diff --git a/test/keepalive.sh b/test/keepalive.sh
index 99bbb83f5..e72a2bba9 100755
--- a/test/keepalive.sh
+++ b/test/keepalive.sh
@@ -5,8 +5,10 @@ then
     echo "Repeatively run program until success"
     exit -1
 fi
+nrep=0
 echo ./$@ job_id=$OMPI_COMM_WORLD_RANK
-until ./$@ job_id=$OMPI_COMM_WORLD_RANK; do
-    echo "Server "$1" crashed with exit code $?.  Respawning.." >&2
+until ./$@ job_id=$OMPI_COMM_WORLD_RANK repeat=$nrep; do
     sleep 1
+    nrep=$((nrep+1))
+    echo ./$@ job_id=$OMPI_COMM_WORLD_RANK repeat=$nrep
 done
diff --git a/test/test_model_recover.cpp b/test/test_model_recover.cpp
index 0d9f1bce7..86762c671 100644
--- a/test/test_model_recover.cpp
+++ b/test/test_model_recover.cpp
@@ -109,11 +109,16 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
   Model model;  
   srand(0);
   int ntrial = 0;
+  for (int i = 1; i < argc; ++i) {
+    int n;
+    if (sscanf(argv[i], "repeat=%d", &n) == 1) ntrial = n; 
+  } 
   while (true) {
     try {
       int iter = rabit::LoadCheckPoint(&model);
       if (iter == 0) {
         model.InitModel(n);
+        utils::LogPrintf("[%d] reload-trail=%d, init iter=%d\n", rank, ntrial, iter);
       } else {
         utils::LogPrintf("[%d] reload-trail=%d, init iter=%d\n", rank, ntrial, iter);
       }