diff --git a/devser.c b/devser.c
index 73fa4372..e4df4b31 100644
--- a/devser.c
+++ b/devser.c
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ struct DevSer {
   DevAction *actions;       /* the action queue */
   DevAction *toKill;        /* list of actions to be killed */
   int steps;
+  AsconStatus status;
   double startTime; /* fields for statistics */
   double comCount;
   long nComCount;
@@ -228,7 +229,6 @@ void DevAsconStatistics(DevSer *self, double *avg, \
 static int DevQueueTask(void *ds)
 {
   DevSer *devser = ds;
-  AsconStatus status;
   DevAction *action;
   char *sendData;
   char *replyData = NULL;
@@ -245,10 +245,10 @@ static int DevQueueTask(void *ds)
   }
 
   while (action != NULL) {
-	StartAscon(devser);
-    status = AsconTask(devser->ascon);
+    StartAscon(devser);
+    devser->status = AsconTask(devser->ascon);
     AsconLog(devser);
-    if (status == AsconFailure) {
+    if (devser->status >= AsconFailure) {
       replyData = AsconGetError(devser->ascon);
       /**
        * TODO: this may be a place to record the end time
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ static int DevQueueTask(void *ds)
       } else {
     	/* This is a follow up error and should not go into statistics */
       }
-    } else if (status == AsconReady) {
+    } else if (devser->status == AsconReady) {
       replyData = AsconRead(devser->ascon);
       if(replyData != NULL){
     	  LogResponse(devser,0);
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ static int DevQueueTask(void *ds)
     if (devser->steps > 0) {    /* debugging mode */
       devser->steps--;
     }
-    sendData = action->hdl(action->data, replyData, (status == AsconFailure));
+    sendData = action->hdl(action->data, replyData, (devser->status != AsconReady));
     if (sendData != NULL) {
       AsconWrite(devser->ascon, sendData, 0);
       LogStart(devser);
@@ -304,6 +304,7 @@ DevSer *DevMake(SConnection * con, int argc, char *argv[])
   devser->actions = NULL;
   devser->toKill = NULL;
   devser->steps = -1;           /* no debugging by default */
+  devser->status = AsconUnconnected;
   devser->startTime = -1;
   TaskRegister(pServ->pTasker, DevQueueTask, NULL, NULL, devser, 0);
   return devser;
@@ -347,11 +348,12 @@ void DevDisconnect(DevSer * devser)
   if (devser->ascon) {
     AsconDisconnect(devser->ascon);
   }
+  devser->status = AsconOffline;
 }
 
 void DevReconnect(DevSer * devser, char *hostport)
 {
-  DevReset(devser);
+  /* DevReset(devser); */
   if (devser->ascon) {
     AsconReconnect(devser->ascon, hostport);
   }
@@ -563,3 +565,33 @@ char * DevList(DevSer * devser) {
   DeleteDynString(result);
   return str;
 }
+
+char *DevHostport(DevSer *devser) {
+  return AsconHostport(devser->ascon);
+}
+
+char *DevStatus(DevSer *devser) {
+  char *str, *pos;
+  static char buf[64];
+  
+  switch (devser->status) {
+  case AsconOffline: return "disconnected";
+  case AsconUnconnected: return "unconnected";
+  /*
+  case AsconPending: return "busy";
+  case AsconReady: return "ready";
+  case AsconFailure: return AsconGetError(devser->ascon);
+  */
+  }
+  str = AsconGetError(devser->ascon);
+  if (strncmp(str, "ASCERR: ", 8) == 0) {
+    str += 8;
+  }
+  pos = strchr(str, '(');
+  if (pos != 0) {
+    snprintf(buf, sizeof buf, "%s", str);
+    buf[pos-str] = 0;
+    str = buf;
+  }
+  return str;
+}
diff --git a/devser.h b/devser.h
index a66b34b8..9f77b784 100644
--- a/devser.h
+++ b/devser.h
@@ -183,4 +183,19 @@ void DevStatistics(DevSer *devser, double *avg, double *max,
  */
 void DevAsconStatistics(DevSer *self, double *avg,
 		double *max, int *maxState, int *longCount);
+
+/**
+ * \brief return host:port
+ * \param devser The device serializer to query
+ * \return the host and port
+ */
+char *DevHostport(DevSer *devser);
+
+/**
+ * \brief return status of device server ("offline", "unconnected", "")
+ * \param devser The device serializer to query
+ * \return the status
+ */
+char *DevStatus(DevSer *devser);
+
 #endif