diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 035f5e4f7f..ae9388a534 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -39,14 +39,18 @@ group :test do
   gem 'mocha'
   gem "launchy", "~> 2.1.0"
   gem "factory_girl_rails", "~> 4.0"
-  gem 'cucumber-rails'
+  gem 'cucumber-rails', :require => false
   gem 'database_cleaner'
   gem "rspec-rails", "~> 2.0", :group => :development
   gem 'capybara'
+  gem 'spork-rails'
+  gem 'spork-testunit' # needed for test-unit only
 
   gem 'ruby-debug', :platforms => [:mri_18, :mingw_18]
   # TODO: remove dependency to v 1.1.3 when pry-debugger is updated to > 0.2
   gem 'debugger', '~> 1.1.3', :platforms => [:mri_19, :mingw_19]
+  # why in Gemfile? see: https://github.com/guard/guard-test
+  gem 'ruby-prof'
 end
 
 group :openid do
@@ -57,6 +61,11 @@ group :development do
   gem 'rails-footnotes', '>= 3.7.5.rc4'
   gem 'bullet'
   gem 'letter_opener', '~> 1.0.0'
+  gem 'rails-dev-tweaks', '~> 0.6.1'
+  gem 'guard-rspec'
+  gem 'guard-cucumber'
+  gem 'guard-spork'
+  gem 'rb-fsevent', :group => :test, :require => false if RUBY_PLATFORM =~ /darwin/i
 end
 
 group :development, :test do
@@ -67,6 +76,11 @@ group :development, :test do
   gem 'pry-doc'
 end
 
