diff --git a/src/cmds.cc b/src/cmds.cc
index a0696308e85..8af7bf28169 100644
--- a/src/cmds.cc
+++ b/src/cmds.cc
@@ -38,11 +38,11 @@ using namespace std;
 
 void usage()
 {
-  cerr << "usage: cmds -i name [flags] [--mds rank] [--journal_check]\n";
-  cerr << "  -m monitorip:port\n";
-  cerr << "        connect to monitor at given address\n";
-  cerr << "  --debug_mds n\n";
-  cerr << "        debug MDS level (e.g. 10)\n";
+  derr << "usage: cmds -i name [flags] [--mds rank] [--journal_check]\n"
+       << "  -m monitorip:port\n"
+       << "        connect to monitor at given address\n"
+       << "  --debug_mds n\n"
+       << "        debug MDS level (e.g. 10)\n" << dendl;
   generic_server_usage();
 }
 
@@ -80,12 +80,12 @@ int main(int argc, const char **argv)
       dout(0) << "checking journal"  << dendl;
       shadow = true;
     } else {
-      cerr << "unrecognized arg " << args[i] << std::endl;
+      derr << "unrecognized arg " << args[i] << dendl;
       usage();
     }
   }
   if (!g_conf.id) {
-    cerr << "must specify '-i name' with the cmds instance name" << std::endl;
+    derr << "must specify '-i name' with the cmds instance name" << dendl;
     usage();
   }
 
@@ -104,9 +104,9 @@ int main(int argc, const char **argv)
     journal_dumper->init();
     journal_dumper->dump(dump_file);
   } else {
-    cout << "starting mds." << g_conf.id
+    derr << "starting mds." << g_conf.id
         << " at " << messenger->get_ms_addr()
-        << std::endl;
+        << dendl;
 
     messenger->register_entity(entity_name_t::MDS(-1));
     assert_warn(messenger);
diff --git a/src/common/Clock.h b/src/common/Clock.h
index 646d4febd10..a9521b7013d 100644
--- a/src/common/Clock.h
+++ b/src/common/Clock.h
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ class Clock {
     utime_t n(&tv);
     n -= zero;
     if (n < last) {
-      //std::cerr << "WARNING: clock jumped backwards from " << last << " to " << n << std::endl;
+      //derr << "WARNING: clock jumped backwards from " << last << " to " << n << dendl;
       n = last;    // clock jumped backwards!
     } else
       last = n;
diff --git a/src/common/DoutStreambuf.cc b/src/common/DoutStreambuf.cc
index 2979a27f057..3d99af82351 100644
--- a/src/common/DoutStreambuf.cc
+++ b/src/common/DoutStreambuf.cc
@@ -71,14 +71,6 @@ static std::string normalize_relative(const char *from)
   return oss.str();
 }
 
-/* Complain about errors even without a logfile */
-static void primitive_log(const std::string &str)
-{
-  std::cerr << str;
-  std::cerr.flush();
-  syslog(LOG_USER | LOG_NOTICE, "%s", str.c_str());
-}
-
 static inline bool prio_is_visible_on_stderr(signed int prio)
 {
   return prio == -1;
@@ -112,7 +104,9 @@ static int safe_write(int fd, const char *buf, signed int len)
 	ostringstream oss;
 	oss << __func__ << ": failed to write to fd " << fd << ": "
 	    << cpp_strerror(err) << "\n";
-	primitive_log(oss.str());
+	TEMP_FAILURE_RETRY(::write(STDERR_FILENO, oss.str().c_str(),
+				   oss.str().size()));
+	syslog(LOG_USER | LOG_NOTICE, "%s", oss.str().c_str());
 	return err;
       }
     }
@@ -123,6 +117,13 @@ static int safe_write(int fd, const char *buf, signed int len)
   }
 }
 
