diff --git a/internal/common/common.go b/internal/common/common.go
index 69db78fe..cddc28b3 100644
--- a/internal/common/common.go
+++ b/internal/common/common.go
@@ -96,6 +96,10 @@ func (rc *ReportingCommand) Run() error {
 	go func() {
 		sig := <-sigChannel
 		slog.Info("received signal", slog.String("signal", sig.String()))
+		// when perfspect receives ctrl-c while in the shell, the shell makes sure to propogate the
+		// signal to all our children. But when perfspect is run in the background or disowned and
+		// then receives SIGINT, e.g., from a script, we need to send the signal to our children
+		util.SignalChildren(syscall.SIGINT)
 	}()
 	// get the data we need to generate reports
 	orderedTargetScriptOutputs, err := rc.retrieveScriptOutputs(localTempDir)
diff --git a/internal/report/table_defs.go b/internal/report/table_defs.go
index 071cd536..f1aa6c7f 100644
--- a/internal/report/table_defs.go
+++ b/internal/report/table_defs.go
@@ -2163,10 +2163,11 @@ func powerStatsTableValues(outputs map[string]script.ScriptOutput) []Field {
 }
 
 func gaudiStatsTableValues(outputs map[string]script.ScriptOutput) []Field {
-	// build fields to match CSV output from hl_smi tool
-	fields := []Field{}
 	// parse the CSV output
 	csvOutput := outputs[script.GaudiStatsScriptName].Stdout
+	if csvOutput == "" {
+		return []Field{}
+	}
 	r := csv.NewReader(strings.NewReader(csvOutput))
 	rows, err := r.ReadAll()
 	if err != nil {
@@ -2177,6 +2178,8 @@ func gaudiStatsTableValues(outputs map[string]script.ScriptOutput) []Field {
 		slog.Error("gaudi stats output is not in expected format")
 		return []Field{}
 	}
+	// build fields to match CSV output from hl_smi tool
+	fields := []Field{}
 	// first row is the header, extract field names
 	for _, fieldName := range rows[0] {
 		fields = append(fields, Field{Name: strings.TrimSpace(fieldName)})
@@ -2229,7 +2232,7 @@ func instructionMixTableValues(outputs map[string]script.ScriptOutput) []Field {
 	var interval int
 	lines := strings.Split(outputs[script.InstructionMixScriptName].Stdout, "\n")
 	if len(lines) < 4 {
-		slog.Error("no data found in instruction mix output")
+		slog.Warn("no data found in instruction mix output")
 		return []Field{}
 	}
 	// TIME
diff --git a/internal/script/script.go b/internal/script/script.go
index 232254c5..816a03e8 100644
--- a/internal/script/script.go
+++ b/internal/script/script.go
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ func RunScripts(myTarget target.Target, scripts []ScriptDefinition, ignoreScript
 	if len(parallelScripts) > 0 {
 		// form one master script that calls all the parallel scripts in the background
 		masterScriptName := "parallel_master.sh"
-		masterScript, needsElevatedPrivileges := formMasterScript(myTarget, parallelScripts)
+		masterScript, needsElevatedPrivileges := formMasterScript(myTarget.GetTempDirectory(), parallelScripts)
 		// write master script to local file
 		masterScriptPath := path.Join(localTempDirForTarget, masterScriptName)
 		err = os.WriteFile(masterScriptPath, []byte(masterScript), 0644)
@@ -278,11 +278,10 @@ func scriptNameToFilename(name string) string {
 
 // formMasterScript forms a master script that runs all parallel scripts in the background, waits for them to finish, then prints the output of each script.
 // Return values are the master script and a boolean indicating whether the master script requires elevated privileges.
-func formMasterScript(myTarget target.Target, parallelScripts []ScriptDefinition) (string, bool) {
+func formMasterScript(targetTempDirectory string, parallelScripts []ScriptDefinition) (string, bool) {
 	// we write the stdout and stderr from each command to temporary files and save the PID of each command
 	// in a variable named after the script
 	var masterScript strings.Builder
-	targetTempDirectory := myTarget.GetTempDirectory()
 
 	masterScript.WriteString("#!/bin/bash\n")
 