+group :tools do
+  # why tools? see: https://github.com/guard/guard-test
+  gem 'guard-test'
+end
+
 group :rmagick do
   gem "rmagick", ">= 1.15.17"
   # Older distributions might not have a sufficiently new ImageMagick version
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index edbb7f2ff6..53c08b38f9 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -104,6 +104,25 @@ GEM
     ffi (1.1.5)
     gherkin (2.11.5)
       json (>= 1.4.6)
+    guard (1.5.0)
+      listen (>= 0.4.2)
+      lumberjack (>= 1.0.2)
+      pry (>= 0.9.10)
+      thor (>= 0.14.6)
+    guard-cucumber (1.2.0)
+      cucumber (>= 1.2.0)
+      guard (>= 1.1.0)
+    guard-rspec (2.1.0)
+      guard (>= 1.1)
+      rspec (~> 2.11)
+    guard-spork (1.2.1)
+      childprocess (>= 0.2.3)
+      guard (>= 1.1)
+      spork (>= 0.8.4)
+      sys-proctable
+    guard-test (0.5.0)
+      guard (>= 1.1.0)
+      test-unit (~> 2.2)
     hike (1.2.1)
     htmldiff (0.0.1)
     i18n (0.6.1)
@@ -121,8 +140,10 @@ GEM
       addressable
     linecache (0.46)
       rbx-require-relative (> 0.0.4)
+    listen (0.5.3)
     loofah (1.2.1)
       nokogiri (>= 1.4.4)
+    lumberjack (1.0.2)
     mail (2.4.4)
       i18n (>= 0.4.0)
       mime-types (~> 1.16)
@@ -175,6 +196,9 @@ GEM
       activesupport (= 3.2.8)
       bundler (~> 1.0)
       railties (= 3.2.8)
+    rails-dev-tweaks (0.6.1)
+      actionpack (~> 3.1)
+      railties (~> 3.1)
     rails-footnotes (3.7.8)
       rails (>= 3.0.0)
     rails_autolink (1.0.9)
@@ -210,6 +234,7 @@ GEM
     ruby-debug-base (0.10.4)
       linecache (>= 0.3)
     ruby-openid (2.1.8)
+    ruby-prof (0.11.2)
     rubytree (0.8.3)
       json (>= 1.7.5)
       structured_warnings (>= 0.1.3)
@@ -231,13 +256,21 @@ GEM
     shoulda-matchers (1.4.1)
       activesupport (>= 3.0.0)
     slop (3.3.3)
-    sprockets (2.1.3)
+    spork (1.0.0rc3)
+    spork-rails (3.2.0)
+      rails (>= 3.0.0, < 3.3.0)
+      spork (>= 1.0rc0)
+    spork-testunit (0.0.8)
       hike (~> 1.2)
       rack (~> 1.0)
+      spork (>= 0.6.0)
       tilt (~> 1.1, != 1.3.0)
+    sprockets (2.1.3)
     sqlite3 (1.3.6)
     sqlite3-ruby (1.2.5)
     structured_warnings (0.1.3)
+    sys-proctable (0.9.2)
+    test-unit (2.5.2)
     thor (0.16.0)
     tilt (1.3.3)
     tinymce-rails (3.5.7.1)
@@ -275,6 +308,10 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   factory_girl_rails (~> 4.0)
   fastercsv (~> 1.5.0)
   globalize3!
+  guard-cucumber
+  guard-rspec
+  guard-spork
+  guard-test
   htmldiff
   jquery-rails
   jruby-openssl
@@ -293,6 +330,7 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   pry-rescue
   pry-stack_explorer
   rails (= 3.2.8)
+  rails-dev-tweaks (~> 0.6.1)
   rails-footnotes (>= 3.7.5.rc4)
   rails_autolink
   rdoc (>= 2.4.2)
@@ -300,9 +338,12 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   rspec-rails (~> 2.0)
   ruby-debug
   ruby-openid (~> 2.1.4)
+  ruby-prof
   rubytree (~> 0.8.3)
   sass-rails (~> 3.2.3)
   shoulda (~> 3.1.1)
+  spork-rails
+  spork-testunit
   sqlite3
   sqlite3-ruby (< 1.3)
   tinymce-rails
diff --git a/Guardfile b/Guardfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8dea335f05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Guardfile
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+# :spork guard must come first
+# guard :spork, :cucumber_env => { 'RAILS_ENV' => 'test' }, :rspec_env => { 'RAILS_ENV' => 'test' } do
+#   watch('config/application.rb')
+#   watch('config/environment.rb')
+#   watch('config/environments/test.rb')
+#   watch(%r{^config/initializers/.+\.rb$})
+#   watch('Gemfile')
+#   watch('Gemfile.lock')
+#   watch('spec/spec_helper.rb') { :rspec }
+#   watch(%r{^spec/support/.+\.rb$}) { :rspec }
+#   watch('test/test_helper.rb') { :test }
+#   watch(%r{features/support/}) { :cucumber }
+# end
+
+# guard :rspec, :cli => "--drb" do
+#   watch(%r{^spec/.+_spec\.rb$})
+#   watch(%r{^lib/(.+)\.rb$})     { |m| "spec/lib/#{m[1]}_spec.rb" }
+#   watch('spec/spec_helper.rb')  { "spec" }
+#
+#   # Rails example
+#   watch(%r{^app/(.+)\.rb$})                           { |m| "spec/#{m[1]}_spec.rb" }
+#   watch(%r{^app/(.*)(\.erb|\.haml)$})                 { |m| "spec/#{m[1]}#{m[2]}_spec.rb" }
+#   watch(%r{^app/controllers/(.+)_(controller)\.rb$})  { |m| ["spec/routing/#{m[1]}_routing_spec.rb", "spec/#{m[2]}s/#{m[1]}_#{m[2]}_spec.rb", "spec/acceptance/#{m[1]}_spec.rb"] }
+#   watch(%r{^spec/support/(.+)\.rb$})                  { "spec" }
+#   watch('config/routes.rb')                           { "spec/routing" }
+#   watch('app/controllers/application_controller.rb')  { "spec/controllers" }
+#
+#   # Capybara request specs
+#   watch(%r{^app/views/(.+)/.*\.(erb|haml)$})          { |m| "spec/requests/#{m[1]}_spec.rb" }
+#
+#   # Turnip features and steps
+#   watch(%r{^spec/acceptance/(.+)\.feature$})
+#   watch(%r{^spec/acceptance/steps/(.+)_steps\.rb$})   { |m| Dir[File.join("**/#{m[1]}.feature")][0] || 'spec/acceptance' }
+# end
+#
+# guard :cucumber do # , :cli => "--drb" do
+#   watch(%r{^features/.+\.feature$})
+#   watch(%r{^features/support/.+$})          { 'features' }
+#   watch(%r{^features/step_definitions/(.+)_steps\.rb$}) { |m| Dir[File.join("**/#{m[1]}.feature")][0] || 'features' }
+# end
+
+guard :test, :all_on_start => false, :all_after_pass => false do # , :drb => true do
+  watch(%r{^lib/(.+)\.rb$})     { |m| "test/#{m[1]}_test.rb" }
+  watch(%r{^test/.+_test\.rb$})
+  watch('test/test_helper.rb')  { "test" }
+
+  # Rails example
+  watch(%r{^app/models/(.+)\.rb$})                   { |m| "test/unit/#{m[1]}_test.rb" }
+  watch(%r{^app/controllers/(.+)\.rb$})              { |m| "test/functional/#{m[1]}_test.rb" }
+  watch(%r{^app/views/.+\.rb$})                      { "test/integration" }
+  watch('app/controllers/application_controller.rb') { ["test/functional", "test/integration"] }
+end
diff --git a/app/helpers/attachments_helper.rb b/app/helpers/attachments_helper.rb
index a3220f49f1..be0c3dabac 100644
--- a/app/helpers/attachments_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/attachments_helper.rb
@@ -34,9 +34,8 @@ module AttachmentsHelper
     end
 
