diff --git a/.github/scripts/monitor_slurm_job.sh b/.github/scripts/monitor_slurm_job.sh
index 27472e01ef..fd7abe962d 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/monitor_slurm_job.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/monitor_slurm_job.sh
@@ -61,10 +61,10 @@ squeue_failures=0
 last_heartbeat=$(date +%s)
 
 while true; do
-  # Try to read from tail output (non-blocking via timeout)
+  # Try to read from tail output with a 1s timeout (polling-based)
   # Read multiple lines if available to avoid falling behind
   lines_read=0
-  while IFS= read -r -t 0.1 line <&3 2>/dev/null; do
+  while IFS= read -r -t 1 line <&3 2>/dev/null; do
     echo "$line"
     lines_read=$((lines_read + 1))
     last_heartbeat=$(date +%s)
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ done
 # Drain any remaining output from tail after job completes
 echo "Draining remaining output..."
 drain_count=0
-while IFS= read -r -t 0.5 line <&3 2>/dev/null; do
+while IFS= read -r -t 1 line <&3 2>/dev/null; do
   echo "$line"
   drain_count=$((drain_count + 1))
   # Safety limit to avoid infinite loop
diff --git a/.github/workflows/phoenix/submit-bench.sh b/.github/workflows/phoenix/submit-bench.sh
index 7ae85e66fe..03e1506d15 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/phoenix/submit-bench.sh
+++ b/.github/workflows/phoenix/submit-bench.sh
@@ -20,9 +20,8 @@ sbatch_cpu_opts="\
 "
 
 sbatch_gpu_opts="\
-#SBATCH -CL40S
-#SBATCH --ntasks-per-node=4       # Number of cores per node required
-#SBATCH -G2\
+#SBATCH --gres=gpu:H200:2
+#SBATCH --ntasks-per-node=8       # Number of tasks (MPI ranks) per node\
 "
 
 if [ "$2" = "cpu" ]; then
diff --git a/.github/workflows/phoenix/submit.sh b/.github/workflows/phoenix/submit.sh
index 06a03e465a..9540433624 100755
--- a/.github/workflows/phoenix/submit.sh
+++ b/.github/workflows/phoenix/submit.sh
@@ -23,9 +23,8 @@ sbatch_cpu_opts="\
 "
 
 sbatch_gpu_opts="\
-#SBATCH -p gpu-v100,gpu-a100,gpu-h100,gpu-l40s
-#SBATCH --ntasks-per-node=4       # Number of cores per node required
-#SBATCH -G2\
+#SBATCH --gres=gpu:H200:2
+#SBATCH --ntasks-per-node=8       # Number of tasks (MPI ranks) per node\
 "
 
 if [ "$2" = "cpu" ]; then
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index ec964794ff..82667a4057 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -199,12 +199,16 @@ jobs:
       group:  phoenix
       labels: ${{ matrix.runner }}
     env:
-      NODE_OPTIONS: ${{ matrix.cluster == 'phoenix' && '--max-old-space-size=2048' || '' }}
       ACTIONS_RUNNER_FORCE_ACTIONS_NODE_VERSION: node16
       ACTIONS_ALLOW_USE_UNSECURE_NODE_VERSION: true
     steps:
+      - name: Clean workspace
+        run: rm -rf "${GITHUB_WORKSPACE:?}"/* "${GITHUB_WORKSPACE:?}"/.[!.]* 2>/dev/null || true
+
       - name: Clone
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          clean: false
 
       - name: Build
         if:   matrix.cluster != 'phoenix'