diff --git a/loader/src/platform/cramium/cramium.rs b/loader/src/platform/cramium/cramium.rs
index e90ee3356..039a69cb9 100644
--- a/loader/src/platform/cramium/cramium.rs
+++ b/loader/src/platform/cramium/cramium.rs
@@ -100,6 +100,10 @@ pub fn early_init() {
     // tx as output
     iox.set_gpio_dir(IoxPort::PA, 4, IoxDir::Output);
 
+    // This is necessary because an input has to be "high" on an alternate mux for it to work... :-/
+    iox.set_gpio_dir(IoxPort::PD, 13, IoxDir::Input);
+    iox.set_gpio_pullup(IoxPort::PD, 13, IoxEnable::Enable);
+
     // Set up the UDMA_UART block to the correct baud rate and enable status
     let mut udma_global = udma::GlobalConfig::new(utra::udma_ctrl::HW_UDMA_CTRL_BASE as *mut u32);
     udma_global.clock_on(udma::PeriphId::Uart0);
@@ -122,7 +126,9 @@ pub fn early_init() {
         udma::Uart::new(utra::udma_uart_0::HW_UDMA_UART_0_BASE, baudrate, freq)
     };
 
-    // Board bringup: send characters to confirm the UART is configured & ready to go for the logging crate!
+    // Board bring-up: send characters to confirm the UART is configured & ready to go for the logging crate!
+    // The "boot gutter" also has a role to pause the system in "real mode" before VM is mapped in Xous
+    // makes things a little bit cleaner for JTAG ops, it seems.
     #[cfg(feature = "board-bringup")]
     {
         let tx_buf = unsafe {
@@ -133,17 +139,17 @@ pub fn early_init() {
             // safety: it's safe only because we are manually tracking the allocations in IFRAM0. Yuck!
             core::slice::from_raw_parts_mut((utralib::HW_IFRAM0_MEM + 256) as *mut u8, 1)
         };
-        const BANNER: &'static str = "\n\rHit any key to continue boot...\r";
+        const BANNER: &'static str = "\n\rHit any key to continue boot...\r\n";
         tx_buf[..BANNER.len()].copy_from_slice(BANNER.as_bytes());
         udma_uart.write(&tx_buf[0..BANNER.len()]);
 
-        // receive characters
-        for _ in 0..16 {
+        // receive characters -- print them back. just to prove that this works.
+        for _ in 0..4 {
             udma_uart.read(rx_buf);
-            tx_buf[0] = rx_buf[0];
             const DBG_MSG: &'static str = "Got: ";
             tx_buf[..DBG_MSG.len()].copy_from_slice(DBG_MSG.as_bytes());
             udma_uart.write(&tx_buf[0..DBG_MSG.len()]);
+            tx_buf[0] = rx_buf[0];
             udma_uart.write(&tx_buf[0..1]);
             tx_buf[0] = '\n' as u32 as u8;
             tx_buf[1] = '\r' as u32 as u8;