@@ -817,19 +817,25 @@
 	(if (eq? (length output) 0)
 	   #f
 	   #t))
       #t))
 
+;; this is a close duplicate of:
+;;    process:alist-on-host?
+;;    process:alive
+;;
 (define (launch:is-test-alive host pid)
   (let* ((same-host (equal? host (get-host-name)))
 	 (cmd (conc 
 	       (if same-host "" (conc "ssh "host" "))
 	       "pstree -A "pid)))
     (if (and host pid
 	     (not (equal? host "n/a")))
 	
-	(let* ((output (with-input-from-pipe cmd read-lines)))
+	(let* ((output (if same-host
+			   (with-input-from-pipe cmd read-lines)
+			   (common:generic-ssh cmd read-lines '())))) ;; (with-input-from-pipe cmd read-lines)))
 	  (debug:print 2 *default-log-port* "Running " cmd " received " output)
 	  (if (eq? (length output) 0)
 	      #f
 	      #t))
 	#t))) ;; assuming bad query is about a live test is likely not the right thing to do?