diff --git a/server/src/db.js b/server/src/db.js
index 0e0cd97..f1c9dff 100644
--- a/server/src/db.js
+++ b/server/src/db.js
@@ -11,12 +11,25 @@ export const pool = new pg.Pool({
 export const query = (text, params) => pool.query(text, params);
 
 export async function waitForDb(retries = 30, delayMs = 1000) {
+  console.log(
+    `Connecting to PostgreSQL: host=${config.db.host} port=${config.db.port} ` +
+      `db=${config.db.database} user=${config.db.user}`
+  );
   for (let i = 1; i <= retries; i++) {
     try {
       await pool.query('SELECT 1');
       return;
     } catch (err) {
-      if (i === retries) throw err;
+      if (i === retries) {
+        if (err.code === '28P01') {
+          console.error(
+            'Authentication failed: the sbc_app password in PostgreSQL does not match ' +
+              'PGPASSWORD/APP_DB_PASSWORD. The db-sync service realigns it at every stack ' +
+              'start — make sure it ran against this same database.'
+          );
+        }
+        throw err;
+      }
       await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, delayMs));
     }
   }