diff --git a/doc/src/min_style.txt b/doc/src/min_style.txt
index b1a9da997d..f8c05d5483 100644
--- a/doc/src/min_style.txt
+++ b/doc/src/min_style.txt
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ min_style command :h3
 
 min_style style :pre
 
-style = {cg} or {hftn} or {sd} or {quickmin} or {fire} or {spinmin} :ul
+style = {cg} or {hftn} or {sd} or {quickmin} or {fire} or {spin} :ul
 
 [Examples:]
 
@@ -62,18 +62,14 @@ the velocity non-parallel to the current force vector.  The velocity
 of each atom is initialized to 0.0 by this style, at the beginning of
 a minimization.
 
-Style {spinmin} is a damped spin dynamics with a variable 
+Style {spin} is a damped spin dynamics with a variable 
 timestep as described in "(Tranchida)"_#Tranchida.
-The value of the fictitious Gilbert damping and of the dividing
-factor for the adaptive timestep can be modified by the
-{alpha_damp} and {discret_factor} options respectively. 
-Those options can be defined using the "min_modify"_min_modify.html 
-command.
+See the "min/spin"_min_spin.html doc page for more information.
 
 Either the {quickmin} and {fire} styles are useful in the context of
 nudged elastic band (NEB) calculations via the "neb"_neb.html command.
 
-The {spinmin} style is useful in the context of geodesic nudged 
+The {spin} style is useful in the context of geodesic nudged 
 elastic band (GNEB) calculations via the "neb/spin"_neb_spin.html
 command.
 
diff --git a/examples/SPIN/gneb/in.gneb.iron b/examples/SPIN/gneb/in.gneb.iron
index 7aab0c04c3..a8028392a1 100644
--- a/examples/SPIN/gneb/in.gneb.iron
+++ b/examples/SPIN/gneb/in.gneb.iron
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ variable	u universe 1 2 3 4
 #dump 		1 all custom 100 dump.lammpstrj type x y z c_outsp[1] c_outsp[2] c_outsp[3] c_outsp[4] c_outsp[5] c_outsp[6] c_outsp[7]
 dump 		1 all custom 200 dump.$u type x y z c_outsp[1] c_outsp[2] c_outsp[3]
 
-min_style	spinmin
+min_style	spin
 min_modify 	alpha_damp 1.0 discret_factor 10.0
 neb/spin	1.0e-12 1.0e-12 50000 50000 10 final final.iron_spin
 #neb/spin	1.0e-6 1.0e-6 1000 10 10 final final.iron_spin
diff --git a/examples/SPIN/spinmin/in.spinmin.bfo b/examples/SPIN/spinmin/in.spinmin.bfo
index a00af8833c..5b678c8a4d 100644
--- a/examples/SPIN/spinmin/in.spinmin.bfo
+++ b/examples/SPIN/spinmin/in.spinmin.bfo
@@ -52,6 +52,6 @@ thermo_modify   format float %20.15g
 compute 	outsp all property/atom spx spy spz sp fmx fmy fmz
 dump 		1 all custom 50 dump.lammpstrj type x y z c_outsp[1] c_outsp[2] c_outsp[3] c_outsp[4] c_outsp[5] c_outsp[6] c_outsp[7]
 
-min_style	spinmin
+min_style	spin
 min_modify 	alpha_damp 1.0 discret_factor 10.0
 minimize        0.0 0.0 10000 1000
diff --git a/examples/SPIN/spinmin/in.spinmin.iron b/examples/SPIN/spinmin/in.spinmin.iron
index 5a15082122..b87a811cc7 100644
--- a/examples/SPIN/spinmin/in.spinmin.iron
+++ b/examples/SPIN/spinmin/in.spinmin.iron
@@ -52,6 +52,6 @@ thermo_modify   format float %20.15g
 compute 	outsp all property/atom spx spy spz sp fmx fmy fmz
 dump 		1 all custom 100 dump.lammpstrj type x y z c_outsp[1] c_outsp[2] c_outsp[3] c_outsp[4] c_outsp[5] c_outsp[6] c_outsp[7]
 
