diff --git a/ui (gen4)/data.js b/ui (gen4)/data.js
index 9d77206b..3abda14f 100755
--- a/ui (gen4)/data.js	
+++ b/ui (gen4)/data.js	
@@ -308,20 +308,28 @@ var DataPrototype = {
 	//
 	// If no arguments are given then a unique gid will be generated.
 	//
+	// XXX revise...
 	newGid: function(str, nohash){
-		var p = location.hostname + '-'
+		// prevent same gids from ever being created...
+		// NOTE: this is here in case we are generating new gids fast 
+		// 		enough that Date.now() produces identical results for 2+
+		// 		consecutive calls...
+		var t = module.__gid_ticker = (module.__gid_ticker || 0) + 1
+
+		var p = typeof(location) != 'undefined' ? location.hostname : ''
+
 		// if we are on node.js add process pid
 		if(typeof(process) != 'undefined'){
-			p += process.pid + '-'
+			p += process.pid
 		}
 
 		// return string as-is...
 		if(nohash){
-			return str || p+Date.now()
+			return str || p+'-'+t+'-'+Date.now()
 		}
 
 		// make a hash...
-		var gid = hash(str || (p+Date.now()))
+		var gid = hash(str || (p+'-'+t+'-'+Date.now()))
 
 		// for explicit string return the hash as-is...
 		if(str != null){
@@ -331,7 +339,7 @@ var DataPrototype = {
 		// check that the gid is unique...
 		while(this.ribbon_order.indexOf(gid) >= 0 
 				|| this.order.indexOf(gid) >= 0){
-			gid = hash(p+Date.now())
+			gid = hash(p+'-'+t+'-'+Date.now())
 		}
 
 		return gid
diff --git a/ui (gen4)/formats.js b/ui (gen4)/formats.js
index 1d425e0e..decf58ee 100755
--- a/ui (gen4)/formats.js	
+++ b/ui (gen4)/formats.js	
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ function(data, cmp){
 	res.data.current = data.position
 	
 	// ribbons and images...
-	$.each(data.ribbons, function(i, input_images){
+	data.ribbons.forEach(function(input_images, i){
 		var ribbon = []
 		ribbons.push(ribbon)
 		for(var id in input_images){
diff --git a/ui (gen4)/viewer.js b/ui (gen4)/viewer.js
index 133becfc..dede795f 100755
--- a/ui (gen4)/viewer.js	
+++ b/ui (gen4)/viewer.js	
@@ -2906,9 +2906,13 @@ var FileSystemLoaderActions = actions.Actions({
 	loadPath: ['File/',
 		function(path){
 			var that = this
-			// XXX does not appear to load correctly...
+
+			// XXX this will not work for explicit path (path to a dir 
+			// 		that contains the index) 
 			file.loadIndex(path)
 				.done(function(res){
+					// XXX if res is empty load raw...
+
 					// XXX res may contain multiple indexes, need to 
 					// 		combine them...
 					var k = Object.keys(res)[0]