+/* Complain about errors even without a logfile */
+static void primitive_log(const std::string &str)
+{
+  safe_write(STDERR_FILENO, str.c_str(), str.size());
+  syslog(LOG_USER | LOG_NOTICE, "%s", str.c_str());
+}
+
 static std::string get_basename(const std::string &filename)
 {
   size_t last_slash = filename.find_last_of("/");
@@ -435,7 +436,6 @@ template <typename charT, typename traits>
 typename DoutStreambuf<charT, traits>::int_type
 DoutStreambuf<charT, traits>::sync()
 {
-  //std::cout << "flush!" << std::endl;
   typename DoutStreambuf<charT, traits>::int_type
     ret(this->overflow(traits_ty::eof()));
   if (ret == traits_ty::eof())
diff --git a/src/common/Logger.cc b/src/common/Logger.cc
index 8a2622c86a4..432e33edd64 100644
--- a/src/common/Logger.cc
+++ b/src/common/Logger.cc
@@ -89,8 +89,8 @@ void logger_tare(utime_t s)
 
   utime_t fromstart = g_clock.now();
   if (fromstart < start) {
-    cerr << "logger_tare time jumped backwards from "
-	 << start << " to " << fromstart << std::endl;
+    derr << "logger_tare time jumped backwards from "
+	 << start << " to " << fromstart << dendl;
     fromstart = start;
   }
   fromstart -= start;
@@ -133,7 +133,8 @@ static void flush_all_loggers()
   utime_t now = g_clock.now();
   utime_t fromstart = now;
   if (fromstart < start) {
-    cerr << "logger time jumped backwards from " << start << " to " << fromstart << std::endl;
+    derr << "logger time jumped backwards from " << start << " to "
+	 << fromstart << dendl;
     //assert(0);
     start = fromstart;
   }
diff --git a/src/common/assert.cc b/src/common/assert.cc
index 900e373fc9d..ca28bbf7767 100644
--- a/src/common/assert.cc
+++ b/src/common/assert.cc
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ void __ceph_assert_fail(const char *assertion, const char *file, int line, const
 {
   BackTrace *bt = new BackTrace(1);
 
-  _dout_lock.TryLock();
+  _dout_lock.Lock();
   *_dout << file << ": In function '" << func << "':" << std::endl;
   *_dout << file << ":" << line << ": FAILED assert(" << assertion << ")" << std::endl;
   bt->print(*_dout);
@@ -20,12 +20,6 @@ void __ceph_assert_fail(const char *assertion, const char *file, int line, const
 
   _dout->flush();
 
-  cerr << file << ": In function '" << func << "':" << std::endl;
-  cerr << file << ":" << line << ": FAILED assert(" << assertion << ")" << std::endl;
-  bt->print(cerr);
-  cerr << " NOTE: a copy of the executable, or `objdump -rdS <executable>` is needed to interpret this." << std::endl;
-  cerr.flush();
-
   if (1) {
     throw FailedAssertion(bt);
   } else {
@@ -36,9 +30,10 @@ void __ceph_assert_fail(const char *assertion, const char *file, int line, const
   }
 }
 
-void __ceph_assert_warn(const char *assertion, const char *file, int line, const char *func)
+void __ceph_assert_warn(const char *assertion, const char *file,
+			int line, const char *func)
 {
-  *_dout << "WARNING: assert(" << assertion << ") at: " << file << ":" << line << ": " << func << "()" << std::endl;
+  derr << "WARNING: assert(" << assertion << ") at: " << file << ":" << line << ": " << func << "()" << dendl;
 }
 
 }
diff --git a/src/common/buffer.cc b/src/common/buffer.cc
index 4af9ec798d2..0c2d2eba8c2 100644
--- a/src/common/buffer.cc
+++ b/src/common/buffer.cc
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 
 
