diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 23d7038..068d8a1 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 VERSION = $(shell git describe --tags)
 BUILDTIME = $(shell date +%Y.%m.%d_%H%M)
 
-hmm: test
-
 simple: build
 	# make -C example clean simpleMutexGlobal goimports vet
 	make -C example clean simpleMutexProtoc goimports vet
@@ -42,8 +40,10 @@ auto:
 	# rm -f auto.sort.pb.go auto.newsort.pb.go # auto.marshal.pb.go
 
 test:
-	make -C example modproto
 	make -C example rawproto
+	# The Go Protocol Buffers library embeds a sync.Mutex within the MessageState struct to prevent unintended shallow copies of message structs
+	# It only fails in Marshal() functions though. That is dumb.
+	make -C example modproto # THIS DOES NOT WORK. It could work however. This autogenerated code could be used to debug it.
 
 junk:
 	cd example; rm -f go.* *.pb.go
diff --git a/addMutex.go b/addMutex.go
index cfd31b3..d0d8836 100644
--- a/addMutex.go
+++ b/addMutex.go
@@ -6,12 +6,29 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"io"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
 
 	"go.wit.com/log"
 )
 
+func (pf *File) syncLock(w io.Writer) {
+	var LOCK string = pf.Bases.Lockname
+
+	fmt.Fprintln(w, "// a simple global lock")
+	fmt.Fprintln(w, "")
+	fmt.Fprintln(w, "// this is needed because it seems Marshal() fails if locks are in the structs (?)")
+	fmt.Fprintln(w, "// this might just be a syntactical runtime error. notsure.")
+	fmt.Fprintln(w, "// maybe this autogen tool will help someone that actually knows what is going on inside")
+	fmt.Fprintln(w, "// go/src/google.golang.org/protobuf/proto/proto_methods.go")
+	fmt.Fprintln(w, "// go/src/google.golang.org/protobuf/proto/encode.go")
+	fmt.Fprintln(w, "// my guess is that Marshal() needs to be told to ignore sync.RWMutex as it ephemeral and can't be stored")
+	fmt.Fprintln(w, "")
+	fmt.Fprintln(w, "var "+LOCK+" sync.RWMutex")
+	fmt.Fprintln(w, "")
+}
+
 func (pb *Files) addMutex(f *File) error {
 	fullname := f.Pbfilename
 	log.Info("pb filename:", fullname)
@@ -47,7 +64,9 @@ func (pb *Files) addMutex(f *File) error {
 			if argv.Mutex {
 				log.Info("Adding Mutex to:", line)
 				fmt.Fprintln(w, line)
-				fmt.Fprintln(w, "\tLock sync.RWMutex // auto-added by go.wit.com/apps/autogenpb")
+				fmt.Fprintln(w, "\tLock sync.RWMutex // auto-added by go.wit.com/apps/autogenpb") // this must be 'Lock' or Marshal() panics?
+				// fmt.Fprintln(w, "\t// auto-added by go.wit.com/apps/autogenpb")
+				// fmt.Fprintln(w, "\tsync.RWMutex")
 				fmt.Fprintln(w, "")
 			} else {
 				log.Info("Skipping. Mutex = false for:", line)
@@ -79,6 +98,12 @@ func (pf *File) structMatch(line string) bool {
 		return true
 	}
 
+	// ONLY PASS THIS IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO USE MARSHAL()
+
+	if argv.Marshal {
+		return false
+	}
+
 	msg = pf.Base
 	start = "type " + msg.Name + " struct {"
 	if strings.HasPrefix(line, start) {
diff --git a/argv.go b/argv.go
index 676e67e..d50dfad 100644
--- a/argv.go
+++ b/argv.go
@@ -9,14 +9,15 @@ package main
 var argv args
 
 type args struct {
-	Package  string `arg:"--package"                 help:"the package name"`
-	Proto    string `arg:"--proto"                   help:"the .proto filename"`
-	Mutex    bool   `arg:"--mutex"  default:"true"   help:"insert a mutex into protoc .pb.go file"`
-	Delete   bool   `arg:"--delete"                  help:"use delete with copy experiment"`
-	DryRun   bool   `arg:"--dry-run"                 help:"show what would be run"`
-	GoSrc    string `arg:"--go-src"                  help:"default is ~/go/src. could be set to your go.work path"`
-	GoPath   string `arg:"--gopath"                  help:"the gopath of this repo"`
-	Identify string `arg:"--identify"                help:"identify file"`
+	Package  string `arg:"--package"                  help:"the package name"`
+	Proto    string `arg:"--proto"                    help:"the .proto filename"`
+	Mutex    bool   `arg:"--mutex"   default:"true"   help:"insert a mutex into protoc .pb.go file"`
+	Marshal  bool   `arg:"--marshal" default:"true"   help:"if you need Marshal(), per-message Mutex's fail for some reason"`
+	Delete   bool   `arg:"--delete"                   help:"use delete with copy experiment"`
+	DryRun   bool   `arg:"--dry-run"                  help:"show what would be run"`
+	GoSrc    string `arg:"--go-src"                   help:"default is ~/go/src. could be set to your go.work path"`
+	GoPath   string `arg:"--gopath"                   help:"the gopath of this repo"`
+	Identify string `arg:"--identify"                 help:"identify file"`
 }
 
 func (a args) Description() string {
diff --git a/sortFunc.go b/sortFunc.go
index 2a5af91..e12db51 100644
--- a/sortFunc.go
+++ b/sortFunc.go
@@ -5,15 +5,6 @@ import (
 	"io"
 )
 
-func (pf *File) syncLock(w io.Writer) {
-	var LOCK string = pf.Bases.Lockname
-
-	fmt.Fprintln(w, "// bad global lock until modifying the .pb.go file is tested")
-	fmt.Fprintln(w, "// sync.RWMutex or sync.Mutex?")
-	fmt.Fprintln(w, "var "+LOCK+" sync.RWMutex")
-	fmt.Fprintln(w, "")
-}
-
 func (msg *MsgName) iterTop(w io.Writer) {
 	var BASE string = msg.Name
 
diff --git a/sortNew.go b/sortNew.go
index b23f1aa..1de2e82 100644
--- a/sortNew.go
+++ b/sortNew.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ func (msg *MsgName) getLockname(s string) string {
 	if argv.Mutex {
 		// use the mutex lock from the modified protoc.pb.go file
 		return s + ".Lock"
+		// return s // causes Marshal() to panic? always use the variable name 'Lock'?
 	}
 	// a single global lock by struct name
 	return msg.Lockname