diff --git a/lib/kgrader/backend/svn.rb b/lib/kgrader/backend/svn.rb
index 1928a5e..465db70 100644
--- a/lib/kgrader/backend/svn.rb
+++ b/lib/kgrader/backend/svn.rb
@@ -14,15 +14,10 @@ module KGrader::Backend
 
     def prepare(semester, assignment)
       return unless @config['verify']
-      url = @config['verify'] % {
-        :semester => semester,
-        :assignment => assignment
-      }
-
-      status = run('list', '--non-interactive', url)[1]
-      if status.exited? && status.exitstatus != 0
+      unless test_okay
         print "svn: password: "
         @password = STDIN.noecho(&:gets).chomp
+        print "svn: bad password or other network issues" unless test_okay
       end
     end
 
@@ -75,5 +70,14 @@ module KGrader::Backend
         :student    => student
       }
     end
+
+    def test_okay
+      url = @config['verify'] % {
+        :semester => semester,
+        :assignment => assignment
+      }
+      status = run('list', '--non-interactive', url)[1]
+      status.exited? && status.exitstatus == 0
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/kgrader/jail.rb b/lib/kgrader/jail.rb
index 1a0cc8d..ac8a803 100644
--- a/lib/kgrader/jail.rb
+++ b/lib/kgrader/jail.rb
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ module KGrader
         Dir.chdir @root
         options = {
           :in => :close, :out => fp, :err => fp, :close_others => true,
-          :rlimit_nproc => 32
+          :rlimit_nproc => 64
         }
         yield options if block_given?
         Process.exec *command, options
diff --git a/lib/kgrader/runtime.rb b/lib/kgrader/runtime.rb
index 4141b92..1bdd479 100644
--- a/lib/kgrader/runtime.rb
+++ b/lib/kgrader/runtime.rb
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ module KGrader
         grade 0
       end
 
-      puts "no grade received?"
       comment "autograde error (no grade reported); please contact staff"
       grade 0
     end
@@ -27,6 +26,7 @@ module KGrader
     end
 
     def comment(text)
+      puts "comment: #{text}"
       IO.new(4).write text + "\n"
     end
 
diff --git a/spec/cs241h b/spec/cs241h
index 22fd6cb..840fb08 160000
--- a/spec/cs241h
+++ b/spec/cs241h
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 22fd6cb688fcce712b4b68235533b59753aeaed7
+Subproject commit 840fb087ef3a9644a4f1ebb01a6baf555a7aa496