diff --git a/omicron/cli/archive.py b/omicron/cli/archive.py
index cb93859..efda155 100644
--- a/omicron/cli/archive.py
+++ b/omicron/cli/archive.py
@@ -53,9 +53,10 @@
 import os
 import re
 
+from .. import __version__
+
 __author__ = 'joseph areeda'
 __email__ = 'joseph.areeda@ligo.org'
-__version__ = '0.0.1'
 __process_name__ = 'archive'
 
 # example channel indir: L1:SUS-PR3_M1_DAMP_T_IN1_DQ
diff --git a/omicron/cli/hdf5_merge.py b/omicron/cli/hdf5_merge.py
index da9ce25..6bd6598 100644
--- a/omicron/cli/hdf5_merge.py
+++ b/omicron/cli/hdf5_merge.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 import os.path
 import argparse
 
-from omicron import (io, __version__)
+from .. import (io, __version__)
 
 __author__ = 'Duncan Macleod <duncan.macleod@ligo.org>'
 
diff --git a/omicron/cli/merge_with_gaps.py b/omicron/cli/merge_with_gaps.py
index 2e9793d..3861d74 100644
--- a/omicron/cli/merge_with_gaps.py
+++ b/omicron/cli/merge_with_gaps.py
@@ -28,7 +28,9 @@
 prog_start_time = time.time()
 import argparse
 import glob
+import gzip
 import logging
+from .. import __version__
 from pathlib import Path
 import re
 import shutil
@@ -37,11 +39,10 @@
 
 __author__ = 'joseph areeda'
 __email__ = 'joseph.areeda@ligo.org'
-__version__ = '0.0.1'
 __process_name__ = 'omicron_merge_with_gaps'
 
 # global logger
-log_file_format = "%(asctime)s - %(levelname)s - %(funcName)s %(lineno)d: %(message)s"
+log_file_format = "%(asctime)s - %(levelname)s - %(funcName)s:%(lineno)d - %(message)s"
 log_file_date_format = '%m-%d %H:%M:%S'
 logging.basicConfig(format=log_file_format, datefmt=log_file_date_format)
 logger = logging.getLogger(__process_name__)
@@ -67,6 +68,22 @@ def get_merge_cmd(ext):
     return ret_path
 
 
+def is_old_ligolw(path):
+    flag = "ilwd:char"
+    if 'gz' in path.name:
+        with gzip.open(str(path.absolute()), 'r') as gz:
+            for line in gz:
+                if flag in str(line):
+                    return True
+            return False
+    else:
+        with path.open('r') as fp:
+            for line in fp:
+                if flag in line:
+                    return True
+            return False
+
+
 def do_merge(opath, curfiles, chan, stime, etime, ext, skip_gzip):
     """
     Given the list of trigger files merge them all into a single file
@@ -94,6 +111,9 @@ def do_merge(opath, curfiles, chan, stime, etime, ext, skip_gzip):
             if 'xml' in ext:    # also accept xml.gz
                 outfile_path = Path(str(outfile_path.absolute()).replace('.xml.gz', '.xml'))
                 cmd.append(f'--output={outfile_path}')
+                if is_old_ligolw(curfiles[0]):
+                    cmd.append('--ilwdchar-compat')
+                    logger.debug('Working with old ligolw format')
             for cur in curfiles:
                 cmd.append(str(cur.absolute()))
             if 'xml' not in ext:
@@ -117,7 +137,7 @@ def do_merge(opath, curfiles, chan, stime, etime, ext, skip_gzip):
             else:
                 logger.error(f'Return code:{returncode}, stderr:\n{result.stderr.decode("UTF-8")}')
 
