Index: launch.scm
==================================================================
--- launch.scm
+++ launch.scm
@@ -1157,19 +1157,20 @@
   (let* ((disks   (or (and testconfig (hash-table-ref/default testconfig "disks" #f))
 		      (hash-table-ref/default confdat "disks" #f)))
 	 (minspace (let ((m (configf:lookup confdat "setup" "minspace")))
 		     (string->number (or m "10000")))))
     (if disks 
-	(let ((res (common:get-disk-with-most-free-space disks minspace))) ;; min size of 1000, seems tad dumb
+	(let ((res (common:get-disk-with-most-free-space disks minspace)))
 	  (if res
 	      (cdr res)
-	      (begin ;; DEAD CODE PATH - REVISIT!
-;;		(if (common:low-noise-print 20 "No valid disks or no disk with enough space")
-;;		    (debug:print-error 0 *default-log-port* "No valid disks found in megatest.config. Please add some to your [disks] section and ensure the directory exists and has enough space!\n    You can change minspace in the [setup] section of megatest.config. Current setting is: " minspace))
-		;;(exit 1)
-                 (if (null? disks)
+              ;; else if no valid disks...
+	      (begin
+                (debug:print 0 *default-log-port* "WARNING: No valid disks or no disk with enough space found from " disks)
+                (if (null? disks)
                      (cons 1 (conc *toppath* "/runs"))
+
+                     ;; else try to create the directories anyway.
                      (let ((paths (sort disks (lambda (x y) (> (string-length (cadr x)) (string-length (cadr y)))))))
                        (let loop ((head (car paths)) (tail (cdr paths)))
                          (let ((result (handle-exceptions exn
 					 (begin
 					   (debug:print 0 *default-log-port* "failed to create dir " (cadr head) ", exn=" exn)
@@ -1176,22 +1177,32 @@
 					   #f)
 					 (create-directory (cadr head) #t))))
                            (if result
                                result
                                (if (null? tail)
-                                   (cons 1 (conc *toppath* "/runs"))
-                                   (loop (car tail) (cdr tail)))))))))))
-	;; no disks definition - use mtrah/runs, fall back to currdir/runs
+                                   (begin
+                                     (debug:print 0 *default-log-port* "Using toppath/runs")
+                                     (conc *toppath* "/runs")
+                                   )
+                                   (loop (car tail) (cdr tail))))))
+                     )
+                ) ;; if null? disks
+              ) ;; if not res
+          )
+        )
+	;; no disks definition - use toppath/runs, fall back to currdir/runs
 	(let* ((toppath (or *toppath*
 			    (common:get-toppath *toppath*)
 			    (begin
 			      (debug:print-error 0 *default-log-port* "Creating runs dir in current directory, this is probably not what you wanted. Please check your setup.")
 			      (current-directory))))
 	       (runsdir (conc toppath "/runs")))
 	  (if (not (file-exists? runsdir))(create-directory runsdir))
 	  runsdir)
 	))) ;; the code creates the necessary directories if it does not exist and returns the path.
+
+
 
 (define (launch:test-copy test-src-path test-path)
   (let* ((ovrcmd (let ((cmd (configf:lookup *configdat* "setup" "testcopycmd")))
 		   (if cmd
 		       ;; substitute the TEST_SRC_PATH and TEST_TARG_PATH
@@ -1523,10 +1534,11 @@
       ;; the following call handles waiver propogation. cannot yet condense into roll-up-pass-fail
       (tests:test-set-status! run-id test-id "LAUNCHED" "n/a" #f #f) ;; (if launch-results launch-results "FAILED"))
       (rmt:set-state-status-and-roll-up-items run-id test-name item-path #f "LAUNCHED" #f)
       ;; (pp (hash-table->alist tconfig))
       (set! diskpath (get-best-disk *configdat* tconfig))
+      (debug:print 2 *default-log-port* "best disk path = " diskpath)
       (if diskpath
 	  (let ((dat  (create-work-area run-id run-info keyvals test-id test-path diskpath test-name itemdat)))
 	    (set! work-area (car dat))
 	    (set! toptest-work-area (cadr dat))
 	    (debug:print-info 2 *default-log-port* "Using work area " work-area))