 #include "config.h"
+#include "common/errno.h"
 #include "include/types.h"
 #include "armor.h"
 #include "include/Spinlock.h"
@@ -86,13 +87,13 @@ void buffer::list::rebuild_page_aligned()
 int buffer::list::read_file(const char *fn, bool silent)
 {
   struct stat st;
-  int fd = ::open(fn, O_RDONLY);
+  int fd = TEMP_FAILURE_RETRY(::open(fn, O_RDONLY));
   if (fd < 0) {
+    int err = errno;
     if (!silent) {
-      char buf[80];
-      cerr << "can't open " << fn << ": " << strerror_r(errno, buf, sizeof(buf)) << std::endl;
+      derr << "can't open " << fn << ": " << cpp_strerror(err) << dendl;
     }
-    return -errno;
+    return -err;
   }
   ::fstat(fd, &st);
   int s = ROUND_UP_TO(st.st_size, PAGE_SIZE);
@@ -101,12 +102,22 @@ int buffer::list::read_file(const char *fn, bool silent)
   int got = 0;
   while (left > 0) {
     int r = ::read(fd, (void *)(bp.c_str() + got), left);
-    if (r <= 0)
+    if (r <= 0) {
+      int err = errno;
+      if (err == EINTR) {
+	// ignore EINTR, 'tis a silly error
+	continue;
+      }
+      if (!silent) {
+	derr << __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ << ": read error:"
+	     << cpp_strerror(err) << dendl;
+      }
       break;
+    }
     got += r;
     left -= r;
   }
-  ::close(fd);
+  TEMP_FAILURE_RETRY(::close(fd));
   bp.set_length(got);
   append(bp);
   return 0;
diff --git a/src/common/common_init.cc b/src/common/common_init.cc
index 01382a5bad3..5c877077a27 100644
--- a/src/common/common_init.cc
+++ b/src/common/common_init.cc
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 #include "auth/AuthSupported.h"
 #include "auth/KeyRing.h"
 #include "config.h"
+#include "common/errno.h"
 #include "include/color.h"
 #include "tls.h"
 
@@ -66,12 +67,16 @@ void common_init(std::vector<const char*>& args, const char *module_type, bool i
       char buf[100];
       int fd = ::open(g_conf.keyfile, O_RDONLY);
       if (fd < 0) {
-	cerr << "unable to open " << g_conf.keyfile << ": " << strerror(errno) << std::endl;
+	int err = errno;
+	derr << "unable to open " << g_conf.keyfile << ": "
+	     << cpp_strerror(err) << dendl;
 	exit(1);
       }
       int len = ::read(fd, buf, sizeof(buf));
       if (len < 0) {
-	cerr << "unable to read key from " << g_conf.keyfile << ": " << strerror(errno) << std::endl;
+	int err = errno;
+	derr << "unable to read key from " << g_conf.keyfile << ": "
+	     << cpp_strerror(err) << dendl;
 	exit(1);
       }
       ::close(fd);
diff --git a/src/common/lockdep.cc b/src/common/lockdep.cc
index ed5162bdbfc..c7d0b53ec1b 100644
--- a/src/common/lockdep.cc
+++ b/src/common/lockdep.cc
@@ -16,13 +16,6 @@
 // global
 int g_lockdep = 0;
 
-/*
-struct foobarr {
-  foobarr() { cerr << "lockdep.cc init" << std::endl; }
-  ~foobarr() { cerr << "lockdep.cc shutdown" << std::endl; }
-} asdff;
-*/
-
 // disable lockdep when this module destructs.
 struct lockdep_stopper_t {
   ~lockdep_stopper_t() {
diff --git a/src/config.cc b/src/config.cc
index fb31b4b4e6d..68d8b63588d 100644
--- a/src/config.cc
+++ b/src/config.cc
@@ -1240,24 +1240,27 @@ void parse_startup_config_options(std::vector<const char*>& args, const char *mo
   ec->load(cf);
 }
 
