diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/Varaverk.page b/Plugin/unraid/Varaverk.page
index 7c32b22..380e5b0 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/Varaverk.page
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/Varaverk.page
@@ -332,6 +332,33 @@ function vvRenderMirrorOnboard(opts) {
   // Phase 2 means the partnership is actually established, so the instructions have genuinely
   // stopped being needed. Until then showing them costs nothing — a step already done reads as a
   // reminder, a step still needed and hidden is a dead end.
+  // Phase 2 runs on the OWNER and takes minutes — 4m05s on a measured run, longer as the arr
+  // library grows. The mirror's own job finishes in about three seconds, because all it does is
+  // send the notification, so for the rest of that window the screen showed the unchanged
+  // phase-1 panel with a greyed-out button and no statement that anything was happening
+  // elsewhere. That reads as a hang, and the reasonable response to a hang is to start clicking.
+  if ((opts.phase ?? 0) < 2 && opts.waiting) {
+    const mins = opts.waitingSince
+      ? Math.floor((Date.now() - opts.waitingSince) / 60000) : 0;
+    const secs = opts.waitingSince
+      ? Math.floor(((Date.now() - opts.waitingSince) % 60000) / 1000) : 0;
+    return `<div style="padding:12px 14px;background:#1a1200;border:1px solid #3a2800;border-radius:4px;">
+      <div style="display:flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;flex-wrap:wrap;">
+        <span style="font-size:18px;line-height:1;color:#ff9800;">⟳</span>
+        <div style="flex:1;min-width:220px;">
+          <div style="color:#ff9800;font-size:12px;font-weight:600;">
+            Onboard in progress — please wait</div>
+          <div style="color:#8a6a2a;font-size:10px;margin-top:3px;line-height:1.5;">
+            ${owner} is running Phase 2: deploying containers, syncing auth data and
+            bootstrapping the arr libraries. This normally takes 4–6 minutes and nothing is
+            needed from you here. This page updates itself when it finishes.</div>
+          ${opts.waitingSince ? `<div style="color:#6a5020;font-size:10px;margin-top:4px;
+            font-family:monospace;">elapsed ${mins}m ${String(secs).padStart(2,'0')}s</div>` : ''}
+        </div>
+      </div>
+    </div>`;
+  }
+
   if ((opts.phase ?? 0) >= 2) {
     // Done state. This used to return the same "Join partnership · ▶ Onboard" panel as the
     // not-started state, under a comment saying it collapsed — so a fully onboarded mirror
diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/pages/setup.php b/Plugin/unraid/pages/setup.php
index 0925b8b..9c8662f 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/pages/setup.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/pages/setup.php
@@ -525,6 +525,8 @@ function vvRenderOnboardPanel(d) {
           termCmd:    `bash ${dir}/Partnership/partnership_onboard.sh --phase1-only`,
           phase:      vvDetectedIdentity.phase ?? 0,
           hasPartner: true,
+          waiting:      _vvPhase2Waiting,
+          waitingSince: _vvPhase2Since,
         });
   });
 }
@@ -599,23 +601,45 @@ function vvRenderDone(d) {
 // bootstrap in Step 9 pushed a real run to 4m05s and it grows with library size, so the poll was
 // expiring before the flag landed and the wizard sat unchanged on a partnership that had already
 // succeeded — the exact symptom this function exists to remove.
-let _vvPartnerPoll = null;
+let _vvPartnerPoll   = null;
+let _vvPhase2Waiting = false;   // Phase 2 is running on the owner right now
+let _vvPhase2Since   = 0;       // epoch ms, for the elapsed counter
+let _vvPhase2Tick    = null;    // redraws the counter between checklist polls
+let _vvLastChecklist = null;    // last payload, so the ticker can redraw without refetching
 function vvOnJobDone(id, status) {
   if (!String(id).includes('partnership_onboard')) { vvLoadChecklist(); return; }
   if (_vvPartnerPoll) clearInterval(_vvPartnerPoll);
+  if (_vvPhase2Tick)  clearInterval(_vvPhase2Tick);
+
+  // The mirror's job ending is the START of the wait, not the end of the work — Phase 2 begins on
+  // the owner at this moment. Hold the in-progress panel until the checklist actually turns.
+  _vvPhase2Waiting = true;
+  _vvPhase2Since   = Date.now();
+
+  const stop = () => {
+    _vvPhase2Waiting = false;
+    if (_vvPartnerPoll) { clearInterval(_vvPartnerPoll); _vvPartnerPoll = null; }
+    if (_vvPhase2Tick)  { clearInterval(_vvPhase2Tick);  _vvPhase2Tick  = null; }
+    vvLoadChecklist();
+  };
+
   const deadline = Date.now() + 20 * 60 * 1000;
   const check = () => {
     fetch('/plugins/varaverk/api/checklist.php?_=' + Date.now())
       .then(r => r.json())
       .then(d => {
         const done = (d.items || []).some(i => i.id === 'partnership' && i.ok);
-        if (done || Date.now() > deadline) {
-          clearInterval(_vvPartnerPoll); _vvPartnerPoll = null;
-          vvLoadChecklist();
-        }
+        if (done || Date.now() > deadline) stop();
       })
       .catch(() => {});
   };
+
+  // Redraw between checklist polls so the elapsed counter moves. Without it the panel is static
+  // for six seconds at a time, which reads as frozen — the thing this panel exists to prevent.
+  _vvPhase2Tick = setInterval(() => {
+    if (_vvPhase2Waiting) vvRenderOnboardPanel(_vvLastChecklist || {items: []});
+  }, 1000);
+
   vvLoadChecklist();
   check();
   _vvPartnerPoll = setInterval(check, 6000);
@@ -625,6 +649,7 @@ function vvLoadChecklist() {
   fetch('/plugins/varaverk/api/checklist.php?_=' + Date.now())
     .then(r => r.json()).then(d => {
       const el = document.getElementById('vv-checklist');
+      _vvLastChecklist = d;
       if (!d.ok || !d.items) { el.innerHTML = '<span style="color:#555">Unable to load checklist</span>'; return; }
       vvLabelExit();
       vvRenderOnboardPanel(d);