diff --git a/gst/check/gstcheck.c b/gst/check/gstcheck.c
index f1c05a0570..54093bf21d 100644
--- a/gst/check/gstcheck.c
+++ b/gst/check/gstcheck.c
@@ -168,7 +168,8 @@ gst_check_setup_src_pad (GstElement * element,
   fail_if (sinkpad == NULL, "Could not get sink pad from %s",
       GST_ELEMENT_NAME (element));
   ASSERT_OBJECT_REFCOUNT (sinkpad, "sinkpad", 2);
-  fail_unless (gst_pad_set_caps (srcpad, caps));
+  if (caps)
+    fail_unless (gst_pad_set_caps (srcpad, caps));
   fail_unless (gst_pad_link (srcpad, sinkpad) == GST_PAD_LINK_OK,
       "Could not link source and %s sink pads", GST_ELEMENT_NAME (element));
   gst_object_unref (sinkpad);   /* because we got it higher up */
@@ -218,7 +219,8 @@ gst_check_setup_sink_pad (GstElement * element, GstStaticPadTemplate * template,
   srcpad = gst_element_get_pad (element, "src");
   fail_if (srcpad == NULL, "Could not get source pad from %s",
       GST_ELEMENT_NAME (element));
-  fail_unless (gst_pad_set_caps (sinkpad, caps));
+  if (caps)
+    fail_unless (gst_pad_set_caps (sinkpad, caps));
   gst_pad_set_chain_function (sinkpad, gst_check_chain_func);
 
   fail_unless (gst_pad_link (srcpad, sinkpad) == GST_PAD_LINK_OK,
diff --git a/gst/gst.c b/gst/gst.c
index ea9ee3966a..abbeacdf62 100644
--- a/gst/gst.c
+++ b/gst/gst.c
@@ -69,7 +69,6 @@
  * <programlisting>
  * static gboolean stats = FALSE;
  * ...
- *
  * int
  * main (int argc, char *argv[])
  * {
@@ -78,10 +77,8 @@
  *         "Show pad stats", NULL},
  *       POPT_TABLEEND
  *     };
- *
  *   // initialize the GStreamer library
  *   gst_init_with_popt_table (&amp;argc, &amp;argv, options);
- *
  *   ...
  * }
  * </programlisting>
diff --git a/gst/gstbuffer.c b/gst/gstbuffer.c
index 6be177eb1f..a59a75ed8d 100644
--- a/gst/gstbuffer.c
+++ b/gst/gstbuffer.c
@@ -40,11 +40,8 @@
  *   <programlisting>
  *   GstBuffer *buffer;
  *   gint size, width, height, bpp;
- *
  *   ...
- *
  *   size = width * height * bpp;
- *
  *   buffer = gst_buffer_new ();
  *   GST_BUFFER_SIZE (buffer) = size;
  *   GST_BUFFER_MALLOCDATA (buffer) = g_alloc (size);
diff --git a/gst/gstcaps.c b/gst/gstcaps.c
index ef31954f7b..f0fc00bc25 100644
--- a/gst/gstcaps.c
+++ b/gst/gstcaps.c
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
 #include "gst_private.h"
 #include <gst/gst.h>
 
