Works now, thank you. I rebuilt from source, ran from the build directory, all worked fine. I could create a new configuration, configure all devices and save the changes. I could then relaunch that app, and it still worked (with changes). I rebooted the laptop where it runs, reconnected the devices and they all came up like they should.
I also did a "clean" and "install" and that worked as well.
Thanks, it doesn't look like a really easy fix, the nuance of the Blocking vs. Non-Blocking couldn't have been an easy one to figure out.