     begin
-      Iconv.conv('UTF-8//IGNORE', 'UTF-8', str + '  ')[0..-3]
-    rescue Iconv::InvalidEncoding
-      # "UTF-8//IGNORE" is not supported on some OS
+      (str + '  ').encode("UTF-8", :invalid => :replace, :undef => :replace, :replace => "?")[0..-3]
+    rescue Encoding::InvalidByteSequenceError, Encoding::UndefinedConversionError
       str
     end
   end
diff --git a/app/helpers/issues_helper.rb b/app/helpers/issues_helper.rb
index ad484f6a33..153d21f9a9 100644
--- a/app/helpers/issues_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/issues_helper.rb
@@ -158,7 +158,6 @@ module IssuesHelper
   end
 
   def issues_to_csv(issues, project = nil)
-    ic = Iconv.new(l(:general_csv_encoding), 'UTF-8')
     decimal_separator = l(:general_csv_decimal_separator)
     export = FCSV.generate(:col_sep => l(:general_csv_separator)) do |csv|
       # csv header fields
@@ -186,7 +185,7 @@ module IssuesHelper
       custom_fields.each {|f| headers << f.name}
       # Description in the last column
       headers << l(:field_description)
-      csv << headers.collect {|c| begin; ic.iconv(c.to_s); rescue; c.to_s; end }
+      csv << headers.collect {|c| begin; c.to_s.encode(l(:general_csv_encoding), 'UTF-8'); rescue; c.to_s; end }
       # csv lines
       issues.each do |issue|
         fields = [issue.id,
@@ -209,7 +208,7 @@ module IssuesHelper
                   ]
         custom_fields.each {|f| fields << show_value(issue.custom_value_for(f)) }
         fields << issue.description
-        csv << fields.collect {|c| begin; ic.iconv(c.to_s); rescue; c.to_s; end }
+        csv << fields.collect {|c| begin; c.to_s.encode(l(:general_csv_encoding), 'UTF-8'); rescue; c.to_s; end }
       end
     end
     export
diff --git a/app/helpers/repositories_helper.rb b/app/helpers/repositories_helper.rb
index c6b92f84a7..388304af2b 100644
--- a/app/helpers/repositories_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/repositories_helper.rb
@@ -12,8 +12,6 @@
 # See doc/COPYRIGHT.rdoc for more details.
 #++
 
-require 'iconv'
-
 module RepositoriesHelper
   def format_revision(revision)
     if revision.respond_to? :format_identifier
@@ -135,8 +133,8 @@ module RepositoriesHelper
     @encodings ||= Setting.repositories_encodings.split(',').collect(&:strip)
     @encodings.each do |encoding|
       begin
-        return Iconv.conv('UTF-8', encoding, str)
-      rescue Iconv::Failure
+        return str.to_s.encode('UTF-8', encoding)
+      rescue Encoding::InvalidByteSequenceError, Encoding::UndefinedConversionError
         # do nothing here and try the next encoding
       end
     end
@@ -155,9 +153,8 @@ module RepositoriesHelper
     else
       # removes invalid UTF8 sequences
       begin
-        str = Iconv.conv('UTF-8//IGNORE', 'UTF-8', str + '  ')[0..-3]
-      rescue Iconv::InvalidEncoding
-        # "UTF-8//IGNORE" is not supported on some OS
+        (str + '  ').encode("UTF-8", :invalid => :replace, :undef => :replace, :replace => "?")[0..-3]
+      rescue Encoding::InvalidByteSequenceError, Encoding::UndefinedConversionError
       end
     end
     str
diff --git a/app/helpers/timelog_helper.rb b/app/helpers/timelog_helper.rb
index f1cc4f049f..9fd7faa735 100644
--- a/app/helpers/timelog_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/timelog_helper.rb
@@ -81,7 +81,6 @@ module TimelogHelper
   end
 
   def entries_to_csv(entries)
-    ic = Iconv.new(l(:general_csv_encoding), 'UTF-8')
     decimal_separator = l(:general_csv_decimal_separator)
     custom_fields = TimeEntryCustomField.find(:all)
     export = FCSV.generate(:col_sep => l(:general_csv_separator)) do |csv|
@@ -99,7 +98,7 @@ module TimelogHelper
       # Export custom fields
       headers += custom_fields.collect(&:name)
 
-      csv << headers.collect {|c| begin; ic.iconv(c.to_s); rescue; c.to_s; end }
+      csv << headers.collect {|c| begin; c.to_s.encode(l(:general_csv_encoding), 'UTF-8'); rescue; c.to_s; end }
       # csv lines
       entries.each do |entry|
         fields = [format_date(entry.spent_on),
@@ -114,7 +113,7 @@ module TimelogHelper
                   ]
         fields += custom_fields.collect {|f| show_value(entry.custom_value_for(f)) }
 