-min_style	spinmin
+min_style	spin
 min_modify 	alpha_damp 1.0 discret_factor 10.0
 minimize        1.0e-10 1.0e-10 100000 1000
diff --git a/src/SPIN/README b/src/SPIN/README
index e371e39767..c3c02b1445 100644
--- a/src/SPIN/README
+++ b/src/SPIN/README
@@ -8,13 +8,16 @@ atom in the system
 * integrating the equations of motion for the coupled spin-lattice system
 * implementing magnetic pair interactions and magnetic forces
 * thermostating and applying a transverse damping to the magnetic spins
+* minimizing spin configurations with an adaptive timestep scheme
+* performing geodesic NEB calculations
 * computing and outputing magnetic quantities
 
 The different options provided by this package are explained in the 
 LAMMPS documentation.
 
 Once you have successfully built LAMMPS with this package, you can test 
-it using one of the input files provided from the examples/SPIN dir:
+it using one of the input files provided from the examples/SPIN dir. 
+For example:
 
 ./lmp_serial < lammps/examples/SPIN/cobalt_hcp/in.spin.cobalt_hcp
 
diff --git a/src/REPLICA/fix_neb_spin.cpp b/src/SPIN/fix_neb_spin.cpp
similarity index 100%
rename from src/REPLICA/fix_neb_spin.cpp
rename to src/SPIN/fix_neb_spin.cpp
diff --git a/src/REPLICA/fix_neb_spin.h b/src/SPIN/fix_neb_spin.h
similarity index 100%
rename from src/REPLICA/fix_neb_spin.h
rename to src/SPIN/fix_neb_spin.h
diff --git a/src/SPIN/fix_precession_spin.cpp b/src/SPIN/fix_precession_spin.cpp
index 433a260e83..6ccb692033 100644
--- a/src/SPIN/fix_precession_spin.cpp
+++ b/src/SPIN/fix_precession_spin.cpp
@@ -230,8 +230,8 @@ void FixPrecessionSpin::compute_single_precession(int i, double spi[3], double f
 void FixPrecessionSpin::compute_zeeman(int i, double fmi[3])
 {
   double **sp = atom->sp;
-  fmi[0] += sp[i][0]*hx;
-  fmi[1] += sp[i][1]*hy;
+  fmi[0] += sp[i][3]*hx;
+  fmi[1] += sp[i][3]*hy;
   fmi[2] += sp[i][3]*hz;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/SPIN/min_spinmin.cpp b/src/SPIN/min_spin.cpp
similarity index 90%
rename from src/SPIN/min_spinmin.cpp
rename to src/SPIN/min_spin.cpp
index 808a5359bc..ac8f22186e 100644
--- a/src/SPIN/min_spinmin.cpp
+++ b/src/SPIN/min_spin.cpp
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 
 #include <mpi.h>
 #include <cmath>
-#include "min_spinmin.h"
+#include "min_spin.h"
 #include "universe.h"
 #include "atom.h"
 #include "force.h"
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@
 #include "output.h"
 #include "timer.h"
 #include "error.h"
-
 #include <cstdlib>
 #include <cstring>
 #include "modify.h"
@@ -46,11 +45,11 @@ using namespace MathConst;
 
 /* ---------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 
-MinSpinMin::MinSpinMin(LAMMPS *lmp) : Min(lmp) {}
+MinSpin::MinSpin(LAMMPS *lmp) : Min(lmp) {}
 
 /* ---------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 
-void MinSpinMin::init()
+void MinSpin::init()
 {
   alpha_damp = 1.0;
   discret_factor = 10.0;
@@ -63,21 +62,43 @@ void MinSpinMin::init()
 
 /* ---------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 
-void MinSpinMin::setup_style()
+void MinSpin::setup_style()
 {
   double **v = atom->v;
   int nlocal = atom->nlocal;
 