-        if 'xml' in ext and returncode == 0 and not skip_gzip:
+        if 'xml' in ext and returncode == 0 and not skip_gzip and outfile_path.suffix != '.gz':
             logger.info(f'Compressing {outfile_path} with gzip')
             res2 = subprocess.run(['gzip', '-9', '--force', outfile_path], capture_output=True)
             if res2.returncode == 0:
@@ -161,7 +181,7 @@ def valid_file(path, uint_bug):
             os.remove(path)
         else:
             ret = True
-        logger.debug(f'valid_file: {ret}  {path.name} ({ntrig}), {ret} took {time.time()-vf_strt:.2f}')
+        logger.debug(f'valid_file: {ret}  {path.name} ({ntrig}), took {time.time()-vf_strt:.2f}')
     return ret
 
 
@@ -208,6 +228,11 @@ def main():
         log_file_handler.setFormatter(log_formatter)
         logger.addHandler(log_file_handler)
 
+    # debugging?
+    logger.debug('{} called with arguments:'.format(__process_name__))
+    for k, v in args.__dict__.items():
+        logger.debug('    {} = {}'.format(k, v))
+
     fpat = '^(.+)-(\\d+)-(\\d+).(.+)$'
     fmatch = re.compile(fpat)
 
diff --git a/omicron/cli/process.py b/omicron/cli/process.py
index 3268d98..13d1054 100644
--- a/omicron/cli/process.py
+++ b/omicron/cli/process.py
@@ -83,8 +83,7 @@
 from gwpy.io.cache import read_cache
 from gwpy.time import to_gps, tconvert
 
-from omicron import (const, segments, log, data, parameters, utils, condor, io,
-                     __version__)
+from .. import (const, segments, log, data, parameters, utils, condor, io, __version__)
 
 __author__ = 'Duncan Macleod <duncan.macleod@ligo.org>'
 
@@ -465,7 +464,13 @@ def main(args=None):
     args.verbose = max(5 - args.verbose, 0)
     logger.setLevel(args.verbose * 10)
     if args.log_file:
-        logger.add_file_handler(args.log_file)
+        log_file = Path(args.log_file)
+    else:
+        # if not specified default to the output directory
+        log_file = Path(args.output_dir) / 'omicron-process.log'
+    log_file.parent.mkdir(mode=0o755, exist_ok=True, parents=True)
+    logger.add_file_handler(log_file)
+
     logger.debug("Command line args:")
     for arg in vars(args):
         logger.debug(f'{arg} = {str(getattr(args, arg))}')
@@ -850,7 +855,8 @@ def main(args=None):
     # segment, or long enough to process safely)
     if truncate and abs(lastseg) < chunkdur * 2:
         logger.info(
-            "The final segment is too short, but ends at the limit of "
+            "The final segment is too short, " f'Minimum length is {int(chunkdur*2)} '
+            "but ends at the limit of "
             "available data, presumably this is an active segment. It "
             "will be removed so that it can be processed properly later",
         )
@@ -942,11 +948,8 @@ def main(args=None):
     if newdag and len(segs) == 0 and online and alldata:
         logger.info(
             "No analysable segments found, but up-to-date data are "
-            "available. A segments.txt file will be written so we don't "
-            "have to search these data again",
+            "available. "
         )
-        segments.write_segments(cachesegs, segfile)
-        logger.info("Segments written to\n%s" % segfile)
         clean_dirs(run_dir_list)
         clean_exit(0, tempfiles)
 
@@ -1013,10 +1016,13 @@ def main(args=None):
         **condorcmds
     )
     # This allows us to start with a memory request that works maybe 80%, but bumps it if we go over
+    # we also limit individual jobs to a max runtime to cause them to be vacates to deal with NFS hanging
     reqmem = condorcmds.pop('request_memory', 1024)
     ojob.add_condor_cmd('+InitialRequestMemory', f'{reqmem}')
     ojob.add_condor_cmd('request_memory', f'ifthenelse(isUndefined(MemoryUsage), {reqmem}, int(3*MemoryUsage))')
-    ojob.add_condor_cmd('periodic_release', '(HoldReasonCode =?= 26 || HoldReasonCode =?= 34) && (JobStatus == 5)')
+    ojob.add_condor_cmd('periodic_release', '(HoldReasonCode =?= 26 || HoldReasonCode =?= 34 '
+                                            '|| HoldReasonCode =?= 46) && (JobStatus == 5)')
+    ojob.add_condor_cmd('allowed_job_duration', 3 * 3600)
     ojob.add_condor_cmd('periodic_remove', '(JobStatus == 1) && MemoryUsage >= 7G')
 