-        csv << fields.collect {|c| begin; ic.iconv(c.to_s); rescue; c.to_s; end }
+        csv << fields.collect {|c| begin; c.to_s.encode(l(:general_csv_encoding), 'UTF-8'); rescue; c.to_s; end }
       end
     end
     export
@@ -181,8 +180,7 @@ module TimelogHelper
   end
 
   def to_utf8_for_timelogs(s)
-    @ic ||= Iconv.new(l(:general_csv_encoding), 'UTF-8')
-    begin; @ic.iconv(s.to_s); rescue; s.to_s; end
+    begin; s.to_s.encode(l(:general_csv_encoding), 'UTF-8'); rescue; s.to_s; end
   end
 
   def polymorphic_time_entries_path(object)
diff --git a/app/models/changeset.rb b/app/models/changeset.rb
index bd97e3a54d..08161d4a06 100644
--- a/app/models/changeset.rb
+++ b/app/models/changeset.rb
@@ -12,8 +12,6 @@
 # See doc/COPYRIGHT.rdoc for more details.
 #++
 
-require 'iconv'
-
 class Changeset < ActiveRecord::Base
   belongs_to :repository
   belongs_to :user
@@ -286,8 +284,8 @@ class Changeset < ActiveRecord::Base
 
       txtar = ""
       begin
-        txtar += Iconv.new('UTF-8', normalized_encoding).iconv(str)
-      rescue Iconv::IllegalSequence
+        txtar += str.encode('UTF-8', normalized_encoding)
+      rescue Encoding::InvalidByteSequenceError, Encoding::UndefinedConversionError
         txtar += $!.success
         str = '?' + $!.failed[1,$!.failed.length]
         retry
diff --git a/app/models/ldap_auth_source.rb b/app/models/ldap_auth_source.rb
index 38c485a40f..4a7e446ef6 100644
--- a/app/models/ldap_auth_source.rb
+++ b/app/models/ldap_auth_source.rb
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@
 #++
 
 require 'net/ldap'
-require 'iconv'
 
 class LdapAuthSource < AuthSource
   validates_presence_of :host, :port, :attr_login
diff --git a/config/database.yml.example b/config/database.yml.example
index 3630273896..548a4510fe 100644
--- a/config/database.yml.example
+++ b/config/database.yml.example
@@ -29,10 +29,11 @@ test:
 
 test_pgsql:
   adapter: postgresql
+  encoding: unicode
   database: chiliproject_test
-  host: localhost
-  username: postgres
-  password: "postgres"
+  pool: 5
+  username: chiliproject
+  password:
 
 test_sqlite3:
   adapter: sqlite3
diff --git a/config/initializers/bullet.rb b/config/initializers/bullet.rb
index 6521eba5c1..50e8e13bd6 100644
--- a/config/initializers/bullet.rb
+++ b/config/initializers/bullet.rb
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ if defined?(Bullet) && Rails.env.development?
     config.after_initialize do
       Bullet.enable = true
       # Bullet.alert = true
-      Bullet.bullet_logger = true
+      Bullet.bullet_logger = true if File.directory?('log') # fails if run from an engine
       Bullet.console = true
       # Bullet.growl = true
       Bullet.rails_logger = true
diff --git a/lib/redmine/export/pdf.rb b/lib/redmine/export/pdf.rb
index 4fc04acf1c..6451738028 100644
--- a/lib/redmine/export/pdf.rb
+++ b/lib/redmine/export/pdf.rb
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@
 # See doc/COPYRIGHT.rdoc for more details.
 #++
 
-require 'iconv'
 require 'rfpdf/fpdf'
 require 'fpdf/chinese'
 require 'fpdf/japanese'
@@ -43,7 +42,7 @@ module Redmine
 
         def SetTitle(txt)
           txt = begin
-            utf16txt = Iconv.conv('UTF-16BE', 'UTF-8', txt)
+            utf16txt = txt.to_s.encode('UTF-16BE', 'UTF-8')
             hextxt = "<FEFF"  # FEFF is BOM
             hextxt << utf16txt.unpack("C*").map {|x| sprintf("%02X",x) }.join
             hextxt << ">"
@@ -118,7 +117,7 @@ module Redmine
 
         def SetTitle(txt)
           txt = begin
-            utf16txt = Iconv.conv('UTF-16BE', 'UTF-8', txt)
+            utf16txt = txt.to_s.encode('UTF-16BE', 'UTF-8')
             hextxt = "<FEFF"  # FEFF is BOM
             hextxt << utf16txt.unpack("C*").map {|x| sprintf("%02X",x) }.join
             hextxt << ">"
@@ -138,14 +137,13 @@ module Redmine
         end
 
