diff --git a/scripts/play.php b/scripts/play.php
index bf6df3c..e310965 100644
--- a/scripts/play.php
+++ b/scripts/play.php
@@ -25,12 +25,15 @@ if(isset($_GET['deletefile'])) {
   ensure_db_ok($statement1);
   $statement1->bindValue(':file_name', explode("/", $_GET['deletefile'])[2]);
   $file_pointer = $home."/BirdSongs/Extracted/By_Date/".$_GET['deletefile'];
-  if (!exec("sudo rm $file_pointer && sudo rm $file_pointer.png")) {
+  if (!exec("sudo rm $file_pointer 2>&1 && sudo rm $file_pointer.png 2>&1", $output)) {
     echo "OK";
   } else {
-    echo "Error";
+    echo "Error - file deletion failed : " . implode(", ", $output);
   }
   $result1 = $statement1->execute();
+  if ($result1 === false || $db_writable->changes() === 0) {
+    echo "Error - database line deletion failed : " . $db_writable->lastErrorMsg();
+  }
   $db_writable->close();
   die();
 }
@@ -171,7 +174,7 @@ function deleteDetection(filename,copylink=false) {
           location.reload();
         }
       } else {
-        alert("Database busy.")
+        alert(this.responseText);
       }
     }
     xhttp.open("GET", "play.php?deletefile="+filename, true);