+  // check if the atom/spin style is defined
+
+  if (!atom->sp_flag)
+    error->all(FLERR,"min/spin requires atom/spin style");
+
   for (int i = 0; i < nlocal; i++)
     v[i][0] = v[i][1] = v[i][2] = 0.0;
 }
 
+/* ---------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+
+int MinSpin::modify_param(int narg, char **arg)
+{
+  if (strcmp(arg[0],"alpha_damp") == 0) {
+    if (narg < 2) error->all(FLERR,"Illegal fix_modify command");
+    alpha_damp = force->numeric(FLERR,arg[1]);
+    return 2;
+  }
+  if (strcmp(arg[0],"discret_factor") == 0) {
+    if (narg < 2) error->all(FLERR,"Illegal fix_modify command");
+    discret_factor = force->numeric(FLERR,arg[1]);
+    return 2;
+  }
+  return 0;
+}
+
 /* ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    set current vector lengths and pointers
    called after atoms have migrated
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 
-void MinSpinMin::reset_vectors()
+void MinSpin::reset_vectors()
 {
   // atomic dof
 
@@ -96,7 +117,7 @@ void MinSpinMin::reset_vectors()
    minimization via damped spin dynamics
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 
-int MinSpinMin::iterate(int maxiter)
+int MinSpin::iterate(int maxiter)
 {
   bigint ntimestep;
   double fmdotfm,fmdotfmall;
@@ -172,7 +193,7 @@ int MinSpinMin::iterate(int maxiter)
    evaluate max timestep
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 
-double MinSpinMin::evaluate_dt()
+double MinSpin::evaluate_dt()
 {
   double dtmax;
   double fmsq;
@@ -218,7 +239,7 @@ double MinSpinMin::evaluate_dt()
    geometric damped advance of spins
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 
-void MinSpinMin::advance_spins(double dts)
+void MinSpin::advance_spins(double dts)
 {
   int nlocal = atom->nlocal;
   int *mask = atom->mask;
@@ -282,7 +303,7 @@ void MinSpinMin::advance_spins(double dts)
    compute and return ||mag. torque||_2^2
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 
-double MinSpinMin::fmnorm_sqr()
+double MinSpin::fmnorm_sqr()
 {
   int i,n;
   double *fmatom;
diff --git a/src/SPIN/min_spinmin.h b/src/SPIN/min_spin.h
similarity index 78%
rename from src/SPIN/min_spinmin.h
rename to src/SPIN/min_spin.h
index abc532a3d5..569bcbaab2 100644
--- a/src/SPIN/min_spinmin.h
+++ b/src/SPIN/min_spin.h
@@ -13,23 +13,24 @@
 
 #ifdef MINIMIZE_CLASS
 
-MinimizeStyle(spinmin,MinSpinMin)
+MinimizeStyle(spin,MinSpin)
 
 #else
 
-#ifndef LMP_MIN_SPINMIN_H
-#define LMP_MIN_SPINMIN_H
+#ifndef LMP_MIN_SPIN_H
+#define LMP_MIN_SPIN_H
 
 #include "min.h"
 
 namespace LAMMPS_NS {
 
-class MinSpinMin : public Min {
+class MinSpin : public Min {
  public:
-  MinSpinMin(class LAMMPS *);
-  ~MinSpinMin() {}
+  MinSpin(class LAMMPS *);
+  ~MinSpin() {}
   void init();
   void setup_style();
+  int modify_param(int, char **);
   void reset_vectors();
   int iterate(int);
   double evaluate_dt();
@@ -43,6 +44,9 @@ class MinSpinMin : public Min {
   double dt;
   double dts;
 
