diff --git a/element_array_ephys/ephys_acute.py b/element_array_ephys/ephys_acute.py
index 0a213db8..cbafb194 100644
--- a/element_array_ephys/ephys_acute.py
+++ b/element_array_ephys/ephys_acute.py
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ class AcquisitionSoftware(dj.Lookup):
         acq_software ( varchar(24) ): Acquisition software, e.g,. SpikeGLX, OpenEphys
     """
 
-    definition = """  # Software used for recording of neuropixels probes
+    definition = """  # Name of software used for recording of neuropixels probes - SpikeGLX or Open Ephys
     acq_software: varchar(24)
     """
     contents = zip(["SpikeGLX", "Open Ephys"])
@@ -180,7 +180,10 @@ def auto_generate_entries(cls, session_key):
                     "probe_type": spikeglx_meta.probe_model,
                     "probe": spikeglx_meta.probe_SN,
                 }
-                if probe_key["probe"] not in [p["probe"] for p in probe_list]:
+                if (
+                    probe_key["probe"] not in [p["probe"] for p in probe_list]
+                    and probe_key not in probe.Probe()
+                ):
                     probe_list.append(probe_key)
 
                 probe_dir = meta_filepath.parent
@@ -204,7 +207,10 @@ def auto_generate_entries(cls, session_key):
                     "probe_type": oe_probe.probe_model,
                     "probe": oe_probe.probe_SN,
                 }
-                if probe_key["probe"] not in [p["probe"] for p in probe_list]:
+                if (
+                    probe_key["probe"] not in [p["probe"] for p in probe_list]
+                    and probe_key not in probe.Probe()
+                ):
                     probe_list.append(probe_key)
                 probe_insertion_list.append(
                     {
@@ -533,7 +539,6 @@ def make(self, key):
                 - 1 : 0 : -self._skip_channel_counts
             ]
 
-            # (sample x channel)
             lfp = oe_probe.lfp_timeseries[:, lfp_channel_ind]
             lfp = (
                 lfp * np.array(oe_probe.lfp_meta["channels_gains"])[lfp_channel_ind]
diff --git a/element_array_ephys/ephys_no_curation.py b/element_array_ephys/ephys_no_curation.py
index 4d052169..22b76c39 100644
--- a/element_array_ephys/ephys_no_curation.py
+++ b/element_array_ephys/ephys_no_curation.py
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@ def activate(
     global _linking_module
     _linking_module = linking_module
 
-    # activate
     probe.activate(
         probe_schema_name, create_schema=create_schema, create_tables=create_tables
     )
@@ -315,8 +314,9 @@ def make(self, key):
                 break
         else:
             raise FileNotFoundError(
-                "Ephys recording data not found!"
-                " Neither SpikeGLX nor Open Ephys recording files found"
+                f"Ephys recording data not found!"
+                f" Neither SpikeGLX nor Open Ephys recording files found"
+                f" in {session_dir}"
             )
 
         supported_probe_types = probe.ProbeType.fetch("probe_type")