     ojob.add_condor_cmd('+OmicronProcess', f'"{group}"')
@@ -1030,8 +1036,11 @@ def main(args=None):
     ppjob.add_condor_cmd('+InitialRequestMemory', f'{ppmem}')
     ppjob.add_condor_cmd('request_memory',
                          f'ifthenelse(isUndefined(MemoryUsage), {ppmem}, int(3*MemoryUsage))')
+    ojob.add_condor_cmd('allowed_job_duration', 3 * 3600)
     ppjob.add_condor_cmd('periodic_release',
-                         '(HoldReasonCode =?= 26 || HoldReasonCode =?= 34) && (JobStatus == 5)')
+                         '(HoldReasonCode =?= 26 || HoldReasonCode =?= 34 '
+                         '|| HoldReasonCode =?= 46) && (JobStatus == 5)')
+
     ppjob.add_condor_cmd('periodic_remove', '(JobStatus == 1) && MemoryUsage >= 7G')
 
     ppjob.add_condor_cmd('environment', '"HDF5_USE_FILE_LOCKING=FALSE"')
@@ -1159,7 +1168,7 @@ def main(args=None):
                         hdf5files = ' '.join(omicronfiles[c]['hdf5'])
                         for f in omicronfiles[c]['hdf5']:
                             ppnode.add_input_file(f)
-                        no_merge = '--no-merge' if args.skip_root_merge else ''
+                        no_merge = '--no-merge' if args.skip_hdf5_merge else ''
 
                         operations.append(
                             f'  {prog_path["omicron-merge"]} {no_merge}  '
diff --git a/omicron/cli/root_merge.py b/omicron/cli/root_merge.py
index 47f3c82..011e3cd 100644
--- a/omicron/cli/root_merge.py
+++ b/omicron/cli/root_merge.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 import os.path
 import argparse
 
-from omicron import (io, __version__)
+from .. import (io, __version__)
 
 __author__ = 'Duncan Macleod <duncan.macleod@ligo.org>'
 
diff --git a/omicron/cli/show.py b/omicron/cli/show.py
index 07fac45..301acc8 100644
--- a/omicron/cli/show.py
+++ b/omicron/cli/show.py
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 from gwpy.table.filters import in_segmentlist
 from gwpy.time import to_gps
 
-from omicron import (io, const, __version__)
+from .. import (io, const, __version__)
 from omicron.data import write_cache
 from omicron.segments import (Segment, SegmentList, cache_segments)
 
diff --git a/omicron/cli/status.py b/omicron/cli/status.py
index 4742f5a..7702ca4 100644
--- a/omicron/cli/status.py
+++ b/omicron/cli/status.py
@@ -51,8 +51,8 @@
 from gwpy.plot import Plot
 from gwpy.plot.segments import SegmentRectangle
 
-from omicron import (condor, const, io, log, segments, __version__)
-from omicron.utils import get_omicron_version
+from .. import (condor, const, io, log, segments, __version__)
+from ..utils import get_omicron_version
 
 __author__ = "Duncan Macleod <duncan.macleod@ligo.org>"
 
diff --git a/omicron/utils.py b/omicron/utils.py
index 80095d9..97dd701 100644
--- a/omicron/utils.py
+++ b/omicron/utils.py
@@ -102,10 +102,8 @@ def get_omicron_version(executable=None):
                 "version",
             ]).decode("utf-8").rsplit(maxsplit=1)[-1],
         )
-    except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
-        raise RuntimeError(
-            "failed to determine omicron version from executable"
-        )
+    except subprocess.CalledProcessError as ex:
+        raise RuntimeError(f"failed to determine omicron version from executable: {str(ex)}")
 
 
 def astropy_config_path(parent, update_environ=True):