diff --git a/example_dashboard/src/routes/+page.svelte b/example_dashboard/src/routes/+page.svelte
index 3d8e04b..4b7a56b 100644
--- a/example_dashboard/src/routes/+page.svelte
+++ b/example_dashboard/src/routes/+page.svelte
@@ -96,14 +96,24 @@
 		<h3>Settings</h3>
 
 		<label>
-			User Name
+			Device Name
 			<input
 				type="text"
-				placeholder="Enter username..."
+				placeholder="Enter friendly device name..."
 				bind:value={$deviceFields.friendly_name}
 				on:input={delayedSend}
 			/>
 		</label>
+		
+		<label>
+			Nickname
+			<input
+				type="text"
+				placeholder="Enter nickname..."
+				bind:value={$deviceData.data.nickname}
+				on:input={delayedSend}
+			/>
+		</label>
 
 		<label>
 			Avatar URL
diff --git a/unity_package/Runtime/VELConnectManager.cs b/unity_package/Runtime/VELConnectManager.cs
index 3066e53..c479da5 100644
--- a/unity_package/Runtime/VELConnectManager.cs
+++ b/unity_package/Runtime/VELConnectManager.cs
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ namespace VELConnect
 				[CanBeNull] public string pairing_code;
 				[CanBeNull] public string last_online;
 				[CanBeNull] public DeviceExpand expand;
-				public DataBlock deviceData => expand.data;
+				public DataBlock deviceData => expand?.data;
 
 				public class DeviceExpand
 				{
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ namespace VELConnect
 			// allows running multiple builds on the same computer
 			// return SystemInfo.deviceUniqueIdentifier + Hash128.Compute(Application.dataPath);
 			sb.Append(Application.dataPath);
-			sb.Append("EDITOR");
+			sb.Append("EDITOR2");
 #endif
 			string id = Convert.ToBase64String(md5.ComputeHash(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(sb.ToString())));
 			deviceId = id[..15];
@@ -349,6 +349,32 @@ namespace VELConnect
 										}
 									}
 								}
+
+								// on the initial state, also activate callbacks for null values
+								if (isInitialState)
+								{
+									foreach ((string deviceDataKey, List<CallbackListener> callbackList) in deviceDataCallbacks)
+									{
+										if (!state.device.deviceData.data.ContainsKey(deviceDataKey))
+										{
+											// send the callbacks
+											callbackList.ForEach(e =>
+											{
+												if (e.sendInitialState)
+												{
+													try
+													{
+														e.callback(null);
+													}
+													catch (Exception ex)
+													{
+														Debug.LogError(ex);
+													}
+												}
+											});
+										}
+									}
+								}
 							}
 						}
 
@@ -394,6 +420,32 @@ namespace VELConnect
 									}
 								}
 							}
+
+							// on the initial state, also activate callbacks for null values
+							if (isInitialState)
+							{
+								foreach ((string key, List<CallbackListener> callbackList) in roomDataCallbacks)
+								{
+									if (!state.room.data.ContainsKey(key))
+									{
+										// send the callbacks
+										callbackList.ForEach(e =>
+										{
+											if (e.sendInitialState)
+											{
+												try
+												{
+													e.callback(null);
+												}
+												catch (Exception ex)
+												{
+													Debug.LogError(ex);
+												}
+											}
+										});
+									}
+								}
+							}
 						}
 
 						lastState = state;
@@ -453,6 +505,7 @@ namespace VELConnect
 
 		/// <summary>
 		/// Adds a change listener callback to a particular field name within the Device data JSON.
+		/// If the initial state doesn't contain this key, this sends back null
 		/// </summary>
 		public static void AddDeviceDataListener(string key, MonoBehaviour keepAliveObject, Action<string> callback,
 			bool sendInitialState = false)
@@ -469,25 +522,24 @@ namespace VELConnect
 				sendInitialState = sendInitialState
 			});
 
-			if (sendInitialState)
+			// if we have already received data, and we should send right away
+			if (sendInitialState && instance.state != null)
 			{
 				string val = GetDeviceData(key);
-				if (val != null)
+				try
 				{
-					try
-					{
-						callback(val);
-					}
-					catch (Exception e)
-					{
-						Debug.LogError(e);
-					}
+					callback(val);
+				}
+				catch (Exception e)
+				{
+					Debug.LogError(e);
 				}
 			}
 		}
 
 		/// <summary>
 		/// Adds a change listener callback to a particular field name within the Room data JSON.
+		/// If the initial state doesn't contain this key, this sends back null
 		/// </summary>
 		public static void AddRoomDataListener(string key, MonoBehaviour keepAliveObject, Action<string> callback,
 			bool sendInitialState = false)
@@ -504,31 +556,29 @@ namespace VELConnect
 				sendInitialState = sendInitialState
 			});
 