         def fix_text_encoding(txt)
-          @ic ||= Iconv.new(l(:general_pdf_encoding), 'UTF-8')
           # these quotation marks are not correctly rendered in the pdf
           txt = txt.gsub(/[“�]/, '"') if txt
           txt = begin
             # 0x5c char handling
             txtar = txt.split('\\')
             txtar << '' if txt[-1] == ?\\
-            txtar.collect {|x| @ic.iconv(x)}.join('\\').gsub(/\\/, "\\\\\\\\")
+            txtar.collect {|x| x.encode(l(:general_pdf_encoding), 'UTF-8')}.join('\\').gsub(/\\/, "\\\\\\\\")
           rescue
             txt
           end || ''
diff --git a/lib/redmine/scm/adapters/abstract_adapter.rb b/lib/redmine/scm/adapters/abstract_adapter.rb
index 84a1835753..2c482f7658 100644
--- a/lib/redmine/scm/adapters/abstract_adapter.rb
+++ b/lib/redmine/scm/adapters/abstract_adapter.rb
@@ -225,12 +225,12 @@ module Redmine
           self.class.strip_credential(cmd)
         end
 
-        def scm_iconv(to, from, str)
+        def scm_encode(to, from, str)
           return nil if str.nil?
           return str if to == from
           begin
-            Iconv.conv(to, from, str)
-          rescue Iconv::Failure => err
+            str.to_s.encode(to, from)
+          rescue Encoding::InvalidByteSequenceError, Encoding::UndefinedConversionError => err
             logger.error("failed to convert from #{from} to #{to}. #{err}")
             nil
           end
diff --git a/lib/redmine/scm/adapters/filesystem_adapter.rb b/lib/redmine/scm/adapters/filesystem_adapter.rb
index ba7709a454..986cc3bdc6 100644
--- a/lib/redmine/scm/adapters/filesystem_adapter.rb
+++ b/lib/redmine/scm/adapters/filesystem_adapter.rb
@@ -51,23 +51,23 @@ module Redmine
         def entries(path="", identifier=nil)
           entries = Entries.new
           trgt_utf8 = target(path)
-          trgt = scm_iconv(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', trgt_utf8)
+          trgt = scm_encode(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', trgt_utf8)
           Dir.new(trgt).each do |e1|
-            e_utf8 = scm_iconv('UTF-8', @path_encoding, e1)
+            e_utf8 = scm_encode('UTF-8', @path_encoding, e1)
             next if e_utf8.blank?
             relative_path_utf8 = format_path_ends(
                 (format_path_ends(path,false,true) + e_utf8),false,false)
             t1_utf8 = target(relative_path_utf8)
-            t1 = scm_iconv(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', t1_utf8)
-            relative_path = scm_iconv(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', relative_path_utf8)
-            e1 = scm_iconv(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', e_utf8)
+            t1 = scm_encode(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', t1_utf8)
+            relative_path = scm_encode(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', relative_path_utf8)
+            e1 = scm_encode(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', e_utf8)
             if File.exist?(t1) and # paranoid test
                   %w{file directory}.include?(File.ftype(t1)) and # avoid special types
                   not File.basename(e1).match(/^\.+$/) # avoid . and ..
               p1         = File.readable?(t1) ? relative_path : ""
-              utf_8_path = scm_iconv('UTF-8', @path_encoding, p1)
+              utf_8_path = scm_encode('UTF-8', @path_encoding, p1)
               entries <<
-                Entry.new({ :name => scm_iconv('UTF-8', @path_encoding, File.basename(e1)),
+                Entry.new({ :name => scm_encode('UTF-8', @path_encoding, File.basename(e1)),
                           # below : list unreadable files, but dont link them.
                           :path => utf_8_path,
                           :kind => (File.directory?(t1) ? 'dir' : 'file'),
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ module Redmine
         end
 
         def cat(path, identifier=nil)
-          p = scm_iconv(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', target(path))
+          p = scm_encode(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', target(path))
           File.new(p, "rb").read
         rescue  => err
           logger.error "scm: filesystem: error: #{err.message}"
diff --git a/lib/redmine/scm/adapters/git_adapter.rb b/lib/redmine/scm/adapters/git_adapter.rb
index 3165beabcd..2872194e36 100644
--- a/lib/redmine/scm/adapters/git_adapter.rb
+++ b/lib/redmine/scm/adapters/git_adapter.rb
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ module Redmine
 
         def entries(path=nil, identifier=nil)
           path ||= ''
-          p = scm_iconv(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', path)
+          p = scm_encode(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', path)
           entries = Entries.new
           cmd_args = %w|ls-tree -l|
           cmd_args << "HEAD:#{p}"          if identifier.nil?
@@ -122,8 +122,8 @@ module Redmine
                   name.force_encoding(@path_encoding)
                 end
                 full_path = p.empty? ? name : "#{p}/#{name}"
-                n      = scm_iconv('UTF-8', @path_encoding, name)
-                full_p = scm_iconv('UTF-8', @path_encoding, full_path)
+                n      = scm_encode('UTF-8', @path_encoding, name)
+                full_p = scm_encode('UTF-8', @path_encoding, full_path)
                 entries << Entry.new({:name => n,
                  :path => full_p,
                  :kind => (type == "tree") ? 'dir' : 'file',
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ module Redmine
           from_to << "#{identifier_to}" if identifier_to
           cmd_args << from_to if !from_to.empty?
           cmd_args << "--since=#{options[:since].strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")}" if options[:since]
-          cmd_args << "--" << scm_iconv(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', path) if path && !path.empty?
+          cmd_args << "--" << scm_encode(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', path) if path && !path.empty?
 