+  double alpha_damp;            // damping for spin minimization
+  double discret_factor;        // factor for spin timestep evaluation
+
   double *spvec;               // variables for atomic dof, as 1d vector
   double *fmvec;               // variables for atomic dof, as 1d vector
 
diff --git a/src/REPLICA/neb_spin.cpp b/src/SPIN/neb_spin.cpp
similarity index 93%
rename from src/REPLICA/neb_spin.cpp
rename to src/SPIN/neb_spin.cpp
index 38f5b530da..f5d9a75020 100644
--- a/src/REPLICA/neb_spin.cpp
+++ b/src/SPIN/neb_spin.cpp
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ NEB_spin::NEB_spin(LAMMPS *lmp, double etol_in, double ftol_in, int n1steps_in,
     sp[i][0] = spfinal[0];
     sp[i][1] = spfinal[1];
     sp[i][2] = spfinal[2];
-    
+
     ii += 3;
   }
 }
@@ -228,8 +228,8 @@ void NEB_spin::run()
   
   if (update->minimize->searchflag)
     error->all(FLERR,"NEB_spin requires damped dynamics minimizer");
-  if (strcmp(update->minimize_style,"spinmin") != 0)
-    error->all(FLERR,"NEB_spin requires spinmin minimizer");
+  if (strcmp(update->minimize_style,"spin") != 0)
+    error->all(FLERR,"NEB_spin requires spin minimizer");
 
   // setup regular NEB_spin minimization
   
@@ -530,10 +530,14 @@ void NEB_spin::readfile(char *file, int flag)
 	  spfinal[0] = spx;
 	  spfinal[1] = spy;
 	  spfinal[2] = spz;
+  
+	  printf("test spinit[0]:%g \n",sp[m][0]);
 
 	  // interpolate intermediate spin states
 
 	  initial_rotation(spinit,spfinal,fraction);
+  
+	  printf("test spfinal[0]:%g \n",spfinal[0]);
 
 	  sp[m][0] = spfinal[0];
 	  sp[m][1] = spfinal[1];
@@ -556,6 +560,8 @@ void NEB_spin::readfile(char *file, int flag)
     nread += nchunk;
   }
 
+  printf("test sp[1][2]:%g \n",sp[1][2]);
+
   // check that all atom IDs in file were found by a proc
 
   if (flag == 0) {
@@ -613,11 +619,15 @@ void NEB_spin::initial_rotation(double *spi, double *sploc, double fraction)
   spfy = sploc[1];
   spfz = sploc[2];
 
+  iphi = itheta = fphi = ftheta = 0.0;
+
   iphi = acos(spiz);
-  itheta = acos(spix/sin(iphi));
+  if (sin(iphi) != 0.0)
+   itheta = acos(spix/sin(iphi));
 
   fphi = acos(spfz);
-  ftheta = acos(spfx/sin(fphi));
+  if (sin(fphi) != 0.0)
+    ftheta = acos(spfx/sin(fphi));
  
   kphi = iphi + fraction*(fphi-iphi);
   ktheta = itheta + fraction*(ftheta-itheta);
@@ -626,12 +636,69 @@ void NEB_spin::initial_rotation(double *spi, double *sploc, double fraction)
   spky = sin(ktheta)*sin(kphi);
   spkz = cos(kphi);
 
-  iknorm = spkx*spkx+spky*spky+spkz*spkz;
+  double knormsq = spkx*spkx+spky*spky+spkz*spkz;
+  if (knormsq != 0.0)
+    iknorm = 1.0/sqrt(knormsq);
 
   spkx *= iknorm;
   spky *= iknorm;
   spkz *= iknorm;
 
