diff --git a/checkin_notes b/checkin_notes
index 1aa5bd65da..da47ad1ac7 100755
--- a/checkin_notes
+++ b/checkin_notes
@@ -13921,3 +13921,11 @@ Rom    25 Nov 2005
         
     client/
         gui_rpc_server.C, .h
+
+Rom    25 Nov 2005
+    - Bug Fix: Somewhere along the lines we broke the automatic swapping
+        of ports and waiting until the timeout period to stop so that
+        people had time to handle the firewall prompts.
+        
+    client/
+        MainDocument.cpp
diff --git a/clientgui/MainDocument.cpp b/clientgui/MainDocument.cpp
index 56bf910a9a..689ba22274 100644
--- a/clientgui/MainDocument.cpp
+++ b/clientgui/MainDocument.cpp
@@ -115,7 +115,10 @@ void* CNetworkConnection::Poll() {
                 }
             }
 
-            if (strComputer.empty()) {
+            // a host value of NULL is special cased as binding to the localhost and
+            //   if we are connecting to the localhost we need to retry the connection
+            //   for awhile so that the users can respond to firewall prompts.
+            if (strComputer.empty() || (strComputer == _T("localhost"))) {
                 retval = m_pDocument->rpc.init_asynch(NULL, 60., true);
             } else {
                 retval = m_pDocument->rpc.init_asynch(strComputer.c_str(), 60., false);
diff --git a/lib/diagnostics.h b/lib/diagnostics.h
index 90ef35d098..38160c6cee 100644
--- a/lib/diagnostics.h
+++ b/lib/diagnostics.h
@@ -112,8 +112,8 @@ extern void boinc_info_release(const char *pszFormat, ...);
 // wxWidgets UI Framework
 //
 
-#define BOINCASSERT(expr)   __noop
-#define BOINCTRACE          __noop
+#define BOINCASSERT(expr)   wxASSERT(expr)
+#define BOINCTRACE          wxLogDebug
 #define BOINCINFO           boinc_info_release
 
 #elif defined(_CONSOLE)
diff --git a/lib/gui_rpc_client.C b/lib/gui_rpc_client.C
index 03dfdb41ba..f7c2faaef5 100644
--- a/lib/gui_rpc_client.C
+++ b/lib/gui_rpc_client.C
@@ -171,21 +171,21 @@ int RPC_CLIENT::init_poll() {
             BOINCTRACE("RPC_CLIENT::init_poll connected to port %d\n", ntohs(addr.sin_port));
             retval = boinc_socket_asynch(sock, false);
             if (retval) {
-                fprintf(stderr, "asynch error: %d\n", retval);
+                BOINCTRACE("asynch error: %d\n", retval);
                 return retval;
             }
             return 0;
         } else {
-            fprintf(stderr, "init_poll: get_socket_error(): %d\n", retval);
+            BOINCTRACE("init_poll: get_socket_error(): %d\n", retval);
         }
     }
     if (dtime() > start_time + timeout) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "RPC_CLIENT init timed out\n");
+        BOINCTRACE("RPC_CLIENT init timed out\n");
         return ERR_CONNECT;
     }
     if (retval) {
         if (!retry && tried_alt_port) {
-            fprintf(stderr, "already tried both ports, giving up\n");
+            BOINCTRACE("already tried both ports, giving up\n");
             return ERR_CONNECT;
         } else {
             boinc_close_socket(sock);