diff --git a/karma.conf.js b/karma.conf.js
index 131a03ce79..6d3047bb3b 100644
--- a/karma.conf.js
+++ b/karma.conf.js
@@ -165,6 +165,14 @@ module.exports = function (config) {
             },
             devtool: 'inline-source-map',
         },
+
+        webpackMiddleware: {
+            stats: {
+                // don't fill the console up with a mahoosive list of modules
+                chunks: false,
+            },
+        },
+
         browserNoActivityTimeout: 15000,
     });
 };
diff --git a/src/components/structures/ScrollPanel.js b/src/components/structures/ScrollPanel.js
index 1391d2b740..c6bcdc45cd 100644
--- a/src/components/structures/ScrollPanel.js
+++ b/src/components/structures/ScrollPanel.js
@@ -570,7 +570,7 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
         var boundingRect = node.getBoundingClientRect();
         var scrollDelta = boundingRect.bottom + pixelOffset - wrapperRect.bottom;
 
-        debuglog("Scrolling to token '" + node.dataset.scrollToken + "'+" +
+        debuglog("ScrollPanel: scrolling to token '" + node.dataset.scrollToken + "'+" +
                  pixelOffset + " (delta: "+scrollDelta+")");
 
         if(scrollDelta != 0) {
@@ -582,7 +582,7 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
     _saveScrollState: function() {
         if (this.props.stickyBottom && this.isAtBottom()) {
             this.scrollState = { stuckAtBottom: true };
-            debuglog("Saved scroll state", this.scrollState);
+            debuglog("ScrollPanel: Saved scroll state", this.scrollState);
             return;
         }
 
@@ -601,12 +601,12 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
                     trackedScrollToken: node.dataset.scrollToken,
                     pixelOffset: wrapperRect.bottom - boundingRect.bottom,
                 };
-                debuglog("Saved scroll state", this.scrollState);
+                debuglog("ScrollPanel: saved scroll state", this.scrollState);
                 return;
             }
         }
 
-        debuglog("Unable to save scroll state: found no children in the viewport");
+        debuglog("ScrollPanel: unable to save scroll state: found no children in the viewport");
     },
 
     _restoreSavedScrollState: function() {
@@ -640,7 +640,7 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
             this._lastSetScroll = scrollNode.scrollTop;
         }
 
-        debuglog("Set scrollTop:", scrollNode.scrollTop,
+        debuglog("ScrollPanel: set scrollTop:", scrollNode.scrollTop,
                  "requested:", scrollTop,
                  "_lastSetScroll:", this._lastSetScroll);
     },
diff --git a/test/components/structures/RoomView-test.js b/test/components/structures/RoomView-test.js
index 58db29b1ee..8e7c8160b8 100644
--- a/test/components/structures/RoomView-test.js
+++ b/test/components/structures/RoomView-test.js
@@ -42,17 +42,12 @@ describe('RoomView', function () {
     it('resolves a room alias to a room id', function (done) {
         peg.get().getRoomIdForAlias.returns(q({room_id: "!randomcharacters:aser.ver"}));
 
-        var onRoomIdResolved = sinon.spy();
+        function onRoomIdResolved(room_id) {
+            expect(room_id).toEqual("!randomcharacters:aser.ver");
+            done();
+        }
 
         ReactDOM.render(<RoomView roomAddress="#alias:ser.ver" onRoomIdResolved={onRoomIdResolved} />, parentDiv);
-
-        process.nextTick(function() {
-            // These expect()s don't read very well and don't give very good failure
-            // messages, but expect's toHaveBeenCalled only takes an expect spy object,
-            // not a sinon spy object.
-            expect(onRoomIdResolved.called).toExist();
-            done();
-        });
     });
 
     it('joins by alias if given an alias', function (done) {
diff --git a/test/components/structures/ScrollPanel-test.js b/test/components/structures/ScrollPanel-test.js
index 13721c9ecd..eacaeb5fb4 100644
--- a/test/components/structures/ScrollPanel-test.js
+++ b/test/components/structures/ScrollPanel-test.js
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ var Tester = React.createClass({
 
     /* returns a promise which will resolve when the fill happens */
     awaitFill: function(dir) {
+        console.log("ScrollPanel Tester: awaiting " + dir + " fill");
         var defer = q.defer();
         this._fillDefers[dir] = defer;
         return defer.promise;
@@ -80,7 +81,7 @@ var Tester = React.createClass({
 
     _onScroll: function(ev) {
         var st = ev.target.scrollTop;
-        console.log("Scroll event; scrollTop: " + st);
+        console.log("ScrollPanel Tester: scroll event; scrollTop: " + st);
         this.lastScrollEvent = st;
 
         var d = this._scrollDefer;
@@ -159,10 +160,29 @@ describe('ScrollPanel', function() {
         scrollingDiv = ReactTestUtils.findRenderedDOMComponentWithClass(
             tester, "gm-scroll-view");
 
-        // wait for a browser tick to let the initial paginates complete
-        setTimeout(function() {
-            done();
-        }, 0);
+        // we need to make sure we don't call done() until q has finished
+        // running the completion handlers from the fill requests. We can't
+        // just use .done(), because that will end up ahead of those handlers
+        // in the queue. We can't use window.setTimeout(0), because that also might
+        // run ahead of those handlers.
+        const sp = tester.scrollPanel();
+        let retriesRemaining = 1;
+        const awaitReady = function() {
+            return q().then(() => {
+                if (sp._pendingFillRequests.b === false &&
+                    sp._pendingFillRequests.f === false
+                   ) {
+                    return;
+                }
+
+                if (retriesRemaining == 0) {
+                    throw new Error("fillRequests did not complete");
+                }
+                retriesRemaining--;
+                return awaitReady();
+            });
+        };
+        awaitReady().done(done);
     });
 
     afterEach(function() {
diff --git a/test/components/structures/TimelinePanel-test.js b/test/components/structures/TimelinePanel-test.js
index b2cdfbd590..be60691b5c 100644
--- a/test/components/structures/TimelinePanel-test.js
+++ b/test/components/structures/TimelinePanel-test.js
@@ -99,7 +99,11 @@ describe('TimelinePanel', function() {
         // the document so that we can interact with it properly.
         parentDiv = document.createElement('div');
         parentDiv.style.width = '800px';
-        parentDiv.style.height = '600px';
+
+        // This has to be slightly carefully chosen. We expect to have to do
+        // exactly one pagination to fill it.
+        parentDiv.style.height = '500px';
+
         parentDiv.style.overflow = 'hidden';
         document.body.appendChild(parentDiv);
     });
@@ -235,7 +239,7 @@ describe('TimelinePanel', function() {
                 expect(client.paginateEventTimeline.callCount).toEqual(0);
                 done();
             }, 0);
-        }, 0);
+        }, 10);
     });
 
     it("should let you scroll down to the bottom after you've scrolled up", function(done) {
diff --git a/test/test-utils.js b/test/test-utils.js
index cdfae4421c..71d3bd92d6 100644
--- a/test/test-utils.js
+++ b/test/test-utils.js
@@ -14,7 +14,15 @@ var MatrixEvent = jssdk.MatrixEvent;
  */
 export function beforeEach(context) {
     var desc = context.currentTest.fullTitle();
+
     console.log();
+
+    // this puts a mark in the chrome devtools timeline, which can help
+    // figure out what's been going on.
+    if (console.timeStamp) {
+        console.timeStamp(desc);
+    }
+
     console.log(desc);
     console.log(new Array(1 + desc.length).join("="));
 };