           scm_cmd *cmd_args do |io|
             files=[]
@@ -223,14 +223,14 @@ module Redmine
                 parsing_descr = 2
                 fileaction    = $1
                 filepath      = $2
-                p = scm_iconv('UTF-8', @path_encoding, filepath)
+                p = scm_encode('UTF-8', @path_encoding, filepath)
                 files << {:action => fileaction, :path => p}
               elsif (parsing_descr == 1 || parsing_descr == 2) \
                   && line =~ /^:\d+\s+\d+\s+[0-9a-f.]+\s+[0-9a-f.]+\s+(\w)\d+\s+(\S+)\t(.+)$/
                 parsing_descr = 2
                 fileaction    = $1
                 filepath      = $3
-                p = scm_iconv('UTF-8', @path_encoding, filepath)
+                p = scm_encode('UTF-8', @path_encoding, filepath)
                 files << {:action => fileaction, :path => p}
               elsif (parsing_descr == 1) && line.chomp.to_s == ""
                 parsing_descr = 2
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ module Redmine
           else
             cmd_args << "show" << "--no-color" << identifier_from
           end
-          cmd_args << "--" <<  scm_iconv(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', path) unless path.empty?
+          cmd_args << "--" <<  scm_encode(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', path) unless path.empty?
           diff = []
           scm_cmd *cmd_args do |io|
             io.each_line do |line|
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ module Redmine
         def annotate(path, identifier=nil)
           identifier = 'HEAD' if identifier.blank?
           cmd_args = %w|blame|
-          cmd_args << "-p" << identifier << "--" <<  scm_iconv(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', path)
+          cmd_args << "-p" << identifier << "--" <<  scm_encode(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', path)
           blame = Annotate.new
           content = nil
           scm_cmd(*cmd_args) { |io| io.binmode; content = io.read }
@@ -321,7 +321,7 @@ module Redmine
             identifier = 'HEAD'
           end
           cmd_args = %w|show --no-color|
-          cmd_args << "#{identifier}:#{scm_iconv(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', path)}"
+          cmd_args << "#{identifier}:#{scm_encode(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', path)}"
           cat = nil
           scm_cmd(*cmd_args) do |io|
             io.binmode
diff --git a/lib/redmine/scm/adapters/mercurial_adapter.rb b/lib/redmine/scm/adapters/mercurial_adapter.rb
index c6c7efa1a3..bb090e3876 100644
--- a/lib/redmine/scm/adapters/mercurial_adapter.rb
+++ b/lib/redmine/scm/adapters/mercurial_adapter.rb
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ module Redmine
         private :summary
 
         def entries(path=nil, identifier=nil)
-          p1 = scm_iconv(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', path)
+          p1 = scm_encode(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', path)
           manifest = hg('rhmanifest', '-r', CGI.escape(hgrev(identifier)),
                         CGI.escape(without_leading_slash(p1.to_s))) do |io|
             output = io.read
@@ -146,13 +146,13 @@ module Redmine
 
           entries = Entries.new
           as_ary(manifest['dir']).each do |e|
-            n = scm_iconv('UTF-8', @path_encoding, CGI.unescape(e['name']))
+            n = scm_encode('UTF-8', @path_encoding, CGI.unescape(e['name']))
             p = "#{path_prefix}#{n}"
             entries << Entry.new(:name => n, :path => p, :kind => 'dir')
           end
 
           as_ary(manifest['file']).each do |e|
-            n = scm_iconv('UTF-8', @path_encoding, CGI.unescape(e['name']))
+            n = scm_encode('UTF-8', @path_encoding, CGI.unescape(e['name']))
             p = "#{path_prefix}#{n}"
             lr = Revision.new(:revision => e['revision'], :scmid => e['node'],
                               :identifier => e['node'],
@@ -194,13 +194,13 @@ module Redmine
           as_ary(log['logentry']).each do |le|
             cpalist = as_ary(le['paths']['path-copied']).map do |e|
               [e['__content__'], e['copyfrom-path']].map do |s|
-                scm_iconv('UTF-8', @path_encoding, CGI.unescape(s))
+                scm_encode('UTF-8', @path_encoding, CGI.unescape(s))
               end
             end
             cpmap = Hash[*cpalist.flatten]
 