-void generic_usage()
+void generic_usage(bool is_server)
 {
-  cerr << "   -c ceph.conf or --conf=ceph.conf\n";
-  cerr << "        get options from given conf file" << std::endl;
-  cerr << "   -D   run in foreground.\n";
-  cerr << "   -f   run in foreground. Show all log messages on stdout.\n";
+  derr << "   -c ceph.conf or --conf=ceph.conf\n"
+       << "        get options from given conf file\n"
+       << "   -D   run in foreground.\n"
+       << "   -f   run in foreground. Show all log messages on stdout.";
+  if (is_server) {
+    *_dout << "   --debug_ms N\n"
+	   << "        set message debug level (e.g. 1)";
+  }
+  *_dout << dendl;
 }
 
 void generic_server_usage()
 {
-  cerr << "   --debug_ms N\n";
-  cerr << "        set message debug level (e.g. 1)\n";
-  generic_usage();
+  generic_usage(true);
   exit(1);
 }
 void generic_client_usage()
 {
-  generic_usage();
+  generic_usage(false);
   exit(1);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/librados.cc b/src/librados.cc
index 9f84d1c8357..9c7a67bd660 100644
--- a/src/librados.cc
+++ b/src/librados.cc
@@ -377,7 +377,8 @@ public:
 
     void notify(uint8_t opcode, uint64_t ver) {
       if (opcode != WATCH_NOTIFY_COMPLETE)
-        cerr << "WARNING: C_NotifyComplete got response: opcode=" << (int)opcode << " ver=" << ver << std::endl;
+        derr << "WARNING: C_NotifyComplete got response: opcode="
+	     << (int)opcode << " ver=" << ver << dendl;
       *done = true;
       cond->Signal();
     }
diff --git a/src/mds/MDSTableClient.cc b/src/mds/MDSTableClient.cc
index 7bdd9734121..3356eb50889 100644
--- a/src/mds/MDSTableClient.cc
+++ b/src/mds/MDSTableClient.cc
@@ -13,8 +13,6 @@
  */
 
 #include <iostream>
-using std::cout;
-using std::cerr;
 
 #include "MDSMap.h"
 
diff --git a/src/os/BDBMap.h b/src/os/BDBMap.h
index 74a26ee3ca4..434c87f3c3c 100644
--- a/src/os/BDBMap.h
+++ b/src/os/BDBMap.h
@@ -17,11 +17,12 @@
 #define CEPH_BERKELEYDB_H
 
 #include <db.h>
+#include <list>
 #include <unistd.h>
 
-#include <list>
-using namespace std;
+#include "common/debug.h"
 
+using namespace std;
 
 template<typename K, typename D>
 class BDBMap {
@@ -42,7 +43,7 @@ class BDBMap {
 
     int r;
     if ((r = db_create(&dbp, NULL, 0)) != 0) {
-      cerr << "db_create: " << db_strerror(r) << endl;
+      derr << "db_create: " << db_strerror(r) << dendl;
       assert(0);
     }
 
diff --git a/src/test/TestDoutStreambuf.cc b/src/test/TestDoutStreambuf.cc
index 18eec24051e..1f14735b881 100644
--- a/src/test/TestDoutStreambuf.cc
+++ b/src/test/TestDoutStreambuf.cc
@@ -27,8 +27,6 @@
 #include <string>
 #include <syslog.h>
 
-using std::cout;
-using std::cerr;
 using std::string;
 
 int main(int argc, const char **argv)
@@ -48,8 +46,8 @@ int main(int argc, const char **argv)
 //  dos->set_flags(DoutStreambuf<char>::DOUTSB_FLAG_SYSLOG |
 //                 DoutStreambuf<char>::DOUTSB_FLAG_STDOUT |
 //		 DoutStreambuf<char>::DOUTSB_FLAG_STDERR);
-  std::cout << "using configuration: " << dos->config_to_str() << std::endl;
   _dout_lock.Unlock();
+  derr << "using configuration: " << dos->config_to_str() << dendl;
 
   std::ostream oss(dos);
   syslog(LOG_USER | LOG_NOTICE, "TestDoutStreambuf: starting test\n");