-			if (sendInitialState)
+			// if we have already received data, and we should send right away
+			if (sendInitialState && instance.state != null)
 			{
 				string val = GetRoomData(key);
-				if (val != null)
+				try
 				{
-					try
-					{
-						callback(val);
-					}
-					catch (Exception e)
-					{
-						Debug.LogError(e);
-					}
+					callback(val);
+				}
+				catch (Exception e)
+				{
+					Debug.LogError(e);
 				}
 			}
 		}
 
-		public static string GetDeviceData(string key)
+		public static string GetDeviceData(string key, string defaultValue = null)
 		{
-			return instance != null ? instance.lastState?.device?.TryGetData(key) : null;
+			return instance != null ? instance.lastState?.device?.TryGetData(key) : defaultValue;
 		}
 
-		public static string GetRoomData(string key)
+		public static string GetRoomData(string key, string defaultValue = null)
 		{
-			return instance != null ? instance.lastState?.room?.TryGetData(key) : null;
+			return instance != null ? instance.lastState?.room?.TryGetData(key) : defaultValue;
 		}
 
 		/// <summary>
@@ -769,6 +819,7 @@ namespace VELConnect
 			byte[] bodyRaw = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(postData);
 			UploadHandlerRaw uploadHandler = new UploadHandlerRaw(bodyRaw);
 			webRequest.uploadHandler = uploadHandler;
+			webRequest.downloadHandler = new DownloadHandlerBuffer();
 			webRequest.SetRequestHeader("Content-Type", "application/json");
 			if (headers != null)
 			{
diff --git a/velconnect-svelte-npm/package.json b/velconnect-svelte-npm/package.json
index b34a702..4eafa81 100644
--- a/velconnect-svelte-npm/package.json
+++ b/velconnect-svelte-npm/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@velaboratory/velconnect-svelte",
-  "version": "1.0.1",
+  "version": "1.0.2",
   "description": "Use VEL-Connect with a Svelte dashboard",
   "main": "src/index.js",
   "files": [
diff --git a/velconnect-svelte-npm/src/index.ts b/velconnect-svelte-npm/src/index.ts
index 9e3b423..31ed95c 100644
--- a/velconnect-svelte-npm/src/index.ts
+++ b/velconnect-svelte-npm/src/index.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,12 @@ import { writable } from "svelte/store";
 import type { Record } from "pocketbase";
 import { get } from "svelte/store";
 
+let debugLog = false;
+
+export function setDebugLog(val: boolean) {
+  debugLog = val;
+}
+
 export const pb = new PocketBase();
 
 export const currentUser = writable(pb.authStore.model);
@@ -27,6 +33,8 @@ export interface Device extends Record {
   expand: { data?: DataBlock };
 }
 export interface DataBlock extends Record {
+  block_id: string;
+  owner: string;
   data: { [key: string]: string };
 }
 
@@ -53,30 +61,45 @@ export async function startListening(baseUrl: string) {
     const d = (await pb.collection("Device").getOne(get(currentDeviceId), {
       expand: "data",
     })) as Device;
-    deviceFields.set(d);
     deviceData.set(d.expand.data as DataBlock);
+    // we don't need expand anymore, since it doesn't work in subscribe()
+    d.expand = {};
+    deviceFields.set(d);
   }
 
   unsubscribeCurrentDevice = currentDeviceId.subscribe(async (val) => {
-    console.log("current device changed");
+    log("currentDeviceId subscribe change event");
     unsubscribeDeviceFields?.();
     unsubscribeDeviceData?.();
     if (val != "") {
       const d = (await pb
         .collection("Device")
         .getOne(get(currentDeviceId), { expand: "data" })) as Device;
-      deviceFields.set(d);
       deviceData.set(d.expand.data as DataBlock);
+      // we don't need expand anymore, since it doesn't work in subscribe()
+      d.expand = {};
+      deviceFields.set(d);
+
+      unsubscribeDeviceData = await pb
+        .collection("DataBlock")
+        .subscribe(d.data, async (data) => {
+          log("deviceData subscribe change event");
+          deviceData.set(data.record as DataBlock);
+        });
 
       unsubscribeDeviceFields = await pb
         .collection("Device")
         .subscribe(val, async (data) => {
+          log("deviceFields subscribe change event");
           const d = data.record as Device;
           deviceFields.set(d);
 
+          // if the devie changes, the devicedata could change, so we need to resubscribe
+          unsubscribeDeviceData?.();
           unsubscribeDeviceData = await pb
             .collection("DataBlock")
-            .subscribe(d.id, async (data) => {
+            .subscribe(d.data, async (data) => {
+              log("deviceData subscribe change event");
               deviceData.set(data.record as DataBlock);
             });
 