@@ -304,11 +303,34 @@ func formMasterScript(myTarget target.Target, parallelScripts []ScriptDefinition
 	// function to handle SIGINT
 	masterScript.WriteString("\nhandle_sigint() {\n")
 	for _, script := range parallelScripts {
-		masterScript.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("\tkill -SIGINT $%s_pid\n", sanitizeScriptName(script.Name)))
-		if script.NeedsKill {
-			// kill the command started by the script
-			masterScript.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("\tkill -SIGKILL $(cat %s_cmd.pid)\n", sanitizeScriptName(script.Name)))
-			masterScript.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("\t%s_exitcode=137\n", sanitizeScriptName(script.Name))) // 137 is the exit code for SIGKILL
+		// send SIGINT to the child script, if it is still running
+		masterScript.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("\tif ps -p \"$%s_pid\" > /dev/null; then\n", sanitizeScriptName(script.Name)))
+		masterScript.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("\t\tkill -SIGINT $%s_pid\n", sanitizeScriptName(script.Name)))
+		masterScript.WriteString("\tfi\n")
+		if script.NeedsKill { // this is primarily used for scripts that start commands in the background, some of which (processwatch) doesn't respond to SIGINT as expected
+			// if the *cmd.pid file exists, check if the process is still running
+			masterScript.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("\tif [ -f %s_cmd.pid ]; then\n", sanitizeScriptName(script.Name)))
+			masterScript.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("\t\tif ps -p $(cat %s_cmd.pid) > /dev/null; then\n", sanitizeScriptName(script.Name)))
+			// send SIGINT to the background process first, then SIGKILL if it doesn't respond to SIGINT
+			masterScript.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("\t\t\tkill -SIGINT $(cat %s_cmd.pid)\n", sanitizeScriptName(script.Name)))
+			// give the process a chance to respond to SIGINT
+			masterScript.WriteString("\t\t\tsleep 0.5\n")
+			// if the background process is still running, send SIGKILL
+			masterScript.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("\t\t\tif ps -p $(cat %s_cmd.pid) > /dev/null; then\n", sanitizeScriptName(script.Name)))
+			masterScript.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("\t\t\t\tkill -SIGKILL $(cat %s_cmd.pid)\n", sanitizeScriptName(script.Name)))
+			masterScript.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("\t\t\t\t%s_exitcode=137\n", sanitizeScriptName(script.Name))) // 137 is the exit code for SIGKILL
+			masterScript.WriteString("\t\t\telse\n")
+			// if the background process has exited, set the exit code to 0
+			masterScript.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("\t\t\t\t%s_exitcode=0\n", sanitizeScriptName(script.Name)))
+			masterScript.WriteString("\t\t\tfi\n")
+			masterScript.WriteString("\t\telse\n")
+			// if the script itself has exited, set the exit code to 0
+			masterScript.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("\t\t\t%s_exitcode=0\n", sanitizeScriptName(script.Name)))
+			masterScript.WriteString("\t\tfi\n")
+			masterScript.WriteString("\telse\n")
+			// if the *cmd.pid file doesn't exist, set the exit code to 1
+			masterScript.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("\t\t%s_exitcode=0\n", sanitizeScriptName(script.Name)))
+			masterScript.WriteString("\tfi\n")
 		} else {
 			masterScript.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("\twait \"$%s_pid\"\n", sanitizeScriptName(script.Name)))
 			masterScript.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("\t%s_exitcode=$?\n", sanitizeScriptName(script.Name)))
@@ -402,10 +424,15 @@ func parseMasterScriptOutput(masterScriptOutput string) (scriptOutputs []ScriptO
 		}
 		stdout = strings.Join(stdoutLines, "\n")
 		stderr = strings.Join(stderrLines, "\n")
-		exitCodeInt, err := strconv.Atoi(exitcode)
-		if err != nil {
-			slog.Error("error converting exit code to integer, setting to -100", slog.String("exitcode", exitcode), slog.String("error", err.Error()))
-			exitCodeInt = -100
+		exitCodeInt := -100
+		if exitcode == "" {
+			slog.Warn("exit code for script not set", slog.String("script", scriptName))
+		} else {
+			var err error
+			exitCodeInt, err = strconv.Atoi(exitcode)
+			if err != nil {
+				slog.Warn("error converting exit code to integer", slog.String("exitcode", exitcode), slog.String("error", err.Error()), slog.String("script", scriptName))
+			}
 		}
 		scriptOutputs = append(scriptOutputs, ScriptOutput{
 			ScriptDefinition: ScriptDefinition{Name: scriptName},
diff --git a/internal/script/script_defs.go b/internal/script/script_defs.go
index 2df0be99..61cfe1eb 100644
--- a/internal/script/script_defs.go
+++ b/internal/script/script_defs.go
@@ -302,7 +302,8 @@ if [ -d "$cstate_dir" ]; then
 	done
 else
 	echo "C-state directory not found."
-fi`,
+fi
+`,
 	},
 	SpecTurboCoresScriptName: {
 		Name: SpecTurboCoresScriptName,
@@ -495,8 +496,7 @@ rdmsr 0x1ad # MSR_TURBO_RATIO_LIMIT: Maximum Ratio Limit of Turbo Mode
 	},
 	ElcScriptName: {
 		Name: ElcScriptName,
-		ScriptTemplate: `
-# Script derived from bhs-power-mode script in Intel PCM repository
+		ScriptTemplate: `# Script derived from bhs-power-mode script in Intel PCM repository
 # Run the pcm-tpmi command to determine I/O and compute dies
 output=$(pcm-tpmi 2 0x10 -d -b 26:26)
 
