Hi Ludo,

> >     69:18  2 (%sqlite-exec _ _ . _)
> > In ice-9/eval.scm:
> >    293:34  1 (_ #(#(#<directory (sqlite3) 1b91820> #<<sqlite-stm?> ?)))
> >     619:8  0 (_ #(#(#(#(#<directory (sqlite3) 1b91820> #<?>) #) 5) 5))
> > ice-9/eval.scm:619:8: Throw to key `sqlite-error' with args `(#f 5 "database is locked")'.  
> 
> Bah.  :-/

sqlite3.h contains quite nice documentation about this case:

/*
** CAPI3REF: Unlock Notification
** METHOD: sqlite3
**
** ^When running in shared-cache mode, a database operation may fail with
** an [SQLITE_LOCKED] error if the required locks on the shared-cache or
** individual tables within the shared-cache cannot be obtained. See
** [SQLite Shared-Cache Mode] for a description of shared-cache locking. 
** ^This API may be used to register a callback that SQLite will invoke 
** when the connection currently holding the required lock relinquishes it.
** ^This API is only available if the library was compiled with the
** [SQLITE_ENABLE_UNLOCK_NOTIFY] C-preprocessor symbol defined.
**
** See Also: [Using the SQLite Unlock Notification Feature].
**
** ^Shared-cache locks are released when a database connection concludes
** its current transaction, either by committing it or rolling it back. 
**
** ^When a connection (known as the blocked connection) fails to obtain a
** shared-cache lock and SQLITE_LOCKED is returned to the caller, the
** identity of the database connection (the blocking connection) that
** has locked the required resource is stored internally. ^After an 
** application receives an SQLITE_LOCKED error, it may call the
** sqlite3_unlock_notify() method with the blocked connection handle as 
** the first argument to register for a callback that will be invoked
** when the blocking connections current transaction is concluded. ^The
** callback is invoked from within the [sqlite3_step] or [sqlite3_close]
** call that concludes the blocking connections transaction.
**
** ^(If sqlite3_unlock_notify() is called in a multi-threaded application,
** there is a chance that the blocking connection will have already
** concluded its transaction by the time sqlite3_unlock_notify() is invoked.
** If this happens, then the specified callback is invoked immediately,
** from within the call to sqlite3_unlock_notify().)^
**
** ^If the blocked connection is attempting to obtain a write-lock on a
** shared-cache table, and more than one other connection currently holds
** a read-lock on the same table, then SQLite arbitrarily selects one of 
** the other connections to use as the blocking connection.
**
** ^(There may be at most one unlock-notify callback registered by a 
** blocked connection. If sqlite3_unlock_notify() is called when the
** blocked connection already has a registered unlock-notify callback,
** then the new callback replaces the old.)^ ^If sqlite3_unlock_notify() is
** called with a NULL pointer as its second argument, then any existing
** unlock-notify callback is canceled. ^The blocked connections 
** unlock-notify callback may also be canceled by closing the blocked
** connection using [sqlite3_close()].
**
** The unlock-notify callback is not reentrant. If an application invokes
** any sqlite3_xxx API functions from within an unlock-notify callback, a
** crash or deadlock may be the result.
**
** ^Unless deadlock is detected (see below), sqlite3_unlock_notify() always
** returns SQLITE_OK.
**
...
*/

...
** When a call to [sqlite3_step()] returns SQLITE_LOCKED, it is almost 
** always appropriate to call sqlite3_unlock_notify(). There is however,
** one exception. When executing a "DROP TABLE" or "DROP INDEX" statement,
** SQLite checks if there are any currently executing SELECT statements
** that belong to the same connection. If there are, SQLITE_LOCKED is
** returned. In this case there is no "blocking connection", so invoking
** sqlite3_unlock_notify() results in the unlock-notify callback being
** invoked immediately. If the application then re-attempts the "DROP TABLE"
** or "DROP INDEX" query, an infinite loop might be the result.
**
** One way around this problem is to check the extended error code returned
** by an sqlite3_step() call. ^(If there is a blocking connection, then the
** extended error code is set to SQLITE_LOCKED_SHAREDCACHE. Otherwise, in
** the special "DROP TABLE/INDEX" case, the extended error code is just 
** SQLITE_LOCKED.)^
...