diff --git a/src/server/simpleslave.c b/src/server/simpleslave.c
--- a/src/server/simpleslave.c
+++ b/src/server/simpleslave.c
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 
-#define DEBUG 0
+#define DEBUG 1
 
 
 int main(int argc, char *argv[])
@@ -162,6 +162,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
   fprintf(stderr,"\nDistRen SimpleSlave Pre-Alpha %s\n- Experimental build: Use at your own risk!\n\n", PACKAGE_VERSION);
 
+  /* @TODO @FIXME create datadir (/var/distren/) if it doesn't exist, or notify the user */
+
   int benchmarkTime = 0;
   int renderPower = 0;
 
@@ -218,7 +220,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
         // Check if tar exists already
         struct stat jbuffer;
-        int jstatus = stat(pathtoTar, &jbuffer);
+        int jstatus = stat(pathtoJobfile, &jbuffer);
         if(jstatus == -1){
           fprintf(stderr,"Main job file does not exist, extracting...\n");
 
@@ -229,6 +231,17 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
             return 1;
           }
         }
+	else{
+	  if(DEBUG)
+	    fprintf(stderr,"Using already extracted data.\n");
+        }
+
+        struct stat tbuffer;
+        int tstatus = stat(pathtoJobfile, &tbuffer);
+	if(tstatus == -1){
+          fprintf(stderr,"The main job file does not exist! Data may be corrupt, or the archive is malformatted.\n");
+          return 1;
+        }
 
         /* ignore return because directory may exist already */
         if(DEBUG)