diff --git a/library/CMakeLists.txt b/library/CMakeLists.txt
index 8fab02adb..56be12574 100644
--- a/library/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/library/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@ DFTypes.h
 DFVector.h
 integers.h
 stdint_win.h
-LinuxMemAccess.h
+LinuxMemAccess-memfiles.h
+LinuxMemAccess-ptrace.h
 WindowsMemAccess.h
 
 md5/md5.h
diff --git a/library/DFMemAccess.h b/library/DFMemAccess.h
index 42fbba55e..f9c210454 100644
--- a/library/DFMemAccess.h
+++ b/library/DFMemAccess.h
@@ -25,8 +25,11 @@ distribution.
 #ifndef PROCESSUTIL_H_INCLUDED
 #define PROCESSUTIL_H_INCLUDED
 
+// SLOW!
+// #include "LinuxMemAccess-ptrace.h"
+
 #ifdef LINUX_BUILD
-    #include "LinuxMemAccess.h"
+    #include "LinuxMemAccess-memfiles.h"
 #else
     #include "WindowsMemAccess.h"
 #endif
diff --git a/library/LinuxMemAccess.h b/library/LinuxMemAccess-memfiles.h
similarity index 68%
rename from library/LinuxMemAccess.h
rename to library/LinuxMemAccess-memfiles.h
index 5753856b4..3b8066b33 100644
--- a/library/LinuxMemAccess.h
+++ b/library/LinuxMemAccess-memfiles.h
@@ -26,85 +26,71 @@ distribution.
  * DO NOT USE THIS FILE DIRECTLY! USE MemAccess.h INSTEAD!
  */
 #include "integers.h"
+#include <iostream>
+#include <string>
+#include <errno.h>
+using namespace std;
+
+inline
+void Mread (const uint32_t &offset, const uint32_t &size, uint8_t *target)
+{
+    int result;
+    result = pread(g_ProcessMemFile, target,size,offset);
+    if(result != size)
+    {
+        cerr << "pread failed: can't read " << size << " bytes at addres " << offset << endl;
+        if(result == -1)
+        {
+            cerr << "errno: " << errno << endl;
+            errno = 0;
+        }
+    }
+}
 
 inline
 uint8_t MreadByte (const uint32_t &offset)
 {
     uint8_t val;
-    //fseek(g_ProcessMemFile, offset,SEEK_SET);
-    //fread ( &val, sizeof(uint8_t), 1, g_ProcessMemFile );
-    pread(g_ProcessMemFile, &val,1,offset);
+    Mread(offset, 1, &val);
     return val;
 }
 
 inline
 void MreadByte (const uint32_t &offset, uint8_t &val )
 {
-    //fseek(g_ProcessMemFile, offset,SEEK_SET);
-    //fread ( &val, sizeof(uint8_t), 1, g_ProcessMemFile );
-    pread(g_ProcessMemFile, &val,1,offset);
+    Mread(offset, 1, &val);
 }
 
 inline
 uint16_t MreadWord (const uint32_t &offset)
 {
     uint16_t val;
-    //fseek(g_ProcessMemFile, offset,SEEK_SET);
-    //fread ( &val, sizeof(uint16_t), 1, g_ProcessMemFile );
-    pread(g_ProcessMemFile, &val,2,offset);
+    Mread(offset, 2, (uint8_t *) &val);
     return val;
 }
 
 inline
 void MreadWord (const uint32_t &offset, uint16_t &val)
 {
-    //fseek(g_ProcessMemFile, offset,SEEK_SET);
-    //fread ( &val, sizeof(uint16_t), 1, g_ProcessMemFile );
-    pread(g_ProcessMemFile, &val,2,offset);
+    Mread(offset, 2, (uint8_t *) &val);
 }
 