@@ -560,7 +560,7 @@ for die in "${!die_types[@]}"; do
 		fi
 	done <<< "$output"
 done
-			`,
+`,
 		Architectures: []string{x86_64},
 		Families:      []string{"6"},          // Intel
 		Models:        []string{"173", "175"}, // GNR, SRF
@@ -654,7 +654,8 @@ echo "" # finish the line
 		Name: ChaCountScriptName,
 		ScriptTemplate: `rdmsr 0x396
 rdmsr 0x702
-rdmsr 0x2FFE`, // uncore client cha count, uncore cha count, uncore cha count spr
+rdmsr 0x2FFE
+`, // uncore client cha count, uncore cha count, uncore cha count spr
 		Architectures: []string{x86_64},
 		Families:      []string{"6"}, // Intel
 		Lkms:          []string{"msr"},
@@ -707,7 +708,7 @@ rdmsr 0x2FFE`, // uncore client cha count, uncore cha count, uncore cha count sp
 	echo -n "IRQ Balance: "
 	pgrep irqbalance >/dev/null && echo "Enabled" || echo "Disabled"
 done
-	`,
+`,
 		Depends:   []string{"lshw"},
 		Superuser: true,
 	},
@@ -756,13 +757,15 @@ do
 		fi
 	fi
 	echo "$name|$model|$size|$mountpoint|$fstype|$rqsize|$minio|$fw|$addr|$numa|$curlinkspeed|$curlinkwidth|$maxlinkspeed|$maxlinkwidth"
-done`,
+done
+`,
 	},
 	HdparmScriptName: {
 		Name: HdparmScriptName,
 		ScriptTemplate: `lsblk -d -r -o NAME -e7 -e1 -n | while read -r device ; do
 	hdparm -i /dev/"$device"
-done`,
+done
+`,
 		Superuser: true,
 	},
 	DfScriptName: {
@@ -859,7 +862,8 @@ for i in "${pmu_counters[@]}"; do
     fi
     # print the full list of PMU values
     echo "Values: ${pmu_values[$i]}"
-done`,
+done
+`,
 		Superuser:     true,
 		Architectures: []string{x86_64},
 		Families:      []string{"6"}, // Intel
@@ -897,7 +901,8 @@ if [ $needed_num_huge_pages -gt $orig_num_huge_pages ]; then
   echo $needed_num_huge_pages > /proc/sys/vm/nr_hugepages
 fi
 mlc --loaded_latency
-echo $orig_num_huge_pages > /proc/sys/vm/nr_hugepages`,
+echo $orig_num_huge_pages > /proc/sys/vm/nr_hugepages
+`,
 		Architectures: []string{x86_64},
 		Superuser:     true,
 		Lkms:          []string{"msr"},
@@ -917,7 +922,8 @@ if [ $needed_num_huge_pages -gt $orig_num_huge_pages ]; then
   echo $needed_num_huge_pages > /proc/sys/vm/nr_hugepages
 fi
 mlc --bandwidth_matrix
-echo $orig_num_huge_pages > /proc/sys/vm/nr_hugepages`,
+echo $orig_num_huge_pages > /proc/sys/vm/nr_hugepages
+`,
 		Architectures: []string{x86_64},
 		Superuser:     true,
 		Lkms:          []string{"msr"},
@@ -930,7 +936,8 @@ echo $orig_num_huge_pages > /proc/sys/vm/nr_hugepages`,
 for method in $methods; do
 	printf "%s " "$method"
 	stress-ng --cpu 0 -t 1 --cpu-method "$method" --metrics-brief 2>&1 | tail -1 | awk '{print $9}'
-done`,
+done
+`,
 		Superuser:  false,
 		Depends:    []string{"stress-ng"},
 		Sequential: true,
@@ -1005,7 +1012,8 @@ interleaved_core_list=$(IFS=,; echo "${interleaved_cores[*]}")
 num_cores_per_socket=$( lscpu | grep 'Core(s) per socket:' | head -1 | awk '{print $4}' )
 
