diff --git a/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/resque/audiomixer.rb b/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/resque/audiomixer.rb
index bb962a733..a8fedade0 100644
--- a/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/resque/audiomixer.rb
+++ b/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/resque/audiomixer.rb
@@ -57,10 +57,10 @@ module JamRuby
         filename = file[:filename]
         if filename.start_with? "http"
           # fetch it from wherever, put it somewhere on disk, and replace filename in the file parameter with the local disk one
-          download_filename = Dir::Tmpname.make_tmpname(["#{Dir.tmpdir}audiomixer-file", '.ogg'], nil)
+          download_filename = Dir::Tmpname.make_tmpname(["#{Dir.tmpdir}/audiomixer-file", '.ogg'], nil)
 
           uri = URI(filename)
-          open download_filename, 'w' do |io|
+          open download_filename, 'wb' do |io|
             begin
             Net::HTTP.start(uri.host, uri.port) do |http|
               request = Net::HTTP::Get.new uri
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ module JamRuby
     # write the manifest object to file, to pass into audiomixer
     def prepare_manifest
 
-      @manifest_file = Dir::Tmpname.make_tmpname( ["#{Dir.tmpdir}audiomixer-manifest-#{@manifest['recording_id']}", '.json'], nil)
+      @manifest_file = Dir::Tmpname.make_tmpname( ["#{Dir.tmpdir}/audiomixer-manifest-#{@manifest['recording_id']}", '.json'], nil)
       File.open(@manifest_file,"w") do |f|
         f.write(@manifest.to_json)
       end
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ module JamRuby
 
     # make a suitable location to store the output mix, and pass the chosen filepath into the manifest
     def prepare_output
-      @output_filename = Dir::Tmpname.make_tmpname( ["#{Dir.tmpdir}audiomixer-output-#{@manifest['recording_id']}", '.ogg'], nil)
+      @output_filename = Dir::Tmpname.make_tmpname( ["#{Dir.tmpdir}/audiomixer-output-#{@manifest['recording_id']}", '.ogg'], nil)
 
       # update manifest so that audiomixer writes here
       @manifest[:output][:filename] = @output_filename
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ module JamRuby
 
     # make a suitable location to store an output error file, which will be populated on failure to help diagnose problems.
     def prepare_error_out
-      @error_out_filename = Dir::Tmpname.make_tmpname( ["#{Dir.tmpdir}audiomixer-error-out-#{@manifest['recording_id']}", '.ogg'], nil)
+      @error_out_filename = Dir::Tmpname.make_tmpname( ["#{Dir.tmpdir}/audiomixer-error-out-#{@manifest['recording_id']}", '.ogg'], nil)
 
       # update manifest so that audiomixer writes here
       @manifest[:error_out] = @error_out_filename
@@ -233,6 +233,7 @@ module JamRuby
           error_msg = "audiomixer job failed status=#{$?} error_reason=#{error_reason} error_detail=#{error_detail}"
           @@log.info(error_msg)
           @error_reason = "unable-find-appmixer"
+          @error_detail = APP_CONFIG.audiomixer_path
           raise error_msg
         end
       rescue Exception => e
diff --git a/web/config/application.rb b/web/config/application.rb
index 3fd9a3243..4432bb33a 100644
--- a/web/config/application.rb
+++ b/web/config/application.rb
@@ -165,5 +165,7 @@ include JamRuby
     config.ga_suppress_admin = true
 
     config.redis_host = "localhost:6379"
+
+    config.audiomixer_path = "/var/lib/audiomixer/audiomixer/audiomixerapp"
   end
 end
diff --git a/web/config/environment.rb b/web/config/environment.rb
index 061a53982..5f59817ee 100644
--- a/web/config/environment.rb
+++ b/web/config/environment.rb
@@ -5,5 +5,7 @@ Mime::Type.register "audio/ogg", :audio_ogg
 
 APP_CONFIG = Rails.application.config
 
+puts APP_CONFIG.audiomixer_path
+
 # Initialize the rails application
 SampleApp::Application.initialize!
diff --git a/web/config/environments/development.rb b/web/config/environments/development.rb
index 10b03e52e..6aec3027a 100644
--- a/web/config/environments/development.rb
+++ b/web/config/environments/development.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,15 @@
+
+def audiomixer_workspace_path
+  if ENV['WORKSPACE']
+    dev_path = ENV['WORKSPACE']
+  else
+    dev_path = ENV['HOME'] + '/workspace'
+  end
+
+  dev_path = "#{dev_path}/audiomixer/audiomixer/audiomixerapp"
+  dev_path if File.exist? dev_path
+end
+
 SampleApp::Application.configure do
   # Settings specified here will take precedence over those in config/application.rb
 
@@ -58,4 +70,6 @@ SampleApp::Application.configure do
   config.websocket_gateway_connect_time_stale = 16
   config.websocket_gateway_connect_time_expire = 26
 
+  config.audiomixer_path = ENV['AUDIOMIXER_PATH'] || audiomixer_workspace_path || "/var/lib/audiomixer/audiomixer/audiomixerapp"
+
 end