diff --git a/src/lmakeserver/backend.cc b/src/lmakeserver/backend.cc
index 7c8c7183..247dfab1 100644
--- a/src/lmakeserver/backend.cc
+++ b/src/lmakeserver/backend.cc
@@ -612,9 +612,9 @@ namespace Backends {
 
 	void Backend::s_config( ::array<Config::Backend,N<Tag>> const& config , bool dynamic ) {
 		static ::jthread      heartbeat_thread      {    _s_heartbeat_thread_func                 } ;
-		static JobThread      job_start_thread      {'S',_s_handle_job_start      ,1000/*backlog*/} ; _s_job_start_thread       = &job_start_thread       ;
-		static JobMngtThread  job_mngt_thread       {'M',_s_handle_job_mngt       ,1000/*backlog*/} ; _s_job_mngt_thread        = &job_mngt_thread        ;
-		static JobThread      job_end_thread        {'E',_s_handle_job_end        ,1000/*backlog*/} ; _s_job_end_thread         = &job_end_thread         ;
+		static JobThread      job_start_thread      {'S',_s_handle_job_start      ,4096/*backlog*/} ; _s_job_start_thread       = &job_start_thread       ; // 4096 : max usual value as set in ...
+		static JobMngtThread  job_mngt_thread       {'M',_s_handle_job_mngt       ,4096/*backlog*/} ; _s_job_mngt_thread        = &job_mngt_thread        ; // ... /proc/sys/net/core/somaxconn
+		static JobThread      job_end_thread        {'E',_s_handle_job_end        ,4096/*backlog*/} ; _s_job_end_thread         = &job_end_thread         ; // .
 		static DeferredThread deferred_report_thread{'R',_s_handle_deferred_report                } ; _s_deferred_report_thread = &deferred_report_thread ;
 		static DeferredThread deferred_wakeup_thread{'W',_s_handle_deferred_wakeup                } ; _s_deferred_wakeup_thread = &deferred_wakeup_thread ;
 		Trace trace(BeChnl,"s_config",STR(dynamic)) ;
diff --git a/src/lmakeserver/main.cc b/src/lmakeserver/main.cc
index 59342ed3..c030e02b 100644
--- a/src/lmakeserver/main.cc
+++ b/src/lmakeserver/main.cc
@@ -150,6 +150,7 @@ void reqs_thread_func( ::stop_token stop , Fd in_fd , Fd out_fd ) {
 		for( Epoll::Event event : events ) {
 			EventKind kind = event.data<EventKind>() ;
 			Fd        fd   = event.fd()              ;
+			trace("event",kind,fd) ;
 			switch (kind) {
 				// it may be that in a single poll, we get the end of a previous run and a request for a new one
 				// problem lies in this sequence :
@@ -167,7 +168,6 @@ void reqs_thread_func( ::stop_token stop , Fd in_fd , Fd out_fd ) {
 						trace("stop_requested") ;
 						goto Done ;
 					}
-					trace("int",kind) ;
 					switch (kind) {
 						case EventKind::Int   : { struct signalfd_siginfo event ; ssize_t cnt = ::read(_g_int_fd  ,&event,sizeof(event)) ; SWEAR( cnt==sizeof(event) , cnt ) ; } break ;
 						case EventKind::Watch : { struct inotify_event    event ; ssize_t cnt = ::read(_g_watch_fd,&event,sizeof(event)) ; SWEAR( cnt==sizeof(event) , cnt ) ; } break ;
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ void reqs_thread_func( ::stop_token stop , Fd in_fd , Fd out_fd ) {
 					try         { if (!in_tab.at(fd).first.receive_step(fd,rrr)) continue ; }
 					catch (...) { rrr.proc = ReqProc::None ;                                }
 					Fd ofd = kind==EventKind::Std ? out_fd : fd ;
-					trace("req",kind,fd,rrr) ;
+					trace("req",rrr) ;
 					switch (rrr.proc) {
 						case ReqProc::Make   : {
 							Req r{New} ;
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ void reqs_thread_func( ::stop_token stop , Fd in_fd , Fd out_fd ) {
 						case ReqProc::Forget :
 						case ReqProc::Mark   :
 						case ReqProc::Show   :
-							epoll.del(fd) ; trace("stop_fd",rrr.proc,fd) ;                  // must precede close(fd) which may occur as soon as we push to g_engine_queue
+							epoll.del(fd) ; trace("del_fd",rrr.proc,fd) ;                   // must precede close(fd) which may occur as soon as we push to g_engine_queue
 							in_tab.erase(fd) ;
 							//vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
 							g_engine_queue.emplace( rrr.proc , fd , ofd , rrr.files , rrr.options ) ;
@@ -424,6 +424,7 @@ int main( int argc , char** argv ) {
 	else                 g_startup_dir_s = new ::string ;
 	//
 	_g_int_fd = open_sig_fd({SIGINT,SIGHUP}) ;                                          // must be done before app_init so that all threads block the signal
+	set_sig({SIGPIPE},true/*block*/) ;
 	//          vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
 	Persistent::writable = true ;
 	Codec     ::writable = true ;
diff --git a/src/process.hh b/src/process.hh
index d1ebf58f..f1a2ca19 100644
--- a/src/process.hh
+++ b/src/process.hh
@@ -51,8 +51,7 @@ inline bool/*all_done*/ set_sig( ::vector<int> const& sigs , bool block ) {
 inline Fd open_sig_fd(::vector<int> const& sigs) {
 	swear_prod(set_sig(sigs,true/*block*/),"some of signals",sigs,"are already blocked") ;
 	//
-	sigset_t mask ;
-	::sigemptyset(&mask) ;
+	sigset_t mask ; ::sigemptyset(&mask) ;
 	for( int s : sigs) ::sigaddset(&mask,s) ;
 	//
 	return ::signalfd( -1 , &mask , SFD_CLOEXEC ) ;