             paths = as_ary(le['paths']['path']).map do |e|
-              p = scm_iconv('UTF-8', @path_encoding, CGI.unescape(e['__content__']) )
+              p = scm_encode('UTF-8', @path_encoding, CGI.unescape(e['__content__']) )
               {:action => e['action'], :path => with_leading_slash(p),
                :from_path => (cpmap.member?(p) ? with_leading_slash(cpmap[p]) : nil),
                :from_revision => (cpmap.member?(p) ? le['revision'] : nil)}
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ module Redmine
             hg_args << '-c' << hgrev(identifier_from)
           end
           unless path.blank?
-            p = scm_iconv(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', path)
+            p = scm_encode(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', path)
             hg_args << CGI.escape(hgtarget(p))
           end
           diff = []
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ module Redmine
         end
 
         def cat(path, identifier=nil)
-          p = CGI.escape(scm_iconv(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', path))
+          p = CGI.escape(scm_encode(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', path))
           hg 'rhcat', '-r', CGI.escape(hgrev(identifier)), hgtarget(p) do |io|
             io.binmode
             io.read
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ module Redmine
         end
 
         def annotate(path, identifier=nil)
-          p = CGI.escape(scm_iconv(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', path))
+          p = CGI.escape(scm_encode(@path_encoding, 'UTF-8', path))
           blame = Annotate.new
           hg 'rhannotate', '-ncu', '-r', CGI.escape(hgrev(identifier)), hgtarget(p) do |io|
             io.each_line do |line|
diff --git a/lib/tasks/migrate_from_mantis.rake b/lib/tasks/migrate_from_mantis.rake
index 80491f3a22..9ed3670029 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/migrate_from_mantis.rake
+++ b/lib/tasks/migrate_from_mantis.rake
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 desc 'Mantis migration script'
 
 require 'active_record'
-require 'iconv'
 require 'pp'
 
 namespace :redmine do
@@ -439,9 +438,9 @@ task :migrate_from_mantis => :environment do
     end
 
     def self.encoding(charset)
-      @ic = Iconv.new('UTF-8', charset)
-    rescue Iconv::InvalidEncoding
-      return false
+      ''.encode('UTF-8', @encoding = charset)
+    rescue Encoding::ConverterNotFoundError
+      false
     end
 
     def self.establish_connection(params)
@@ -453,7 +452,8 @@ task :migrate_from_mantis => :environment do
     end
 
     def self.encode(text)
-      @ic.iconv text
+      @encoding ||= 'UTF-8'
+      text.encode('UTF-8', @encoding)
     rescue
       text
     end
diff --git a/lib/tasks/migrate_from_trac.rake b/lib/tasks/migrate_from_trac.rake
index 62c7f8df09..31c8bb0812 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/migrate_from_trac.rake
+++ b/lib/tasks/migrate_from_trac.rake
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
 
 
 require 'active_record'
-require 'iconv'
 require 'pp'
 
 namespace :redmine do
@@ -597,10 +596,10 @@ namespace :redmine do
       end
 
       def self.encoding(charset)
-        @ic = Iconv.new('UTF-8', charset)
-      rescue Iconv::InvalidEncoding
+        ''.encode('UTF-8', @encoding = charset)
+      rescue Encoding::ConverterNotFoundError
         puts "Invalid encoding!"
-        return false
+        false
       end
 