-/* #define DEBUG_REFCOUNT */
+#define DEBUG_REFCOUNT
 
 #define CAPS_POISON(caps) G_STMT_START{ \
   if (caps) { \
diff --git a/gst/gstelementfactory.c b/gst/gstelementfactory.c
index dc99d23600..fa85bc1679 100644
--- a/gst/gstelementfactory.c
+++ b/gst/gstelementfactory.c
@@ -47,15 +47,11 @@
  * <title>Using an element factory</title>
  * <programlisting language="c">
  *   #include &lt;gst/gst.h&gt;
- *
  *   GstElement *src;
  *   GstElementFactory *srcfactory;
- *
  *   gst_init(&amp;argc,&amp;argv);
- *
  *   srcfactory = gst_element_factory_find("filesrc");
  *   g_return_if_fail(srcfactory != NULL);
- *
  *   src = gst_element_factory_create(srcfactory,"src");
  *   g_return_if_fail(src != NULL);
  *   ...
diff --git a/gst/gstpadtemplate.c b/gst/gstpadtemplate.c
index 930bab76d0..b96688a214 100644
--- a/gst/gstpadtemplate.c
+++ b/gst/gstpadtemplate.c
@@ -51,12 +51,10 @@
  *         "channels = (int) [ 1, 6 ]"
  *     )
  *   )
- *
  *   void
  *   my_method (void)
  *   {
  *     GstPad *pad;
- *
  *     pad = gst_pad_new_from_template (GST_PAD_TEMPLATE_GET (my_template_factory), "sink");
  *     ...
  *   }
@@ -71,14 +69,10 @@
  *   my_factory_init (GstPlugin *plugin)
  *   {
  *     GstElementFactory *factory;
- *
  *     factory = gst_element_factory_new ("my_factory", GST_TYPE_MYFACTORY, &amp;gst_myfactory_details);
  *     g_return_val_if_fail (factory != NULL, FALSE);
- *
  *     gst_element_factory_add_pad_template (factory, GST_PAD_TEMPLATE_GET (my_template_factory));
- *
  *     gst_plugin_add_feature (plugin, GST_PLUGIN_FEATURE (factory));
- *
  *     return TRUE;
  *   }
  *   </programlisting>
diff --git a/gst/gstplugin.c b/gst/gstplugin.c
index b72d2387ad..7003a078fb 100644
--- a/gst/gstplugin.c
+++ b/gst/gstplugin.c
@@ -29,7 +29,8 @@
  * A plugin system can provide one or more of the basic
  * <application>GStreamer</application> #GstPluginFeature subclasses.
  *
- * A plugin should export a symbol <symbol>plugin_desc</symbol> that is a struct of type #GstPluginDesc.
+ * A plugin should export a symbol <symbol>plugin_desc</symbol> that is a
+ * struct of type #GstPluginDesc.
  * the plugin loader will check the version of the core library the plugin was
  * linked against and will create a new #GstPlugin. It will then call the
  * #GstPluginInitFunc function that was provided in the plugin_desc.
@@ -889,7 +890,6 @@ gst_plugin_load_by_name (const gchar * name)
  * <programlisting>
  * GstPlugin *loaded_plugin;
  * loaded_plugin = gst_plugin_load (plugin);
- *
  * // presumably, we're no longer interested in the potentially-unloaded plugin
  * gst_object_unref (plugin);
  * plugin = loaded_plugin;
diff --git a/gst/gsttypefindfactory.c b/gst/gsttypefindfactory.c
index 993f393850..48b014577c 100644
--- a/gst/gsttypefindfactory.c
+++ b/gst/gsttypefindfactory.c
@@ -61,7 +61,6 @@
  *     GList *walk, *type_list;
  *     MyTypeFind find = {data, size, 0, NULL};
  *     GstTypeFind gst_find = {my_peek, my_suggest, &amp;find, };
- *
  *     walk = type_list = gst_type_find_factory_get_list ();
  *     while (walk) {
  *       GstTypeFindFactory *factory = GST_TYPE_FIND_FACTORY (walk->data);
diff --git a/libs/gst/check/gstcheck.c b/libs/gst/check/gstcheck.c
index f1c05a0570..54093bf21d 100644
--- a/libs/gst/check/gstcheck.c
+++ b/libs/gst/check/gstcheck.c
@@ -168,7 +168,8 @@ gst_check_setup_src_pad (GstElement * element,
   fail_if (sinkpad == NULL, "Could not get sink pad from %s",
       GST_ELEMENT_NAME (element));
   ASSERT_OBJECT_REFCOUNT (sinkpad, "sinkpad", 2);
-  fail_unless (gst_pad_set_caps (srcpad, caps));
+  if (caps)
+    fail_unless (gst_pad_set_caps (srcpad, caps));
   fail_unless (gst_pad_link (srcpad, sinkpad) == GST_PAD_LINK_OK,
       "Could not link source and %s sink pads", GST_ELEMENT_NAME (element));
   gst_object_unref (sinkpad);   /* because we got it higher up */
@@ -218,7 +219,8 @@ gst_check_setup_sink_pad (GstElement * element, GstStaticPadTemplate * template,
   srcpad = gst_element_get_pad (element, "src");
   fail_if (srcpad == NULL, "Could not get source pad from %s",
       GST_ELEMENT_NAME (element));
-  fail_unless (gst_pad_set_caps (sinkpad, caps));
+  if (caps)
+    fail_unless (gst_pad_set_caps (sinkpad, caps));
   gst_pad_set_chain_function (sinkpad, gst_check_chain_func);
 
   fail_unless (gst_pad_link (srcpad, sinkpad) == GST_PAD_LINK_OK,