diff --git a/src/h5core/h5_err.c b/src/h5core/h5_err.c
index 12bf5c7..93d16ab 100644
--- a/src/h5core/h5_err.c
+++ b/src/h5core/h5_err.c
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@
 
 #include "h5core/h5_log.h"
 #include "h5core/h5_err.h"
-#include "private/h5_init.h"
+
+extern int h5_myproc;
+
 
 #include <stdlib.h>
 
diff --git a/src/h5core/h5_log.c b/src/h5core/h5_log.c
index 089afb2..5056795 100644
--- a/src/h5core/h5_log.c
+++ b/src/h5core/h5_log.c
@@ -9,9 +9,13 @@
 
 #include "h5core/h5_log.h"
 #include "h5core/h5_err.h"
-#include "private/h5_init.h"
 
-h5_int32_t			h5_log_level = H5_VERBOSE_ERROR;
+extern int h5_myproc;
+
+
+h5_int64_t			h5_log_level = H5_VERBOSE_ERROR;
+h5_int64_t			h5_debug_mask = 0;
+
 struct call_stack		h5_call_stack;
 
 char *h5_rfmts[] = {
@@ -20,7 +24,10 @@ char *h5_rfmts[] = {
 	[e_char_p]		= "%s",
 	[e_void_p]		= "%p",
 	[e_h5_err_t]		= "%lld",
+	[e_h5_int32_t]		= "%ld",
+	[e_h5_uint32_t]		= "%lu",
 	[e_h5_int64_t]		= "%lld",
+	[e_h5_uint64_t]		= "%llu",
 	[e_h5_id_t]		= "%lld",
 	[e_h5_ssize_t]		= "%lld",
 	[e_h5_errorhandler_t]	= "%p",
@@ -56,12 +63,18 @@ char *h5_rfmts[] = {
  */
 h5_err_t
 h5_set_loglevel (
-        const h5_id_t level     /*!< debug level */
+        const h5_int64_t level     /*!< log level */
         ) {
-	if (level < 0)
-		h5_log_level = ((1 << 20) - 1) & ~0x7;
-	else
-		h5_log_level = level;
+	h5_log_level = level & 0x7;
+	return H5_SUCCESS;
+}
+
+h5_err_t
+h5_set_debug_mask (
+        const h5_int64_t mask     /*!< debug level */
+        ) {
+	h5_log_level = H5_VERBOSE_DEBUG;
+	h5_debug_mask = mask;
 	return H5_SUCCESS;
 }
 
@@ -72,7 +85,7 @@ h5_set_loglevel (
 
    \return current debug level
  */
-h5_err_t
+h5_int64_t
 h5_get_loglevel (
         void
         ) {
diff --git a/src/h5core/h5t_io.c b/src/h5core/h5t_io.c
index cf238ea..eb82386 100644
--- a/src/h5core/h5t_io.c
+++ b/src/h5core/h5t_io.c
@@ -2002,7 +2002,7 @@ distribute_octree_parmetis (
 	TRY (vtxdist = h5_calloc (m->f->nprocs+1, sizeof (*vtxdist)));
 	vtxdist[0] = 0;
 #if !defined(NDEBUG)
-	if (h5_log_level & (1<<5) ) {
+	if (h5_debug_mask & (1<<5) ) {
 		h5_debug ("vtxdist[%d]: %d", 0, 0);
 	}
 #endif
@@ -2014,7 +2014,7 @@ distribute_octree_parmetis (
 			vtxdist[i] = vtxdist[i-1] + n;
 		}
 #if !defined(NDEBUG)
-		if (h5_log_level & (1<<5) ) {
+		if (h5_debug_mask & (1<<5) ) {
 			h5_debug ("vtxdist[%d]: %d", i, vtxdist[i]);
 		}
 #endif
@@ -2060,7 +2060,7 @@ distribute_octree_parmetis (
 			}
 			xadj[i+1] = xadj[i] + num_neigh;
 #if !defined(NDEBUG)
-			if (h5_log_level & (1<<5) ) {
+			if (h5_debug_mask & (1<<5) ) {
 				h5_debug ("xadj[%d]: %d", i+1, xadj[i+1]);
 			}
 #endif
@@ -2070,7 +2070,7 @@ distribute_octree_parmetis (
 					if (new_numbering[j] == neighbors[k]) {
 						adjncy[counter] = j;
 #if !defined(NDEBUG)
-						if (h5_log_level & (1<<5) ) {
+						if (h5_debug_mask & (1<<5) ) {
 							h5_debug ("adjncy[%d]: %d", counter, adjncy[counter]);
 						}
 #endif
@@ -2139,7 +2139,7 @@ distribute_octree_parmetis (
 		TRY (h5_free (ubvec));
 
