Index: b/lib/ipmi_sol.c
===================================================================
--- a/lib/ipmi_sol.c
+++ b/lib/ipmi_sol.c
@@ -1487,8 +1487,20 @@ ipmi_sol_keepalive_using_sol(struct ipmi
 
       v2_payload.payload.sol_packet.character_count = 0;
 
+		/* ipmi_lanplus_send_so returns zero when BMC fails to ack sol keepalive packet */
       rsp = intf->send_sol(intf, &v2_payload);
 
+		if ((! rsp) && (_keepalive_retries < SOL_KEEPALIVE_RETRIES) ) {
+			_keepalive_retries++;
+			ret = -1;
+		}
+		else if ((! rsp) && (_keepalive_retries >= SOL_KEEPALIVE_RETRIES) ) {
+			ret = -1;
+		}
+		else if (( rsp ) &&  (_keepalive_retries > 0))
+			_keepalive_retries = 0;
+
+		/* reset the start time of the keepalive timeout */
 		gettimeofday(&_start_keepalive, 0);
    }
 	return ret;
@@ -1506,9 +1518,9 @@ ipmi_sol_keepalive_using_getdeviceid(str
 	gettimeofday(&end, 0);
 
 	if (end.tv_sec - _start_keepalive.tv_sec > SOL_KEEPALIVE_TIMEOUT) {
+		/*  returns -1 on fail, returns 0 on success */
 	   ret = intf->keepalive(intf);
 	   if ( (ret!=0) && (_keepalive_retries < SOL_KEEPALIVE_RETRIES) ) {
-         ret = 0;
          _keepalive_retries++;
 	   }
 	   else if ((ret==0) && (_keepalive_retries > 0))
@@ -1564,8 +1576,8 @@ ipmi_sol_red_pill(struct ipmi_intf * int
 			keepAliveRet = ipmi_sol_keepalive_using_sol(intf);
 		}
 		
-		if (keepAliveRet != 0)
-		{
+		lprintf(LOG_DEBUG , "ipmitool-sol.c : keepAliveRet %d | _keepalive_retries %d", keepAliveRet, _keepalive_retries);
+
 			/*
 			 * Retrying the keep Alive before declaring a communication
 			 * lost state with the IPMC. Helpful when the payload is 
@@ -1574,22 +1586,15 @@ ipmi_sol_red_pill(struct ipmi_intf * int
 			 * this down time when the connection is restarting, SOL will 
 			 * exit even though the IPMC is available and the session is open.
 			 */
-			if (retrySol == MAX_SOL_RETRY)
-			{
-				/* no response to Get Device ID keepalive message */
+
+
+		/* use static var to track whether a keepalive failure has occurred */
+		if (_keepalive_retries >= SOL_KEEPALIVE_RETRIES) {
+			/* no response to keepalive messages */
 				bShouldExit = 1;
+			lprintf(LOG_ERR , "Error: ipmitool SOL too many keepalive retries");
 				continue;
 			}
-			else 
-			{ 
-				retrySol++;         
-			}
-		}
-		else
-		{
-			/* if the keep Alive is successful reset retries to zero */
-			retrySol = 0;
-		}
 
 		/* Wait up to half a second */
 		tv.tv_sec =  0;