diff --git a/MAMEToolkit/emulator/Console.py b/MAMEToolkit/emulator/Console.py
index 59de815..c5714ed 100755
--- a/MAMEToolkit/emulator/Console.py
+++ b/MAMEToolkit/emulator/Console.py
@@ -59,19 +59,25 @@ def readAll(self, timeout=0.5):
                 break
         return lines
 
-    def writeln(self, command, expect_output=False, timeout=0.5):
+    def writeln(self, command, expect_output=False, timeout=0.5, raiseError=True):
         self.process.stdin.write(command.encode("utf-8") + b'\n')
         self.process.stdin.flush()
         output = self.readAll(timeout=timeout)
 
         if expect_output and len(output) == 0:
             error = "Expected output but received nothing from emulator after '" + command + "'"
-            self.logger.error(error)
-            raise IOError(error)
+            if raiseError:
+                self.logger.error(error)
+                raise IOError(error)
+            else:
+                return None
         if not expect_output and len(output) > 0:
             error = "No output expected from command '" + command + "', but recieved: " + "\n".join(output)
-            self.logger.error(error)
-            raise IOError(error)
+            if raiseError:
+                self.logger.error(error)
+                raise IOError(error)
+            else:
+                return None
         if expect_output:
             return output
 
diff --git a/MAMEToolkit/emulator/Emulator.py b/MAMEToolkit/emulator/Emulator.py
index 6f14783..4d6abf3 100755
--- a/MAMEToolkit/emulator/Emulator.py
+++ b/MAMEToolkit/emulator/Emulator.py
@@ -85,14 +85,20 @@ def create_lua_variables(self):
         self.console.writeln('mem = manager:machine().devices[":maincpu"].spaces["program"]')
         self.console.writeln('releaseQueue = {}')
 
-    def wait_for_resource_registration(self):
+    def wait_for_resource_registration(self, max_attempts=10):
         screen_registered = False
         program_registered = False
+        attempt = 0
         while not screen_registered or not program_registered:
             if not screen_registered:
-                screen_registered = self.console.writeln('print(manager:machine().screens[":screen"])', expect_output=True, timeout=3) is not "nil"
+                result = self.console.writeln('print(manager:machine().screens[":screen"])', expect_output=True, timeout=3, raiseError=False)
+                screen_registered = result is not None and result is not "nil"
             if not program_registered:
-                program_registered = self.console.writeln('print(manager:machine().devices[":maincpu"].spaces["program"])', expect_output=True, timeout=3) is not "nil"
+                result = self.console.writeln('print(manager:machine().devices[":maincpu"].spaces["program"])', expect_output=True, timeout=3, raiseError=False)
+                program_registered = result is not None and result is not "nil"
+            if attempt == max_attempts:
+                raise EnvironmentError("Failed to register MAME resources!")
+            attempt += 1
 
     # Gets the game screen width in pixels
     def setup_screen_width(self):