 # Run the avx-turbo benchmark
-avx-turbo --min-threads=1 --max-threads=$num_cores_per_socket --test scalar_iadd,avx128_fma,avx256_fma,avx512_fma --iters=100000 --cpuids=$interleaved_core_list`,
+avx-turbo --min-threads=1 --max-threads=$num_cores_per_socket --test scalar_iadd,avx128_fma,avx256_fma,avx512_fma --iters=100000 --cpuids=$interleaved_core_list
+`,
 		Superuser:  true,
 		Lkms:       []string{"msr"},
 		Depends:    []string{"avx-turbo"},
@@ -1079,7 +1087,8 @@ if [ $duration -ne 0 ] && [ $interval -ne 0 ]; then
 fi
 mpstat -u -T -I SCPU -P ALL $interval $count &
 echo $! > {{.ScriptName}}_cmd.pid
-wait`,
+wait
+`,
 		Superuser: true,
 		Lkms:      []string{},
 		Depends:   []string{"mpstat"},
@@ -1094,7 +1103,8 @@ if [ $duration -ne 0 ] && [ $interval -ne 0 ]; then
 fi
 S_TIME_FORMAT=ISO iostat -d -t $interval $count | sed '/^loop/d' &
 echo $! > {{.ScriptName}}_cmd.pid
-wait`,
+wait
+`,
 		Superuser: true,
 		Lkms:      []string{},
 		Depends:   []string{"iostat"},
@@ -1109,7 +1119,8 @@ if [ $duration -ne 0 ] && [ $interval -ne 0 ]; then
 fi
 sar -r $interval $count &
 echo $! > {{.ScriptName}}_cmd.pid
-wait`,
+wait
+`,
 		Superuser: true,
 		Lkms:      []string{},
 		Depends:   []string{"sar", "sadc"},
@@ -1124,7 +1135,8 @@ if [ $duration -ne 0 ] && [ $interval -ne 0 ]; then
 fi
 sar -n DEV $interval $count &
 echo $! > {{.ScriptName}}_cmd.pid
-wait`,
+wait
+`,
 		Superuser: true,
 		Lkms:      []string{},
 		Depends:   []string{"sar", "sadc"},
@@ -1140,7 +1152,8 @@ if [ $duration -ne 0 ] && [ $interval -ne 0 ]; then
 fi
 turbostat -S -s PkgWatt,RAMWatt -q -i $interval $count | awk '{ print strftime("%H:%M:%S"), $0 }' &
 echo $! > {{.ScriptName}}_cmd.pid
-wait`,
+wait
+`,
 		Superuser: true,
 		Lkms:      []string{"msr"},
 		Depends:   []string{"turbostat"},
@@ -1173,7 +1186,8 @@ done
 
 processwatch -c $arg_sampling_rate $arg_pid $arg_interval $arg_count $arg_filter &
 echo $! > {{.ScriptName}}_cmd.pid
-wait`,
+wait
+`,
 		Superuser: true,
 		Lkms:      []string{"msr"},
 		Depends:   []string{"processwatch"},
@@ -1181,13 +1195,26 @@ wait`,
 	},
 	GaudiStatsScriptName: {
 		Name: GaudiStatsScriptName,
-		ScriptTemplate: `hl-smi --query-aip=timestamp,name,temperature.aip,module_id,utilization.aip,memory.total,memory.free,memory.used,power.draw --format=csv,nounits -l {{.Interval}} &
-echo $! > {{.ScriptName}}_cmd.pid
-sleep {{.Duration}}
-kill -SIGINT $(cat {{.ScriptName}}_cmd.pid)`,
+		ScriptTemplate: `
+# if the hl-smi program is in the path
+if command -v hl-smi &> /dev/null; then
+	hl-smi --query-aip=timestamp,name,temperature.aip,module_id,utilization.aip,memory.total,memory.free,memory.used,power.draw --format=csv,nounits -l {{.Interval}} &
+	echo $! > {{.ScriptName}}_cmd.pid
+	# if duration is set, sleep for the duration then kill the process
+	if [ {{.Duration}} -ne 0 ]; then
+		sleep {{.Duration}}
+		kill -SIGINT $(cat {{.ScriptName}}_cmd.pid)
+	fi
+	wait
+else
+	echo "hl-smi not found in the path" >&2
+	exit 1
+fi
+`,
 		Superuser: true,
 		NeedsKill: true,
 	},
+	// profile (flamegraph) scripts
 	ProfileJavaScriptName: {
 		Name: ProfileJavaScriptName,
 		ScriptTemplate: `interval={{.Interval}}
@@ -1287,6 +1314,7 @@ rm -f "$perf_fp_data" "$perf_dwarf_data" "$perf_dwarf_folded" "$perf_fp_folded"
 		Superuser: true,
 		Depends:   []string{"perf", "stackcollapse-perf.pl"},
 	},
+	// lock analysis scripts
 	ProfileKernelLockScriptName: {
 		Name: ProfileKernelLockScriptName,
 		ScriptTemplate: `frequency={{.Frequency}}