diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3a0b7646..43fad539 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1955,6 +1955,8 @@ below are some tweaks roughly ordered by usefulness:
 * `-q` disables logging and can help a bunch, even when combined with `-lo` to redirect logs to file
 * `--hist` pointing to a fast location (ssd) will make directory listings and searches faster when `-e2d` or `-e2t` is set
   * and also makes thumbnails load faster, regardless of e2d/e2t
+* `--dedup` enables deduplication and thus avoids writing to the HDD if someone uploads a dupe
+* `--safe-dedup 1` makes deduplication much faster during upload by skipping verification of file contents; safe if there is no other software editing/moving the files in the volumes
 * `--no-hash .` when indexing a network-disk if you don't care about the actual filehashes and only want the names/tags searchable
 * if your volumes are on a network-disk such as NFS / SMB / s3, specifying larger values for `--iobuf` and/or `--s-rd-sz` and/or `--s-wr-sz` may help; try setting all of them to `524288` or `1048576` or `4194304`
 * `--no-htp --hash-mt=0 --mtag-mt=1 --th-mt=1` minimizes the number of threads; can help in some eccentric environments (like the vscode debugger)
diff --git a/copyparty/cfg.py b/copyparty/cfg.py
index 9c543f35..deea73ab 100644
--- a/copyparty/cfg.py
+++ b/copyparty/cfg.py
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ def vf_bmap() -> dict[str, str]:
         "no_thumb": "dthumb",
         "no_vthumb": "dvthumb",
         "no_athumb": "dathumb",
-        "safe_dedup": "safededup",
     }
     for k in (
         "dedup",
@@ -59,6 +58,7 @@ def vf_vmap() -> dict[str, str]:
         "no_hash": "nohash",
         "no_idx": "noidx",
         "re_maxage": "scan",
+        "safe_dedup": "safededup",
         "th_convt": "convt",
         "th_size": "thsize",
         "th_crop": "crop",
diff --git a/copyparty/up2k.py b/copyparty/up2k.py
index 7acefa83..1ba6dbf1 100644
--- a/copyparty/up2k.py
+++ b/copyparty/up2k.py
@@ -2681,7 +2681,7 @@ def _handle_json(self, cj: dict[str, Any], depth: int = 1) -> dict[str, Any]:
             jcur = self.cur.get(ptop)
             reg = self.registry[ptop]
             vfs = self.asrv.vfs.all_vols[cj["vtop"]]
-            n4g = vfs.flags.get("noforget")
+            n4g = bool(vfs.flags.get("noforget"))
             rand = vfs.flags.get("rand") or cj.get("rand")
             lost: list[tuple["sqlite3.Cursor", str, str]] = []
 
diff --git a/copyparty/web/browser.js b/copyparty/web/browser.js
index 96b17fea..96f8d928 100644
--- a/copyparty/web/browser.js
+++ b/copyparty/web/browser.js
@@ -518,6 +518,7 @@ var Ls = {
 		"u_etaprep": '(preparing to upload)',
 		"u_hashdone": 'hashing done',
 		"u_hashing": 'hash',
+		"u_hs": 'handshaking...',
 		"u_dupdefer": "duplicate; will be processed after all other files",
 		"u_actx": "click this text to prevent loss of<br />performance when switching to other windows/tabs",
 		"u_fixed": "OK!&nbsp; Fixed it 👍",
@@ -1081,6 +1082,7 @@ var Ls = {
 		"u_etaprep": '(forbereder opplastning)',
 		"u_hashdone": 'befaring ferdig',
 		"u_hashing": 'les',
+		"u_hs": 'serveren tenker...',
 		"u_dupdefer": "duplikat; vil bli håndtert til slutt",
 		"u_actx": "klikk her for å forhindre tap av<br />ytelse ved bytte til andre vinduer/faner",
 		"u_fixed": "OK!&nbsp; Løste seg 👍",
@@ -1644,6 +1646,7 @@ var Ls = {
 		"u_etaprep": '(准备上传)',
 		"u_hashdone": '哈希完成',
 		"u_hashing": '哈希',
+		"u_hs": '正在等待服务器...', //m
 		"u_dupdefer": "这是一个重复文件。它将在所有其他文件上传后进行处理", //m
 		"u_actx": "单击此文本以防止切换到其他窗口/选项卡时性能下降", //m
 		"u_fixed": "好！&nbsp;已修复 👍",
diff --git a/copyparty/web/up2k.js b/copyparty/web/up2k.js
index 50afd99b..9b232be0 100644
--- a/copyparty/web/up2k.js
+++ b/copyparty/web/up2k.js
@@ -1745,14 +1745,6 @@ function up2k_init(subtle) {
 
                 var mou_ikkai = false;
 
-                if (st.busy.handshake.length &&
-                    st.busy.handshake[0].t_busied < now - 30 * 1000
-                ) {
-                    console.log("retrying stuck handshake");
-                    var t = st.busy.handshake.shift();
-                    st.todo.handshake.unshift(t);
-                }
-
                 var nprev = -1;
                 for (var a = 0; a < st.todo.upload.length; a++) {
                     var nf = st.todo.upload[a].nfile;
@@ -2254,6 +2246,9 @@ function up2k_init(subtle) {
         if (keepalive)
             console.log("sending keepalive handshake", t.name, t);
 
+        if (!t.srch && !t.t_handshake)
+            pvis.seth(t.n, 2, L.u_hs);
+
         var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
         xhr.onerror = xhr.ontimeout = function () {
             if (t.t_busied != me)  // t.done ok
@@ -2533,7 +2528,8 @@ function up2k_init(subtle) {
 
         xhr.open('POST', t.purl, true);
         xhr.responseType = 'text';
-        xhr.timeout = 42000;
+        xhr.timeout = 42000 + (t.srch || t.t_uploaded ? 0 :
+            (t.size / (1048 * 20))); // safededup 20M/s hdd
         xhr.send(JSON.stringify(req));
     }