diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4930ed01d8..88d3b449c7 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -258,6 +258,7 @@ The environment is a specific blockchain configuration that can be managed at co
     chains: chains_staging.json
     network_id: 0
     console: true
+    geth_extra_opts: --vmdebug
     account:
       init: false
       address: 0x123
diff --git a/boilerplate/Gruntfile.coffee b/boilerplate/Gruntfile.coffee
index 150ff37214..279c1816b8 100644
--- a/boilerplate/Gruntfile.coffee
+++ b/boilerplate/Gruntfile.coffee
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 module.exports = (grunt) ->
 
+  grunt.option 'stack', true
   grunt.loadNpmTasks "grunt-embark"
   grunt.loadTasks "tasks"
 
@@ -111,4 +112,3 @@ module.exports = (grunt) ->
 
   grunt.registerTask "deploy", ["coffee", "deploy_contracts", "concat", "copy", "server", "watch"]
   grunt.registerTask "build", ["clean", "deploy_contracts", "coffee", "concat", "uglify", "copy"]
-
diff --git a/lib/blockchain.js b/lib/blockchain.js
index 9ab37a5c9a..88f0c5db9f 100644
--- a/lib/blockchain.js
+++ b/lib/blockchain.js
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@ Blockchain.prototype.generate_basic_command = function() {
     cmd += "--logfile=\"" + config.datadir + ".log\" ";
   }
 
+  if (config.geth_extra_opts) {
+    cmd += config.geth_extra_opts + " ";
+  }
+
   cmd += "--port " + config.port + " ";
   cmd += "--rpc ";
   cmd += "--rpcport " + config.rpcPort + " ";
diff --git a/lib/chain_manager.js b/lib/chain_manager.js
index edc48bbdef..abd0aea9be 100644
--- a/lib/chain_manager.js
+++ b/lib/chain_manager.js
@@ -28,7 +28,11 @@ ChainManager.prototype.loadConfig = function(config) {
 ChainManager.prototype.init = function(env, config) {
   web3.setProvider(new web3.providers.HttpProvider("http://" + config.rpcHost + ":" + config.rpcPort));
 
-  var chainId = web3.eth.getBlock(0).hash;
+  var block = web3.eth.getBlock(0);
+  if(!block){
+    throw new Error("Cannot get the genesis block, is embark blockchain running ?");
+  }
+  var chainId = block.hash;
 
   if (this.chainManagerConfig[chainId] === undefined) {
     this.chainManagerConfig[chainId] = {contracts: {}};
diff --git a/lib/config/blockchain.js b/lib/config/blockchain.js
index d0dcdd50fb..5af4395a63 100644
--- a/lib/config/blockchain.js
+++ b/lib/config/blockchain.js
@@ -48,7 +48,8 @@ BlockchainConfig.prototype.config = function(env) {
     console_toggle: config.console || false,
     mine_when_needed: config.mine_when_needed || false,
     whisper: config.whisper || false,
-    account: config.account
+    account: config.account,
+    geth_extra_opts: config.geth_extra_opts
   }
 
   return config;