diff --git a/src/server/simpleslave.c b/src/server/simpleslave.c
--- a/src/server/simpleslave.c
+++ b/src/server/simpleslave.c
@@ -50,10 +50,6 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
   struct options_common *commonopts;
 
-  // struct distrenjob *myjob; /* Structure to hold data gathered from the XML file */
-
-  // struct remoteio *comm_slave;
-
   /**
      initializations
   */
@@ -97,25 +93,15 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
   /* Get conf data */
   options_init(argc, argv, &my_cfg, myopts, "slave", &commonopts);
 
-
   /* Notifies the user if there no username in .conf */
   if(checkUsername(username))
     return 1;
-  if(!password)
+  if(!strncmp(password, "!password",10))
     {
       fprintf(stderr, "You haven't specified a password. Please edit your distrenslave.conf file appropriately\n");
       return 1;
     }
 
-  /*
-  fprintf(stderr, "Connecting to server...\n");
-  if(remoteio_open(&comm_slave, commonopts->remoteio, server))
-    {
-      fprintf(stderr, "Error connecting to server; exiting\n");
-      return 1;
-    }
-*/
-
   // Variables needed for main loop
   int jobnum = 0;
   int framenum = 0;
@@ -127,6 +113,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
   char *urltoOutput;   /* Full URL where output is posted */
   char *pathtoOutput;  /* Full path to the output (rendered) file */
 
+  char *pathtoJob; /* Path to job data folder */
   char *pathtoJobfile; /* Full path to the job's main file */
   char *outputExt = "jpg";     /* Output Extension (e.g., JPG) */
 
@@ -152,7 +139,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
         fprintf(stderr, "Preparing to render frame %d in job %d\n", framenum, jobnum);
 
-        prepareJobPaths(jobnum, framenum, outputExt, datadir, &urltoTar, &pathtoTar, &pathtoJobfile, &urltoOutput, &pathtoOutput);
+        prepareJobPaths(jobnum, framenum, outputExt, datadir, &urltoTar, &pathtoTar, &pathtoJob, &pathtoJobfile, &urltoOutput, &pathtoOutput);
         // free(outputExt);
         int dlret = downloadTar(urltoTar, pathtoTar);
         if(dlret == 0)
@@ -160,12 +147,17 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
         else if(dlret == 3)
           return 0; // ouput dir doesn't exist
         else
-          fprintf(stderr,"Using existing tarball...\n");
+          fprintf(stderr,"Using existing tarball %s...\n", pathtoTar);
 
-        unpackJob(datadir, pathtoTar);
+        unpackJob(pathtoJob, pathtoTar);
 
         /* Execute blender */
         fprintf(stderr,"Executing blender on file %s", pathtoJobfile);
+
+        /* ignore return because directory may exist already */
+        mkdir(pathtoOutput, 0700);
+
+        _web_startframe(slavekey, password, jobnum, framenum);
         if(exec_blender(pathtoJobfile, pathtoOutput, framenum))
           {
             fprintf(stderr,"Error running Blender. Check your installation and/or your PATH.\n");