Server Sync not working

My partner who was playing on Videl noticed that the server starting sync never completed, and continued to start when time was due but not complete. First time noticed was 1:00 22nd of the 5th month of the yr 189

The server sync messages are sent seperately and slightly time distant to the actual step to write the files to disk.
The start message is sent about 5 seconds (from memory) before the sync takes place to allow the clients time to recieve the message before the lag happens.
The end message is sent after the sync is completed.
i have noticed very rarely that two start messages occur or that no end messages occur. It does not appear to have affected the syncs so i never bothered to investigate.