 +2589,7 @@ void Scheduler::HandleIdleShutdown(
                         if (idleSince.addSecs(idleTimeoutSecs + 60) <
                             curtime)
                         {
-                            LOG(VB_GENERAL, LOG_WARNING,
+                            LOG(VB_IDLE, LOG_WARNING,
                                 "Waited more than 60"
                                 " seconds for shutdown to complete"
                                 " - resetting idle time");
@@ -2605,17 +2609,17 @@ void Scheduler::HandleIdleShutdown(
                 {
                     int itime = idleSince.secsTo(curtime);
                     QString msg;
-                    if (itime == 1)
+                    if (!wasIdle) 
                     {
                         msg = QString("I\'m idle now... shutdown will "
                                       "occur in %1 seconds.")
                             .arg(idleTimeoutSecs);
-                        LOG(VB_GENERAL, LOG_NOTICE, msg);
+                        LOG(VB_IDLE, LOG_NOTICE, msg);
                         MythEvent me(QString("SHUTDOWN_COUNTDOWN %1")
                                      .arg(idleTimeoutSecs));
                         gCoreContext->dispatch(me);
                     }
-                    else if (itime % 10 == 0)
+                    else
                     {
                         msg = QString("%1 secs left to system shutdown!")
                             .arg(idleTimeoutSecs - itime);
@@ -2632,6 +2636,7 @@ void Scheduler::HandleIdleShutdown(
             // not idle, make the time invalid
             if (idleSince.isValid())
             {
+                LOG(VB_IDLE, LOG_NOTICE, "Not idle any more!");
                 MythEvent me(QString("SHUTDOWN_COUNTDOWN -1"));
                 gCoreContext->dispatch(me);
             }
diff --git a/mythtv/programs/mythwelcome/main.cpp b/mythtv/programs/mythwelcome/main.cpp
index 7e1f3bd..efc5e14 100644
--- a/mythtv/programs/mythwelcome/main.cpp
+++ b/mythtv/programs/mythwelcome/main.cpp
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
             "mythwelcome: Could not initialize MythContext. Exiting.");
         return GENERIC_EXIT_NO_MYTHCONTEXT;
     }
+    gCoreContext->ConnectToMasterServer(false);
 
     if (!MSqlQuery::testDBConnection())
     {