       def self.set_trac_directory(path)
@@ -709,7 +708,8 @@ namespace :redmine do
 
     private
       def self.encode(text)
-        @ic.iconv text
+        @encoding ||= 'UTF-8'
+        text.encode('UTF-8', @encoding)
       rescue
         text
       end
diff --git a/spec/models/project_spec.rb b/spec/models/project_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..73a0fa76d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/models/project_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+describe Project do
+  describe Project::STATUS_ACTIVE do
+    it "equals 1" do
+      # spec that STATUS_ACTIVE has the correct value
+      Project::STATUS_ACTIVE.should == 1
+    end
+  end
+  
+  describe "#active?" do
+    before do
+      # stub out the actual value of the constant
+      stub_const('Project::STATUS_ACTIVE', 42)
+    end
+    
+    it "is active when :status equals STATUS_ACTIVE" do
+      project = FactoryGirl.create :project, :status => 42
+      project.should be_active
+    end
+
+    it "is not active when :status doesn't equal STATUS_ACTIVE" do
+      project = FactoryGirl.create :project, :status => 99
+      project.should_not be_active
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index c0838323f0..25dcc69f67 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -1,39 +1,89 @@
-# This file is copied to spec/ when you run 'rails generate rspec:install'
-ENV["RAILS_ENV"] ||= 'test'
-require File.expand_path("../../config/environment", __FILE__)
-require 'rspec/rails'
-require 'rspec/autorun'
-require 'capybara/rails'
-
-# Requires supporting ruby files with custom matchers and macros, etc,
-# in spec/support/ and its subdirectories.
-Dir[Rails.root.join("spec/support/**/*.rb")].each {|f| require f}
-
-RSpec.configure do |config|
-  # ## Mock Framework
-  #
-  # If you prefer to use mocha, flexmock or RR, uncomment the appropriate line:
-  #
-  # config.mock_with :mocha
-  # config.mock_with :flexmock
-  # config.mock_with :rr
-
-  # Remove this line if you're not using ActiveRecord or ActiveRecord fixtures
-  config.fixture_path = "#{::Rails.root}/spec/fixtures"
-
-  # If you're not using ActiveRecord, or you'd prefer not to run each of your
-  # examples within a transaction, remove the following line or assign false
-  # instead of true.
-  config.use_transactional_fixtures = true
-
-  # If true, the base class of anonymous controllers will be inferred
-  # automatically. This will be the default behavior in future versions of
-  # rspec-rails.
-  config.infer_base_class_for_anonymous_controllers = false
-
-  # Run specs in random order to surface order dependencies. If you find an
-  # order dependency and want to debug it, you can fix the order by providing
-  # the seed, which is printed after each run.
-  #     --seed 1234
-  config.order = "random"
+# --- Instructions ---
+# Sort the contents of this file into a Spork.prefork and a Spork.each_run
+# block.
+#
+# The Spork.prefork block is run only once when the spork server is started.
+# You typically want to place most of your (slow) initializer code in here, in
+# particular, require'ing any 3rd-party gems that you don't normally modify
+# during development.
+#
+# The Spork.each_run block is run each time you run your specs.  In case you
+# need to load files that tend to change during development, require them here.
+# With Rails, your application modules are loaded automatically, so sometimes
+# this block can remain empty.
+#
+# Note: You can modify files loaded *from* the Spork.each_run block without
+# restarting the spork server.  However, this file itself will not be reloaded,
+# so if you change any of the code inside the each_run block, you still need to
+# restart the server.  In general, if you have non-trivial code in this file,
+# it's advisable to move it into a separate file so you can easily edit it
+# without restarting spork.  (For example, with RSpec, you could move
+# non-trivial code into a file spec/support/my_helper.rb, making sure that the
+# spec/support/* files are require'd from inside the each_run block.)
+#
+# Any code that is left outside the two blocks will be run during preforking
+# *and* during each_run -- that's probably not what you want.
+#
+# These instructions should self-destruct in 10 seconds.  If they don't, feel
+# free to delete them.
+
+require 'rubygems'
+require 'spork'
+
+#uncomment the following line to use spork with the debugger
+#require 'spork/ext/ruby-debug'
+
+Spork.prefork do
+  # Loading more in this block will cause your tests to run faster. However,
+  # if you change any configuration or code from libraries loaded here, you'll
+  # need to restart spork for it take effect.
+
+  # This file is copied to spec/ when you run 'rails generate rspec:install'
+  ENV["RAILS_ENV"] ||= 'test'
+  require File.expand_path("../../config/environment", __FILE__)
+  require 'rspec/rails'
+  require 'rspec/autorun'
+  require 'capybara/rails'
+
+  # Requires supporting ruby files with custom matchers and macros, etc,
+  # in spec/support/ and its subdirectories.
+  Dir[Rails.root.join("spec/support/**/*.rb")].each {|f| require f}
+
+  RSpec.configure do |config|
+    # ## Mock Framework
+    #
+    # If you prefer to use mocha, flexmock or RR, uncomment the appropriate line:
+    #
+    # config.mock_with :mocha
+    # config.mock_with :flexmock
+    # config.mock_with :rr
+
+    # Remove this line if you're not using ActiveRecord or ActiveRecord fixtures
+    config.fixture_path = "#{::Rails.root}/spec/fixtures"
+
+    # If you're not using ActiveRecord, or you'd prefer not to run each of your
+    # examples within a transaction, remove the following line or assign false
+    # instead of true.
+    config.use_transactional_fixtures = true
+
+    # If true, the base class of anonymous controllers will be inferred
+    # automatically. This will be the default behavior in future versions of
+    # rspec-rails.
+    config.infer_base_class_for_anonymous_controllers = false
+
+    # Run specs in random order to surface order dependencies. If you find an
+    # order dependency and want to debug it, you can fix the order by providing
+    # the seed, which is printed after each run.
+    #     --seed 1234
+    config.order = "random"
+
+    config.treat_symbols_as_metadata_keys_with_true_values = true
+    config.filter_run :focus => true
+    config.run_all_when_everything_filtered = true
+  end
+end
+
+Spork.each_run do
+  # This code will be run each time you run your specs.
+  FactoryGirl.reload
 end