 inline
 uint32_t MreadDWord (const uint32_t &offset)
 {
     uint32_t val;
-    //fseek(g_ProcessMemFile, offset,SEEK_SET);
-    //fread ( &val, sizeof(uint32_t), 1, g_ProcessMemFile );
-    pread(g_ProcessMemFile, &val,4,offset);
+    Mread(offset, 4, (uint8_t *) &val);
     return val;
 }
 inline
 void MreadDWord (const uint32_t &offset, uint32_t &val)
 {
-    //fseek(g_ProcessMemFile, offset,SEEK_SET);
-    //fread ( &val, sizeof(uint32_t), 1, g_ProcessMemFile );
-    pread(g_ProcessMemFile, &val,4,offset);
-}
-
-inline
-uint64_t MreadQuad (const uint32_t &offset)
-{
-    uint64_t val;
-    //fseek(g_ProcessMemFile, offset,SEEK_SET);
-    //fread ( &val, sizeof(uint32_t), 1, g_ProcessMemFile );
-    pread(g_ProcessMemFile, &val,8,offset);
-    return val;
-}
-
-inline
-void MreadQuad (const uint32_t &offset, uint64_t &val)
-{
-    //fseek(g_ProcessMemFile, offset,SEEK_SET);
-    //fread ( &val, sizeof(uint32_t), 1, g_ProcessMemFile );
-    pread(g_ProcessMemFile, &val,8,offset);
+    Mread(offset, 4, (uint8_t *) &val);
 }
 
-inline
-void Mread (const uint32_t &offset, const uint32_t &size, uint8_t *target)
-{
-    //fseek(g_ProcessMemFile, offset,SEEK_SET);
-    //fread ( target, 1, size, g_ProcessMemFile );
-    pread(g_ProcessMemFile, target,size,offset);
-}
+/*
+ * WRITING
+ */
 
 inline
 void MwriteDWord (uint32_t offset, uint32_t data)
diff --git a/library/LinuxMemAccess-ptrace.h b/library/LinuxMemAccess-ptrace.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c749d0daa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/library/LinuxMemAccess-ptrace.h
@@ -0,0 +1,171 @@
+/*
+www.sourceforge.net/projects/dfhack
+Copyright (c) 2009 Petr Mrázek (peterix), Kenneth Ferland (Impaler[WrG]), dorf
+
+This software is provided 'as-is', without any express or implied
+warranty. In no event will the authors be held liable for any
+damages arising from the use of this software.
+
+Permission is granted to anyone to use this software for any
+purpose, including commercial applications, and to alter it and
+redistribute it freely, subject to the following restrictions:
+
+1. The origin of this software must not be misrepresented; you must
+not claim that you wrote the original software. If you use this
+software in a product, an acknowledgment in the product documentation
+would be appreciated but is not required.
+
+2. Altered source versions must be plainly marked as such, and
+must not be misrepresented as being the original software.
+
+3. This notice may not be removed or altered from any source
+distribution.
+*/
+
+/**
+ * DO NOT USE THIS FILE DIRECTLY! USE MemAccess.h INSTEAD!
+ */
+#include "integers.h"
+
+inline
+uint8_t MreadByte (const uint32_t &offset)
+{
+    return ptrace(PTRACE_PEEKDATA,g_ProcessHandle, offset, NULL);
+}
+
+inline
+void MreadByte (const uint32_t &offset, uint8_t &val )
+{
+    val = ptrace(PTRACE_PEEKDATA,g_ProcessHandle, offset, NULL);
+}
+
+inline
+uint16_t MreadWord (const uint32_t &offset)
+{
+    return ptrace(PTRACE_PEEKDATA,g_ProcessHandle, offset, NULL);
+}
+
+inline
+void MreadWord (const uint32_t &offset, uint16_t &val)
+{
+    val = ptrace(PTRACE_PEEKDATA,g_ProcessHandle, offset, NULL);
+}
+
+inline
+uint32_t MreadDWord (const uint32_t &offset)
+{
+    return ptrace(PTRACE_PEEKDATA,g_ProcessHandle, offset, NULL);
+}
+inline
+void MreadDWord (const uint32_t &offset, uint32_t &val)
+{
+    val = ptrace(PTRACE_PEEKDATA,g_ProcessHandle, offset, NULL);
+}
+
+// extremely terrible braindamage
+inline
+bool Mread ( uint32_t offset, uint32_t size, uint8_t *target)
+{
+    uint8_t *mover = target;
+    while (size)
+    {
+        if(size >= 4)
+        {
+            * (uint32_t *)mover = MreadDWord(offset);
+            mover+=4;
+            offset +=4;
+            size -=4;
+        }
+        else if(size >= 2)
+        {
+            * (uint16_t *)mover = MreadWord(offset);
+            mover+=2;
+            offset +=2;
+            size -=2;
+        }
+        else if(size == 1)
+        {
+            * (uint8_t *)mover = MreadByte(offset);
+            mover+=1;
+            offset ++;
+            size --;
+        }
+    }
+    return true;
+}
+
+
+inline
+void MwriteDWord (uint32_t offset, uint32_t data)
+{
+    ptrace(PTRACE_POKEDATA,g_ProcessHandle, offset, data);
+}
+
+// using these is expensive.
+inline
+void MwriteWord (uint32_t offset, uint16_t data)
+{
+    uint32_t orig = MreadDWord(offset);
+    orig |= 0x0000FFFF;
+    orig &= data;
+    ptrace(PTRACE_POKEDATA,g_ProcessHandle, offset, orig);
+}
+
+inline
+void MwriteByte (uint32_t offset, uint8_t data)
+{
+    uint32_t orig = MreadDWord(offset);
+    orig |= 0x000000FF;
+    orig &= data;
+    ptrace(PTRACE_POKEDATA,g_ProcessHandle, offset, orig);
+}
+
+// blah. I hate the kernel devs for crippling /proc/PID/mem. THIS IS RIDICULOUS
+inline
+bool Mwrite (uint32_t offset, uint32_t size, uint8_t *source)
+{
+    uint32_t indexptr = 0;
+    while (size > 0)
+    {
+        // default: we push 4 bytes
+        if(size >= 4)
+        {
+            MwriteDWord(offset, *(uint32_t *) (source + indexptr));
+            offset +=4;
+            indexptr +=4;
+            size -=4;
+        }
+        // last is either three or 2 bytes
+        else if(size >= 2)
+        {
+            MwriteWord(offset, *(uint16_t *) (source + indexptr));
+            offset +=2;
+            indexptr +=2;
+            size -=2;
+        }
+        // finishing move
+        else if(size == 1)
+        {
+            MwriteByte(offset, *(uint8_t *) (source + indexptr));
+            return true;
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+inline
+const std::string MreadCString (uint32_t offset)
+{
+    std::string temp;
+    char temp_c[256];
+    int counter = 0;
+    char r;
+    do
+    {
+        r = MreadByte(offset+counter);
+        temp_c[counter] = r;
+        counter++;
+    } while (r);
+    temp_c[counter] = 0;
+    temp = temp_c;
+    return temp;
+}
diff --git a/tools/expbench.cpp b/tools/expbench.cpp
index 01bd17750..4ca080bc2 100644
--- a/tools/expbench.cpp
+++ b/tools/expbench.cpp
@@ -28,19 +28,26 @@ int main (void)
     DF.getSize(x_max,y_max,z_max);
     