+  //sploc[0] = spkx;
+  //sploc[1] = spky;
+  //sploc[2] = spkz;
+ 
+  //double kx,ky,kz;
+  //double spix,spiy,spiz,spfx,spfy,spfz;
+  //double kcrossx,kcrossy,kcrossz,knormsq;
+  //double spkx,spky,spkz;
+  //double sdot,omega,iknorm;
+
+  //spix = spi[0];
+  //spiy = spi[1];
+  //spiz = spi[2];
+
+  //spfx = sploc[0];
+  //spfy = sploc[1];
+  //spfz = sploc[2];
+  //
+  //kx = spiy*spfz - spiz*spfy;
+  //ky = spiz*spfx - spix*spfz;
+  //kz = spix*spfy - spiy*spfx;
+
+  //knormsq = kx*kx+ky*ky+kz*kz;
+  //
+  //if (knormsq != 0.0) {
+  //  iknorm = 1.0/sqrt(knormsq);
+  //  kx *= iknorm;
+  //  ky *= iknorm;
+  //  kz *= iknorm;
+  //}
+  //
+  //kcrossx = ky*spiz - kz*spiy;
+  //kcrossy = kz*spix - kx*spiz;
+  //kcrossz = kx*spiy - ky*spix;
+
+  //sdot = spix*spfx + spiy*spfy + spiz*spfz;
+
+  //omega = acos(sdot);
+  //omega *= fraction;
+
+  //spkx = spix*cos(omega) + kcrossx*sin(omega); 
+  //spky = spiy*cos(omega) + kcrossy*sin(omega); 
+  //spkz = spiz*cos(omega) + kcrossz*sin(omega); 
+  //
+  //iknorm = 1.0/sqrt(spkx*spkx+spky*spky+spkz*spkz);
+  //if (iknorm == 0.0)
+  //  error->all(FLERR,"Incorrect rotation operation");
+
+  //spkx *= iknorm;
+  //spky *= iknorm;
+  //spkz *= iknorm;
+ 
+  printf("init: %g %g %g \n",spix,spiy,spiz);
+  printf("fina: %g %g %g \n",spkx,spky,spkz);
+
   sploc[0] = spkx;
   sploc[1] = spky;
   sploc[2] = spkz;
diff --git a/src/REPLICA/neb_spin.h b/src/SPIN/neb_spin.h
similarity index 100%
rename from src/REPLICA/neb_spin.h
rename to src/SPIN/neb_spin.h
diff --git a/src/min.cpp b/src/min.cpp
index c75db6e2b0..2a42a444a0 100644
--- a/src/min.cpp
+++ b/src/min.cpp
@@ -655,15 +655,11 @@ void Min::modify_params(int narg, char **arg)
       else if (strcmp(arg[iarg+1],"forcezero") == 0) linestyle = 2;
       else error->all(FLERR,"Illegal min_modify command");
       iarg += 2;
-    } else if (strcmp(arg[iarg],"alpha_damp") == 0) {
-      if (iarg+2 > narg) error->all(FLERR,"Illegal min_modify command");
-      alpha_damp = force->numeric(FLERR,arg[iarg+1]);
-      iarg += 2;
-    } else if (strcmp(arg[iarg],"discret_factor") == 0) {
-      if (iarg+2 > narg) error->all(FLERR,"Illegal min_modify command");
-      discret_factor = force->numeric(FLERR,arg[iarg+1]);
-      iarg += 2;
-    } else error->all(FLERR,"Illegal min_modify command");
+    } else {
+      int n = modify_param(narg-iarg,&arg[iarg]);
+      if (n == 0) error->all(FLERR,"Illegal fix_modify command");
+      iarg += n;
+    }
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/min.h b/src/min.h
index ba1885671e..a63254231c 100644
--- a/src/min.h
+++ b/src/min.h
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ class Min : protected Pointers {
   int request(class Pair *, int, double);
   virtual bigint memory_usage() {return 0;}
   void modify_params(int, char **);
+  virtual int modify_param(int, char **) {return 0;}
   double fnorm_sqr();
   double fnorm_inf();
 
@@ -58,11 +59,6 @@ class Min : protected Pointers {
   double dmax;                // max dist to move any atom in one step
   int linestyle;              // 0 = backtrack, 1 = quadratic, 2 = forcezero
 
-  // spinmin quantities
-  
-  double alpha_damp;		// damping for spin minimization
-  double discret_factor;	// factor for spin timestep evaluation
-
   int nelist_global,nelist_atom;    // # of PE,virial computes to check
   int nvlist_global,nvlist_atom;
   class Compute **elist_global;     // lists of PE,virial Computes