diff --git a/services/herdd/main.c b/services/herdd/main.c
index e12015c..1db399f 100644
--- a/services/herdd/main.c
+++ b/services/herdd/main.c
@@ -122,11 +122,14 @@ int main(int argc, const char *argv[], const char *envp[])
 
 	if (new_task == KERN_HANDLE_INVALID) {
 		kern_log("this is the child");
+		long r = printf("hello\n");
+		kern_logf("printf returned %ld (%d)", r, (errno));
 	} else {
 		kern_log("this is the parent");
+		long r = printf("goodbye\n");
+		kern_logf("printf returned %ld (%d)", r, (errno));
 	}
 
-	printf("hello\n");
-
+	kern_logf("exiting (%s)", strerror(EFTYPE));
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/services/herdd/runlevel.c b/services/herdd/runlevel.c
index 3ec8415..c0c5db6 100644
--- a/services/herdd/runlevel.c
+++ b/services/herdd/runlevel.c
@@ -95,8 +95,9 @@ int runlevel_load(const char *path, struct runlevel **out)
 	fx_stream *in = fx_stream_open_fp(fp);
 	fx_serial_ctx *ctx = fx_toml_serial_ctx_create();
 	fx_object *data;
-	fx_status status = fx_serial_ctx_deserialise(ctx, in, &data, 0);
-	if (!FX_OK(status)) {
+	fx_result result = fx_serial_ctx_deserialise(ctx, in, &data, 0);
+	if (fx_result_is_error(result)) {
+		fx_throw(result);
 		free(rl);
 		errno = EFTYPE;
 		return -1;
diff --git a/services/herdd/service.c b/services/herdd/service.c
index 3ee666c..55ff349 100644
--- a/services/herdd/service.c
+++ b/services/herdd/service.c
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ static int parse_service_data(fx_object *in, struct service *out)
 	size_t i = 0;
 	fx_foreach_ptr(fx_string, role, it)
 	{
-		const char *role_cstr = fx_string_ptr(role);
+		const char *role_cstr = fx_string_get_cstr(role);
 		if (!strcmp(role_cstr, "NamespaceProvider")) {
 			out->s_roles |= SVC_ROLE_NAMESPACE_PROVIDER;
 		}
@@ -107,8 +107,9 @@ int service_load(const char *path, struct service **out)
 	fx_stream *in = fx_stream_open_fp(fp);
 	fx_serial_ctx *ctx = fx_toml_serial_ctx_create();
 	fx_object *data;
-	fx_status status = fx_serial_ctx_deserialise(ctx, in, &data, 0);
-	if (!FX_OK(status)) {
+	fx_result result = fx_serial_ctx_deserialise(ctx, in, &data, 0);
+	if (fx_result_is_error(result)) {
+		fx_throw(result);
 		free(rl);
 		errno = EFTYPE;
 		return -1;