     for(uint32_t i = 0; i< 1000;i++)
-    for(uint32_t x = 0; x< x_max;x++)
     {
-        for(uint32_t y = 0; y< y_max;y++)
+        if((i % 10) == 0)
         {
-            for(uint32_t z = 0; z< z_max;z++)
+            int percentage = i / 10;
+            cout << percentage << endl;
+        }
+        for(uint32_t x = 0; x< x_max;x++)
+        {
+            for(uint32_t y = 0; y< y_max;y++)
             {
-                if(DF.isValidBlock(x,y,z))
+                for(uint32_t z = 0; z< z_max;z++)
                 {
-                    DF.ReadTileTypes(x,y,z, (uint16_t *) tiletypes);
-                    DF.ReadDesignations(x,y,z, (uint32_t *) designations);
-                    DF.ReadOccupancy(x,y,z, (uint32_t *) occupancies);
-                    num_blocks ++;
-                    bytes_read += 256 * (4 + 4 + 2);
+                    if(DF.isValidBlock(x,y,z))
+                    {
+                        DF.ReadTileTypes(x,y,z, (uint16_t *) tiletypes);
+                        DF.ReadDesignations(x,y,z, (uint32_t *) designations);
+                        DF.ReadOccupancy(x,y,z, (uint32_t *) occupancies);
+                        num_blocks ++;
+                        bytes_read += 256 * (4 + 4 + 2);
+                    }
                 }
             }
         }