@@ -92,6 +115,7 @@ export async function startListening(baseUrl: string) {
   });
 
   unsubscribeCurrentUser = currentUser.subscribe((user) => {
+    log(`currentUser changed ${user}`);
     pairedDevices.set(user?.["devices"] ?? []);
     currentDeviceId.set(get(pairedDevices)[0] ?? "");
   });
@@ -110,16 +134,26 @@ async function getRoomData(device: Device) {
   unsubscribeRoomData?.();
 
   // create or just fetch room by name
-  const r = (await pb
-    .collection("DataBlock")
-    .getFirstListItem(
-      `block_id="${device.current_app}_${device.current_room}"`
-    )) as DataBlock;
+  let r: DataBlock | null = null;
+  try {
+    r = (await pb
+      .collection("DataBlock")
+      .getFirstListItem(
+        `block_id="${device.current_app}_${device.current_room}"`
+      )) as DataBlock;
+  } catch (e: any) {
+    r = (await pb.collection("DataBlock").create({
+      block_id: `${device.current_app}_${device.current_room}`,
+      category: "room",
+      data: {},
+    })) as DataBlock;
+  }
   roomData.set(r);
-  if (r) {
+  if (r != null) {
     unsubscribeRoomData = await pb
       .collection("DataBlock")
       .subscribe(r.id, (data) => {
+        log("roomData subscribe change event");
         roomData.set(data.record as DataBlock);
       });
   } else {
@@ -148,9 +182,10 @@ export function send() {
   console.log("sending...");
   sending = true;
   let promises: Promise<any>[] = [];
-  const room = get(roomData);
   const device = get(deviceFields);
   const data = get(deviceData);
+  const room = get(roomData);
+  // TODO send changes only
   if (device) {
     promises.push(pb.collection("Device").update(device.id, device));
   }
@@ -195,7 +230,9 @@ export async function pair(pairingCode: string) {
 
     // add it to the local data
     currentDeviceId.set(device.id);
-    pairedDevices.set([...get(pairedDevices), device.id]);
+    if (!get(pairedDevices).includes(device.id)) {
+      pairedDevices.set([...get(pairedDevices), device.id]);
+    }
 
     // add it to my account if logged in
     const u = get(currentUser);
@@ -242,26 +279,32 @@ export async function pair(pairingCode: string) {
 export async function login(username: string, password: string) {
   try {
     await pb.collection("Users").authWithPassword(username, password);
-    return "";
-  } catch (err) {
-    return err as string;
+    return {};
+  } catch (err: any) {
+    return err;
   }
 }
 
 export async function signUp(username: string, password: string) {
   try {
     const data = {
-      email: username,
+      username: username,
       password,
       passwordConfirm: password,
     };
     await pb.collection("Users").create(data);
     return await login(username, password);
-  } catch (err) {
-    return err as string;
+  } catch (err: any) {
+    return err;
   }
 }
 
 export function signOut() {
   pb.authStore.clear();
 }
+
+function log(msg: string) {
+  if (debugLog) {
+    console.log(msg);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/velconnect/main.go b/velconnect/main.go
index 501564f..486d84e 100644
--- a/velconnect/main.go
+++ b/velconnect/main.go
@@ -147,10 +147,12 @@ func main() {
 
 			// apply to the db
 			if err := dao.SaveRecord(deviceRecord); err != nil {
-				return err
+				log.Fatalln(err)
+				return c.String(500, err.Error())
 			}
 			if err := dao.SaveRecord(deviceDataRecord); err != nil {
-				return err
+				log.Fatalln(err)
+				return c.String(500, err.Error())
 			}
 
 			return c.JSON(http.StatusOK, deviceRecord)
@@ -180,11 +182,11 @@ func main() {
 			}
 
 			apis.EnrichRecord(c, app.Dao(), deviceRecord, "data")
-			room, roomErr := app.Dao().FindFirstRecordByData("DataBlock", "block_id", deviceRecord.GetString("current_app")+"_"+deviceRecord.GetString("current_room"))
+			room, _ := app.Dao().FindFirstRecordByData("DataBlock", "block_id", deviceRecord.GetString("current_app")+"_"+deviceRecord.GetString("current_room"))
 			user, _ := app.Dao().FindRecordById("Users", deviceRecord.GetString("owner"))
 
-			log.Println(deviceRecord.GetString("current_room"))
-			log.Println(roomErr)
+			// log.Println(deviceRecord.GetString("current_room"))
+			// log.Println(roomErr)
 
 			output := map[string]interface{}{
 				"device": deviceRecord,