diff --git a/EHC/src/ehc/EHC/CompilePhase/Semantics.chs b/EHC/src/ehc/EHC/CompilePhase/Semantics.chs
index cfce2c52c..d3e96c7aa 100644
--- a/EHC/src/ehc/EHC/CompilePhase/Semantics.chs
+++ b/EHC/src/ehc/EHC/CompilePhase/Semantics.chs
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ cpFoldCore2Grin modNm
                                 , Core2GrSem.importUsedModules_Inh_CodeAGItf             = ecuImportUsedModules ecu
 %%]]
                                 })
+         ;  cpMsg modNm VerboseALot $ "cpFoldCore2Grin, has core " ++ show (isJust mbCore)
          ;  when (isJust mbCore)
                  (cpUpdCU modNm ( ecuStoreCoreSem coreSem
                                 ))
diff --git a/EHC/src/ehc/EHC/CompilePhase/TopLevelPhases.chs b/EHC/src/ehc/EHC/CompilePhase/TopLevelPhases.chs
index f586d469e..64798898a 100644
--- a/EHC/src/ehc/EHC/CompilePhase/TopLevelPhases.chs
+++ b/EHC/src/ehc/EHC/CompilePhase/TopLevelPhases.chs
@@ -1127,6 +1127,7 @@ cpEhcCorePerModulePart2 modNm
 %%][50
              earlyMerge = ehcOptOptimizationScope opts >= OptimizationScope_WholeCore
 %%]]
+       ; cpMsg modNm VerboseDebug $ "cpEhcCorePerModulePart2"
        ; cpSeq [ when earlyMerge $ cpProcessCoreRest modNm
 %%[[(8 grin)
                , when (ehcOptIsViaGrin opts) (cpProcessGrin modNm)
@@ -1319,7 +1320,7 @@ cpProcessCoreFold modNm
 %%[[50
        ; cpFlowCoreSemBeforeFold modNm
 %%]]
-%%[[(50 grin)
+%%[[(8 grin)
        ; when (targetIsViaGrin (ehcOptTarget opts)) $
            cpFoldCore2Grin modNm
            -- void $ bcall $ FoldCore2Grin (mkPrevFileSearchKeyWithName modNm)
@@ -1423,6 +1424,7 @@ cpProcessGrin :: EHCCompileRunner m => HsName -> EHCompilePhaseT m ()
 cpProcessGrin modNm 
   = do { cr <- get
        ; let (_,_,opts,_) = crBaseInfo modNm cr
+       ; cpMsg modNm VerboseALot $ "cpProcessGrin, emit bc " ++ show (ehcOptEmitBytecode opts)
        ; cpSeq (   (if ehcOptDumpGrinStages opts then [void $ cpOutputGrin ASTFileContent_Text "-000-initial" modNm] else [])
                 ++ [cpTransformGrin modNm]
                 ++ (if ehcOptDumpGrinStages opts then [void $ cpOutputGrin ASTFileContent_Text "-099-final" modNm]  else [])
diff --git a/EHC/src/ehc/EHC/CompilePhase/Translations.chs b/EHC/src/ehc/EHC/CompilePhase/Translations.chs
index f55ed22c2..c865ac07d 100644
--- a/EHC/src/ehc/EHC/CompilePhase/Translations.chs
+++ b/EHC/src/ehc/EHC/CompilePhase/Translations.chs
@@ -205,6 +205,7 @@ cpTranslateCore2Grin modNm
                  mbCoreSem = _ecuMbCoreSem ecu
                  coreSem   = panicJust "cpTranslateCore2Grin" mbCoreSem
                  grin      = Core2GrSem.grMod_Syn_CodeAGItf coreSem
+         ;  cpMsg modNm VerboseDebug $ "cpTranslateCore2Grin, has coresem " ++ show (isJust mbCoreSem) ++ ", via grin " ++ show (ehcOptIsViaGrin opts)
          ;  when (isJust mbCoreSem && ehcOptIsViaGrin opts)
                  (cpUpdCU modNm $! ecuStoreGrin $! grin)
          }
@@ -325,7 +326,7 @@ cpTranslateGrin2Bytecode modNm
                (liftIO $ putStrLn ("expNmFldMp: " ++ show expNmFldMp))
 %%]]
 
-        ; cpMsg modNm VerboseDebug ("cpTranslateGrin2Bytecode: store bytecode")
+        ; cpMsg modNm VerboseDebug $ "cpTranslateGrin2Bytecode: store bytecode, has grin " ++ show (isJust mbGrin)
         ; when (isJust mbGrin)
                (cpUpdCU modNm $! ecuStoreBytecode bc)
         ; cpMsg modNm VerboseDebug ("cpTranslateGrin2Bytecode: stored bytecode")
@@ -373,6 +374,7 @@ cpTranslateByteCode modNm
                                                   }
 %%]]
           -- put back results: generated bytecode, new info about lambda's
+        ; cpMsg modNm VerboseDebug $ "cpTranslateByteCode, has bytecode " ++ show (isJust mbBytecode)
         ; when (ehcOptEmitBytecode opts && isJust mbBytecode)
                (do { cpUpdCU modNm
                       ( ecuStoreBytecodeSem grinbcPP
diff --git a/EHC/src/ehc/variant.mk b/EHC/src/ehc/variant.mk
index a174679e0..22c1292b0 100644
--- a/EHC/src/ehc/variant.mk
+++ b/EHC/src/ehc/variant.mk
@@ -79,8 +79,8 @@ EHCRUN_INSTALL_VARIANT_ASPECTS_EXEC			:= $(call FUN_EHCRUN_INSTALL_VARIANT_ASPEC
 # code generation targets, leading to target dependend locations
 ###########################################################################################
 
-EHC_VARIANT_TARGETS						:= $(shell if test -x $(EHC_INSTALL_VARIANT_ASPECTS_EXEC); then $(EHC_INSTALL_VARIANT_ASPECTS_EXEC) --meta-targets; else echo bc; fi)
-EHC_VARIANT_TARGET						:= $(shell if test -x $(EHC_INSTALL_VARIANT_ASPECTS_EXEC); then $(EHC_INSTALL_VARIANT_ASPECTS_EXEC) --meta-target-default; else echo bc; fi)
+EHC_VARIANT_TARGETS						:= $(shell if test "$(EHC_INSTALL_VARIANT_ASPECTS_EXEC)" -a -x $(EHC_INSTALL_VARIANT_ASPECTS_EXEC); then $(EHC_INSTALL_VARIANT_ASPECTS_EXEC) --meta-targets; else echo bc; fi)
+EHC_VARIANT_TARGET						:= $(shell if test "$(EHC_INSTALL_VARIANT_ASPECTS_EXEC)" -a -x $(EHC_INSTALL_VARIANT_ASPECTS_EXEC); then $(EHC_INSTALL_VARIANT_ASPECTS_EXEC) --meta-target-default; else echo bc; fi)
 EHC_VARIANT_TARGET_PREFIX				:= $(EHC_VARIANT_TARGET)/
 
 # target info as passed as cpp flag