@@ -664,48 +664,43 @@
 ;; called in megatest.scm, host-port is string hostname:port
 ;;
 ;; NOTE: This is NOT called directly from clients as not all transports support a client running
 ;;       in the same process as the server.
 ;;
-(define (server:ping host-port-in server-id #!key (do-exit #f))
-  (let ((host:port (if (not host-port-in) ;; use read-dotserver to find
-		       #f ;; (server:check-if-running *toppath*)
-		;; (if (number? host-port-in) ;; we were handed a server-id
-		;; 	   (let ((srec (tasks:get-server-by-id (db:delay-if-busy (tasks:open-db)) host-port-in)))
-		;; 	     ;; (print "srec: " srec " host-port-in: " host-port-in)
-		;; 	     (if srec
-		;; 		 (conc (vector-ref srec 3) ":" (vector-ref srec 4))
-		;; 		 (conc "no such server-id " host-port-in)))
-		       host-port-in))) ;; )
-    (let* ((host-port (if host:port
-			  (let ((slst (string-split   host:port ":")))
-			    (if (eq? (length slst) 2)
-				(list (car slst)(string->number (cadr slst)))
-				#f))
-			  #f)))
-;;	   (toppath       (launch:setup)))
-      ;; (print "host-port=" host-port)
-      (if (not host-port)
-	  (begin
-	    (if host-port-in
-		(debug:print 0 *default-log-port*  "ERROR: bad host:port"))
-	    (if do-exit (exit 1))
-	    #f)
-	  (let* ((iface      (car host-port))
-		 (port       (cadr host-port))
-		 (server-dat (http-transport:client-connect iface port server-id))
-		 (login-res  (rmt:login-no-auto-client-setup server-dat)))
-	    (if (and (list? login-res)
-		     (car login-res))
-		(begin
-		  ;; (print "LOGIN_OK")
-		  (if do-exit (exit 0))
-		  #t)
-		(begin
-		  ;; (print "LOGIN_FAILED")
-		  (if do-exit (exit 1))
-		  #f)))))))
+(define (server:ping host:port server-id #!key (do-exit #f))
+  (let* ((host-port (cond
+		     ((string? host:port)
+		      (let ((slst (string-split   host:port ":")))
+			(if (eq? (length slst) 2)
+			    (list (car slst)(string->number (cadr slst)))
+			    #f)))
+		     (else
+		      #f))))
+    (cond
+     ((and (list? host-port)
+	   (eq? (length host-port) 2))
+      (let* ((myrunremote (make-remote))
+	     (iface       (car host-port))
+	     (port        (cadr host-port))
+	     (server-dat  (client:connect iface port server-id myrunremote))
+	     (login-res   (rmt:login-no-auto-client-setup myrunremote)))
+	(if (and (list? login-res)
+		 (car login-res))
+	    (begin
+	      ;; (print "LOGIN_OK")
+	      (if do-exit (exit 0))
+	      #t)
+	    (begin
+	      ;; (print "LOGIN_FAILED")
+	      (if do-exit (exit 1))
+	      #f))))
+     (else 
+      (if host:port
+	  (debug:print 0 *default-log-port*  "ERROR: bad host:port "host:port))
+      (if do-exit
+	  (exit 1)
+	  #f)))))
 
 ;; run ping in separate process, safest way in some cases
 ;;
 (define (server:ping-server ifaceport)
   (with-input-from-pipe