 #if !defined(NDEBUG)
-		if (h5_log_level & (1<<5) ) {
+		if (h5_debug_mask & (1<<5) ) {
 			for (i = 0; i < num_interior_oct; i++) {
 				h5_debug ("part[%d]: %llu", i, (unsigned long long)part[i]);
 			}
@@ -2498,7 +2498,7 @@ read_chunked_elements (
 
 
 #if NDEBUG == 0
-	if (h5_log_level & (1<<6) ) {
+	if (h5_debug_mask & (1<<6) ) {
 		sleep (m->f->myproc*2);
 		for (int i = 0; i < num_interior_elems;i++) {
 			h5_debug ("\n"
diff --git a/src/h5core/private/h5_log.h b/src/h5core/private/h5_log.h
index f7bf085..e09e67b 100644
--- a/src/h5core/private/h5_log.h
+++ b/src/h5core/private/h5_log.h
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@
 
 #define __FUNC_ENTER(type, mask, fmt, ...)				\
 	type ret_value = (type)H5_ERR;					\
-	int __log__ = h5_log_level & mask;				\
-	if (__log__ ) {							\
+	int __log__ = h5_debug_mask & mask;				\
+	if (__log__) {							\
 		h5_call_stack_push (__func__,e_##type);			\
 		h5_debug ("(" fmt ")", __VA_ARGS__);			\
 	}
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
 
 #define H5_CORE_API_ENTER(type, fmt, ...)				\
 	if (!h5_initialized) {						\
-		h5priv_initialize();					\
+		h5_initialize();					\
 	}								\
 	__FUNC_ENTER(type, H5_DEBUG_CORE_API, fmt, __VA_ARGS__)
 
diff --git a/src/h5core/private/h5t_core_trim.c b/src/h5core/private/h5t_core_trim.c
index b1f7255..c9811df 100644
--- a/src/h5core/private/h5t_core_trim.c
+++ b/src/h5core/private/h5t_core_trim.c
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ update_internal_structs (
 	// create index sets
 
 
-#if (!defined(NDEBUG) && (h5_log_level & (1<<5)))
+#if (!defined(NDEBUG) && (h5_debug_mask & (1<<5)))
 	if (!m->is_chunked) {
 	h5t_adjacencies_t* adj = &m->adjacencies;
 	h5_loc_idx_t idx = 0;
diff --git a/src/h5core/private/h5t_store_trim.c b/src/h5core/private/h5t_store_trim.c
index 50e7a51..b6a4205 100644
--- a/src/h5core/private/h5t_store_trim.c
+++ b/src/h5core/private/h5t_store_trim.c
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ compute_neighbor_of_face (
 			}
 			if (elem_idx < -1) { // this should only happen if we are on the boarder
 				// of a loaded chunk and the parent is on a different chunk
-				if (h5_log_level >= 6) {
+				if (h5_debug_mask >= 6) {
 					h5_debug ("Elem %d is on different proc than its parent %d \n"
 						"therefore neighborhood idx is not correct resolved", old_elem_idx, elem_idx);
 				}
diff --git a/src/include/H5_log.h b/src/include/H5_log.h
index cc47dea..27ef50e 100644
--- a/src/include/H5_log.h
+++ b/src/include/H5_log.h
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ extern "C" {
 */
 static inline h5_err_t
 H5SetVerbosityLevel2 (
-	const h5_id_t level     ///< [in] verbosity level.
+	const h5_int32_t level     ///< [in] verbosity level.
 	) {
 	return h5_set_loglevel (level & 0x03);
 }
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ H5SetVerbosityLevel2 (
 */
 static inline h5_err_t
 H5SetVerbosityLevel1 (
-	const h5_id_t level     ///< [in] verbosity level.
+	const h5_int64_t level     ///< [in] verbosity level.
 	) {
 	return h5_set_loglevel (level);
 }
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ H5SetVerbosityLevel1 (
 
