diff --git a/Vivid/SCServer/Connection.hs b/Vivid/SCServer/Connection.hs
--- a/Vivid/SCServer/Connection.hs
+++ b/Vivid/SCServer/Connection.hs
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
-{-# LANGUAGE BangPatterns #-}
-{-# LANGUAGE LambdaCase #-}
-{-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings #-}
+{-# LANGUAGE
+     BangPatterns
+   , LambdaCase
+   , OverloadedStrings
 
-{-# LANGUAGE NoIncoherentInstances #-}
-{-# LANGUAGE NoMonomorphismRestriction #-}
-{-# LANGUAGE NoUndecidableInstances #-}
+   , NoIncoherentInstances
+   , NoMonomorphismRestriction
+   , NoUndecidableInstances
+   #-}
 
 module Vivid.SCServer.Connection (
      createSCServerConnection
@@ -61,8 +63,9 @@
 createSCServerConnection connConfig = do
    let !_ = scServerState
    shouldMakeSock scServerState >>= \case
-      True -> do
-         Right <$> makeSock scServerState connConfig
+      True -> makeSock scServerState connConfig >>= \case
+         Just s -> pure $ Right s
+         Nothing -> pure $ Left "Unable to create socket"
       False ->
          pure $ Left "Too late -- connection already established. Disconnect first."
 
@@ -100,7 +103,7 @@
       (Just sock, Just listener) -> do
          killThread listener
          withSocketsDo $ close sock
-      (Nothing, Nothing) -> return ()
+      (Nothing, Nothing) -> pure ()
       _ -> error "well that's weird"
 
 
@@ -157,7 +160,7 @@
          print 1
          listen s 1
          -- _ <- accept s
-         return ()
+         pure ()
    else connect s (addrAddress serverAddr)
 -}
    setClientId (_scConnectConfig_clientId scConnectConfig)
@@ -174,7 +177,7 @@
       , Right $ SCCmd.sync (SyncId firstSyncID)
       ]
    waitForSync_io (SyncId firstSyncID)
-   return (s, listener)
+   pure (s, listener)
 
 waitForSync_io :: SyncId -> IO ()
 waitForSync_io syncId = do
@@ -187,7 +190,7 @@
 waitForSync_io_noGC :: SyncId -> IO ()
 waitForSync_io_noGC syncId = do
    _ <- readMVar =<< getMailboxForSyncId syncId
-   return ()
+   pure ()
 
 -- TODO: what's "mailbox" here? Is it like an Erlang mailbox, to receive and
 -- dispatch all messages?
@@ -199,7 +202,7 @@
          Right (OSC "/synced" [OSC_I theSyncId]) -> do
             syncBox <- getMailboxForSyncId (SyncId theSyncId)
             tryPutMVar syncBox () >>= \case
-               True -> return ()
+               True -> pure ()
                False ->
                   putStrLn $
                      "That's weird!: we got the same syncId twice: "
@@ -215,17 +218,17 @@
 defaultMessageFunction = \case
    -- Some examples you might want to handle individually:
    {-
-   OSC "/fail" [OSC_S "/blah", OSC_S "Command not found"] -> return ()
-   OSC "/fail" [OSC_S "/s_new", OSC_S "wrong argument type"] -> return ()
+   OSC "/fail" [OSC_S "/blah", OSC_S "Command not found"] -> pure ()
+   OSC "/fail" [OSC_S "/s_new", OSC_S "wrong argument type"] -> pure ()
    OSC "/fail" [OSC_S "/b_allocRead", OSC_S "File 'blah.ogg' could not be opened: Error : flac decoder lost sync.\n",OSC_I 2]
    -}
-   OSC "/done" [OSC_S _] -> return ()
-   OSC "/done" [OSC_S _, OSC_I _] -> return ()
+   OSC "/done" [OSC_S _] -> pure ()
+   OSC "/done" [OSC_S _, OSC_I _] -> pure ()
    x -> putStrLn $ "Msg from server: " <> show x
 
 -- | If you don't want to hear what the server has to say
 ignoreMessagesFunction :: OSC -> IO ()
-ignoreMessagesFunction _ = return ()
+ignoreMessagesFunction _ = pure ()
 
 -- This is a nice example of when STM can be really helpful -
 -- It's impossible! (right?) to have 2 threads create mailboxes and have em overwrite each
@@ -236,11 +239,11 @@
    atomically $ do
       allMailboxes <- readTVar (_scServerState_syncIdMailboxes scServerState)
       case Map.lookup syncId allMailboxes of
-         Just syncBox -> return syncBox
+         Just syncBox -> pure syncBox
          Nothing -> do
             writeTVar (_scServerState_syncIdMailboxes scServerState)
               (Map.insert syncId mvarThatIMightWannaUse allMailboxes)
-            return mvarThatIMightWannaUse
+            pure mvarThatIMightWannaUse
 
 getSCServerSocket :: IO Socket
 getSCServerSocket = getSCServerSocket' scServerState
@@ -250,8 +253,9 @@
    let !_ = scServerState'
    shouldMakeSock scServerState' >>= \case
       True -> do
-         makeSock scServerState' defaultConnectConfig
-      -- Just s -> return s
+         makeSock scServerState' defaultConnectConfig >>= \case
+            Just x -> pure x
+            Nothing -> error "Unexpected failure creating socket"
       False -> atomically . readTMVar $ _scServerState_socket scServerState'
 
 shouldMakeSock :: SCServerState -> IO Bool
@@ -259,17 +263,20 @@
    let theVar = _scServerState_socketConnectStarted serverState
    alreadyBeingMade <- readTVar theVar
    case alreadyBeingMade of
-      True -> return False
+      True -> pure False
       False -> do
          writeTVar theVar True
-         return True
+         pure True
 
-makeSock :: SCServerState -> SCConnectConfig -> IO Socket
+makeSock :: SCServerState -> SCConnectConfig -> IO (Maybe Socket)
 makeSock serverState connConfig = do
-         (sock, listener) <- connectToSCServer connConfig
-         atomically $ do
-            -- writeTVar (_scServerState_socket serverState) $ Just sock
-            -- writeTVar (_scServerState_listener serverState) $ Just listener
-            True <- tryPutTMVar (_scServerState_socket serverState) sock
-            True <- tryPutTMVar (_scServerState_listener serverState) listener
-            return sock
+   (sock, listener) <- connectToSCServer connConfig
+   atomically $ (do
+      -- writeTVar (_scServerState_socket serverState) $ Just sock
+      -- writeTVar (_scServerState_listener serverState) $ Just listener
+      a <- tryPutTMVar (_scServerState_socket serverState) sock
+      b <- tryPutTMVar (_scServerState_listener serverState) listener
+      check $ a && b
+      pure $ Just sock)
+         `orElse` (pure Nothing)
+
diff --git a/vivid.cabal b/vivid.cabal
--- a/vivid.cabal
+++ b/vivid.cabal
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 -- TODO: get the readme change from the github merge
 
 name:                vivid
-version:             0.4.2.1
+version:             0.4.2.2
 synopsis:            Sound synthesis with SuperCollider
 description:         
   Music and sound synthesis with SuperCollider.