diff --git a/oam/etc/Columnstore.xml b/oam/etc/Columnstore.xml
index 693a72944..71a9b45f5 100644
--- a/oam/etc/Columnstore.xml
+++ b/oam/etc/Columnstore.xml
@@ -549,7 +549,6 @@
 		<Port>0</Port>
 	</QueryTele>
     <StorageManager>
-        <Enabled>N</Enabled>
         <MaxSockets>30</MaxSockets>
     </StorageManager>
 </Columnstore>
diff --git a/utils/cloudio/SMComm.cpp b/utils/cloudio/SMComm.cpp
index 3ebd6f4a8..6497539e4 100644
--- a/utils/cloudio/SMComm.cpp
+++ b/utils/cloudio/SMComm.cpp
@@ -46,8 +46,10 @@ SMComm * SMComm::get()
 // timesavers
 #define common_exit(bs1, bs2, retCode) \
     { \
+        int l_errno = errno; \
         buffers.returnByteStream(bs1); \
         buffers.returnByteStream(bs2); \
+        errno = l_errno; \
         return retCode; \
     }
 
diff --git a/utils/cloudio/SocketPool.cpp b/utils/cloudio/SocketPool.cpp
index 12b532f2c..862022abe 100644
--- a/utils/cloudio/SocketPool.cpp
+++ b/utils/cloudio/SocketPool.cpp
@@ -93,14 +93,22 @@ int SocketPool::send_recv(messageqcpp::ByteStream &in, messageqcpp::ByteStream *
     ssize_t err = 0;
     
 retry:
-    /* should there be a retry limit here... */
+    int retries = 0;
     while (sock < 0)
     {
         sock = getSocket();
         if (sock < 0)
         {
-            //log(logging::LOG_TYPE_ERROR, "SocketPool::send_recv(): retrying in 5 sec...");
-            sleep(1);
+            if (++retries < 10)
+            {
+                //log(logging::LOG_TYPE_ERROR, "SocketPool::send_recv(): retrying in 5 sec...");
+                sleep(1);
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                errno = ECONNREFUSED;
+                return -1;
+            }
         }
     }