   \see H5SetVerbosityLevel()
 */
-static inline h5_id_t
+static inline h5_int64_t
 H5GetVerbosityLevel (
 	void
 	) {
@@ -123,9 +123,9 @@ H5GetVerbosityLevel (
 */
 static inline h5_err_t
 H5SetDebugMask (
-	const h5_id_t mask     ///< [in] debug mask
+	const h5_int64_t mask     ///< [in] debug mask
 	) {
-	return h5_set_loglevel (mask & ~0x03);
+	return h5_set_debug_mask (mask);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ H5SetDebugMask (
   | :------    | :-----			  	      |
   | \c 1.99.15 | Function introduced in this release. |
 */
-static inline h5_id_t
+static inline h5_int32_t
 H5GetDebugMask (
 	void
 	) {
diff --git a/src/include/h5core/h5_log.h b/src/include/h5core/h5_log.h
index 4190c54..73760a9 100644
--- a/src/include/h5core/h5_log.h
+++ b/src/include/h5core/h5_log.h
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ extern const char* H5_VER_STRING;
 #define H5_VERBOSE_ERROR   	(1)
 #define H5_VERBOSE_WARN    	(2)
 #define H5_VERBOSE_INFO    	(3)
+#define H5_VERBOSE_DEBUG    	(4)
 
 #define H5_VERBOSE_DEFAULT      H5_VERBOSE_ERROR
 
@@ -45,7 +46,10 @@ enum h5_rtypes {
 	e_char_p,
 	e_void_p,
 	e_h5_err_t,
+	e_h5_int32_t,
+	e_h5_uint32_t,
 	e_h5_int64_t,
+	e_h5_uint64_t,
 	e_h5_id_t,
 	e_h5_ssize_t,
 	e_h5_errorhandler_t,
@@ -75,9 +79,15 @@ struct call_stack {
 	struct call_stack_entry entry[1024];
 };
 
-extern h5_int32_t h5_log_level;
+extern h5_int64_t h5_log_level;
+extern h5_int64_t h5_debug_mask;
 extern struct call_stack h5_call_stack;
 
+// :FIXME: Should go to another header file
+h5_err_t
+h5_initialize (void);
+
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 extern "C" {
 #endif
@@ -182,9 +192,13 @@ __attribute__ ((format (printf, 1, 2)))
 
 h5_err_t
 h5_set_loglevel (
-	const h5_id_t);
+	const h5_int64_t);
 
 h5_err_t
+h5_set_debug_mask (
+	const h5_int64_t);
+
+h5_int64_t
 h5_get_loglevel (
 	void);
 
@@ -198,15 +212,19 @@ h5_get_loglevel (
 
 #define H5_API_ENTER(type, fmt, ...)		\
 	type ret_value = (type)H5_ERR;
+	h5_initialize();
+	h5_call_stack_reset ();						\
+	h5_call_stack_push (__func__,e_##type);				\
 
 #else   // NDEBUG not defined
 
 #define H5_API_ENTER(type, fmt, ...)					\
-	h5_call_stack_reset ();						\
 	type ret_value = (type)H5_ERR;					\
-	int __log__ = h5_log_level & H5_DEBUG_API;			\
+	h5_initialize();						\
+	h5_call_stack_reset ();						\
+	h5_call_stack_push (__func__,e_##type);				\
+	int __log__ = h5_debug_mask & H5_DEBUG_API;			\
 	if (__log__) {							\
-		h5_call_stack_push (__func__,e_##type);			\
 		h5_debug ("(" fmt ")", __VA_ARGS__);			\
 	}
 
@@ -220,7 +238,7 @@ h5_get_loglevel (
 	}
 
 #define H5_RETURN_ERROR(errno, fmt, ...) {				\
-		ret_value = h5_error (errno, "(" fmt ")", __VA_ARGS__);	\
+		ret_value = h5_error (errno, fmt, __VA_ARGS__);		\
 		goto done;						\
 	}