diff --git a/doc/releaseNotes.md b/doc/releaseNotes.md
index 169f62c..f65795b 100644
--- a/doc/releaseNotes.md
+++ b/doc/releaseNotes.md
@@ -26,3 +26,4 @@ This file describes the main feature changes for each InfoLogger released versio
 
 ## next version
 - added header file InfoLoggerErrorCodes.h to reference centrally the definition of error code ranges reserved specifically for each o2 module, and possibly the individual description / documentation of each error code.
+- fix in infoLoggerServer threads initialization.
diff --git a/src/InfoLoggerDispatch.cxx b/src/InfoLoggerDispatch.cxx
index fe4b181..a509be7 100644
--- a/src/InfoLoggerDispatch.cxx
+++ b/src/InfoLoggerDispatch.cxx
@@ -16,15 +16,15 @@
 
 InfoLoggerDispatch::InfoLoggerDispatch(ConfigInfoLoggerServer* vConfig, SimpleLog* vLog)
 {
-  dispatchThread = std::make_unique<Thread>(InfoLoggerDispatch::threadCallback, this);
   input = std::make_unique<AliceO2::Common::Fifo<std::shared_ptr<InfoLoggerMessageList>>>(vConfig->dbDispatchQueueSize);
-  dispatchThread->start();
   if (vLog != NULL) {
     theLog = vLog;
   } else {
     theLog = &defaultLog;
   }
   theConfig = vConfig;
+  dispatchThread = std::make_unique<Thread>(InfoLoggerDispatch::threadCallback, this, "InfoLoggerDispatch", 50000);
+  dispatchThread->start();
 }
 
 InfoLoggerDispatch::~InfoLoggerDispatch()
@@ -54,6 +54,10 @@ Thread::CallbackResult InfoLoggerDispatch::threadCallback(void* arg)
     return Thread::CallbackResult::Error;
   }
 
+  if (!dPtr->isReady) {
+    return Thread::CallbackResult::Idle;
+  }
+
   int nMsgProcessed = 0;
 
   if (dPtr->customLoop()) {
diff --git a/src/InfoLoggerDispatch.h b/src/InfoLoggerDispatch.h
index 23b8143..88f4273 100644
--- a/src/InfoLoggerDispatch.h
+++ b/src/InfoLoggerDispatch.h
@@ -52,6 +52,9 @@ class InfoLoggerDispatch
   SimpleLog defaultLog;
 
   ConfigInfoLoggerServer* theConfig;
+
+  bool isReady = false; // this flag must be set to true by derived instances when ready.
+                        // customloop will not be called unless set.
 };
 
 class InfoLoggerDispatchPrint : public InfoLoggerDispatch
diff --git a/src/InfoLoggerDispatchBrowser.cxx b/src/InfoLoggerDispatchBrowser.cxx
index ed11dd7..4428d12 100644
--- a/src/InfoLoggerDispatchBrowser.cxx
+++ b/src/InfoLoggerDispatchBrowser.cxx
@@ -81,6 +81,9 @@ InfoLoggerDispatchOnlineBrowser::InfoLoggerDispatchOnlineBrowser(ConfigInfoLogge
     throw __LINE__;
   }
   //theLog.info("%s() success\n",__FUNCTION__);
+  
+  // enable customloop callback
+  isReady = true;
 }
 InfoLoggerDispatchOnlineBrowser::~InfoLoggerDispatchOnlineBrowser()
 {
diff --git a/src/InfoLoggerDispatchSQL.cxx b/src/InfoLoggerDispatchSQL.cxx
index eebb2c2..3789e36 100644
--- a/src/InfoLoggerDispatchSQL.cxx
+++ b/src/InfoLoggerDispatchSQL.cxx
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ typedef bool my_bool;
 #endif
 
 // some constants
-#define SQL_RETRY_CONNECT 1 // base retry time, will be sleeping up to 10x this value
+#define SQL_RETRY_CONNECT 1 // SQL database connect retry time
 
 class InfoLoggerDispatchSQLImpl
 {
@@ -103,14 +103,7 @@ void InfoLoggerDispatchSQLImpl::start()
   }
 
   // try to connect DB
-  int maxRetry = 10;
-  for (int n = 0; n < maxRetry; n++) {
-    InfoLoggerDispatchSQLImpl::connectDB();
-    if (dbIsConnected) {
-      break;
-    }
-    sleep(SQL_RETRY_CONNECT);
-  }
+  // done automatically in customloop
 }
 
 InfoLoggerDispatchSQL::InfoLoggerDispatchSQL(ConfigInfoLoggerServer* config, SimpleLog* log) : InfoLoggerDispatch(config, log)
@@ -119,6 +112,9 @@ InfoLoggerDispatchSQL::InfoLoggerDispatchSQL(ConfigInfoLoggerServer* config, Sim
   dPtr->theLog = log;
   dPtr->theConfig = config;
   dPtr->start();
+
+  // enable customloop callback
+  isReady = true;
 }
 
 void InfoLoggerDispatchSQLImpl::stop()
@@ -152,7 +148,7 @@ int InfoLoggerDispatchSQLImpl::connectDB()
     time_t now = time(NULL);
     if (now < dbLastConnectTry + SQL_RETRY_CONNECT) {
       // wait before reconnecting
-      return 0;
+      return 1;
     }
     dbLastConnectTry = now;
     if (mysql_real_connect(&db, theConfig->dbHost.c_str(), theConfig->dbUser.c_str(), theConfig->dbPassword.c_str(), theConfig->dbName.c_str(), 0, NULL, 0)) {
@@ -160,11 +156,11 @@ int InfoLoggerDispatchSQLImpl::connectDB()
       dbIsConnected = 1;
       dbConnectTrials = 0;
     } else {
-      if (dbConnectTrials == 1) { // the first attempt always fails, hide it
+      if (dbConnectTrials == 0) { // log only first attempt
         theLog->error("DB connection failed: %s", mysql_error(&db));
       }
       dbConnectTrials++;
-      return 0;
+      return 1;
     }
 
     // create prepared insert statement
@@ -209,8 +205,12 @@ int InfoLoggerDispatchSQLImpl::connectDB()
 
 int InfoLoggerDispatchSQLImpl::customLoop()
 {
-
-  return connectDB();
+  int err = connectDB();
+  if (err) {
+    // temporization to avoid immediate retry
+    sleep(SQL_RETRY_CONNECT);
+  }
+  return err;
 }
 
 int InfoLoggerDispatchSQLImpl::customMessageProcess(std::shared_ptr<InfoLoggerMessageList> lmsg)