@@ -87,11 +87,13 @@
 	 (connection-info (rmt:get-connection-info run-id)))
     ;; the nmsg method does the encoding under the hood (the http method should be changed to do this also)
     (if connection-info
 	;; use the server if have connection info
 	(let* ((dat     (case *transport-type*
-			  ((http)(http-transport:client-api-send-receive run-id connection-info cmd params))
+			  ((http)(condition-case
+				  (http-transport:client-api-send-receive run-id connection-info cmd params)
+				  ((commfail)(vector #f "communications fail"))))
 			  ((nmsg)(condition-case
 				  (nmsg-transport:client-api-send-receive run-id connection-info cmd params)
 				  ((timeout)(vector #f "timeout talking to server"))))
 			  (else  (exit))))
 	       (success (if (and dat (vector? dat)) (vector-ref dat 0) #f))