diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index b5507323e..f0678c5ed 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ require_relative "rake.d/config"
 
 $config               = read_build_config
 $verbose              = ENV['V'].to_bool
+$run_show_start_stop  = !$verbose && ENV['RUN_SHOW_START_STOP'].to_bool
 $build_system_modules = {}
 $have_gtest           = (c(:GTEST_TYPE) == "system") || (c(:GTEST_TYPE) == "internal")
 $gtest_apps           = []
@@ -437,7 +438,7 @@ namespace :translations do
       end
     end
 
-    puts_action "create", "po/#{locale}.po"
+    puts_action "create", :target => "po/#{locale}.po"
     File.open "po/#{locale}.po", "w" do |out|
       now           = Time.now
       email         = ENV['EMAIL']
@@ -881,7 +882,7 @@ task :clean do
   remove_files_by_patterns patterns
 
   if Dir.exists? $dependency_dir
-    puts_vaction "rm -rf", "#{$dependency_dir}"
+    puts_vaction "rm -rf", :target => "#{$dependency_dir}"
     FileUtils.rm_rf $dependency_dir
   end
 end
diff --git a/rake.d/helpers.rb b/rake.d/helpers.rb
index e385b2171..8e909f9dc 100644
--- a/rake.d/helpers.rb
+++ b/rake.d/helpers.rb
@@ -14,18 +14,19 @@ def puts(message)
   }
 end
 
-def puts_action(action, target=nil)
+def puts_action(action, options = {})
   msg  = sprintf "%*s", $action_width, action.gsub(/ +/, '_').upcase
-  msg += " #{target}" if target && !target.empty?
+  msg += " #{options[:target]}"       if !options[:target].blank?
+  msg  = "#{options[:prefix]} #{msg}" if !options[:prefix].blank?
   puts msg
 end
 
-def puts_qaction(action, target=nil)
-  puts_action(action, target) unless $verbose
+def puts_qaction(action, options = {})
+  puts_action(action, options) unless $verbose
 end
 
-def puts_vaction(action, target=nil)
-  puts_action(action, target) if $verbose
+def puts_vaction(action, options = {})
+  puts_action(action, options) if $verbose
 end
 
 def error(message)
@@ -81,12 +82,22 @@ ensure
 end
 
 def runq(action, target, cmdline, options = {})
-  puts_qaction action, target
-  run cmdline, options.clone.merge(:dont_echo => !$verbose)
+  start = Time.now
+
+  puts_action action, :target => target, :prefix => $run_show_start_stop ? "[start          ]" : nil
+
+  code     = run_wrapper cmdline, options.clone.merge(:dont_echo => !$verbose)
+  duration = Time.now - start
+
+  if $run_show_start_stop
+    puts_action action, :target => target, :prefix => sprintf("[%s  %02d:%02d.%03d]", code == 0 ? "done" : "fail", (duration / 60).to_i, duration.to_i % 60, (duration * 1000).to_i % 1000)
+  end
+
+  exit code if (code != 0) && !options[:allow_failure].to_bool
 end
 
 def runq_git(msg, cmdline, options = {})
-  puts_qaction "git #{cmdline.split(/\s+/)[0]}", "#{msg}"
+  puts_qaction "git #{cmdline.split(/\s+/)[0]}", :target => "#{msg}"
   $git_mutex.synchronize { run "git #{cmdline}", options.clone.merge(:dont_echo => !$verbose) }
 end
 
@@ -170,7 +181,7 @@ end
 
 def remove_files_by_patterns patterns
   patterns.collect { |pattern| FileList[pattern].to_a }.flatten.uniq.select { |file_name| File.exists? file_name }.each do |file_name|
-    puts_vaction "rm", file_name
+    puts_vaction "rm", :target => file_name
     File.unlink file_name
   end
 end
diff --git a/rake.d/installer.rb b/rake.d/installer.rb
index 9423fda48..b0811d190 100644
--- a/rake.d/installer.rb
+++ b/rake.d/installer.rb
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ module Mtx::Installer
   end
 
   def self.update_one_translation_file file_name, english
-    puts_qaction "nsh_update", file_name
+    puts_qaction "nsh_update", :target => file_name
 
     language        = self.read_translation_file file_name
     translation_lines = []
diff --git a/rake.d/po.rb b/rake.d/po.rb
index 61bc3b278..df51d1d36 100644
--- a/rake.d/po.rb
+++ b/rake.d/po.rb
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ def write_po file_name, items
 end
 
 def normalize_po file
-  puts_action "NORMALIZE-PO", file
+  puts_action "NORMALIZE-PO", :target => file
   write_po file, read_po(file)
 end
 
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ def transifex_pull_and_merge resource, language
 
   runq "tx pull", po_file, "tx pull -f -r mkvtoolnix.#{resource} -l #{language} > /dev/null"
 
-  puts_qaction "merge", po_file
+  puts_qaction "merge", :target => po_file
 
   transifex_items = read_po(po_file)
   merged_items    = merge_po orig_items, transifex_items
diff --git a/tools/development/update_translations.rb b/tools/development/update_translations.rb
index 06e202e68..d68bf3580 100755
--- a/tools/development/update_translations.rb
+++ b/tools/development/update_translations.rb
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ module AddPo
 
     orig_items = read_po target
 
-    puts_qaction "merge", target
+    puts_qaction "merge", :target => target
 
     updated_items = read_po file_name
     merged_items  = merge_po orig_items, updated_items, :headers_to_update => %w{Project-Id-Version}