diff --git a/scripts/ha/acceptance-tests.sh b/scripts/ha/acceptance-tests.sh
index 6b10d3c..c405038 100755
--- a/scripts/ha/acceptance-tests.sh
+++ b/scripts/ha/acceptance-tests.sh
@@ -34,6 +34,25 @@ echo "════════════════════════
 echo " HA Cluster Acceptance Tests — $(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')"
 echo "════════════════════════════════════════════════════"
 
+# ── Pre-flight: DRBD sync must be complete ────────────────────────────────
+# Tests that check disk state, XFS mount, and iSCSI will fail or give false
+# results while the initial full sync is in progress.  Block until done.
+echo ""
+echo "Pre-flight: verifying DRBD sync is complete..."
+DRBD_PREFLIGHT=$(n1 "drbdadm dstate ha-data 2>/dev/null" 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown")
+if ! echo "$DRBD_PREFLIGHT" | grep -q "^UpToDate/UpToDate$"; then
+  echo ""
+  echo "  ERROR: DRBD initial sync not complete."
+  echo "  Current dstate on $NODE1: $DRBD_PREFLIGHT"
+  echo ""
+  echo "  Monitor progress:"
+  echo "    ssh nixos@$NODE1_IP 'sudo watch -n3 cat /proc/drbd'"
+  echo ""
+  echo "  Re-run this script once dstate shows UpToDate/UpToDate."
+  exit 1
+fi
+echo "  dstate: $DRBD_PREFLIGHT — ready."
+
 # ── Detect Active/Standby nodes ────────────────────────────────────────────
 # Use crm_mon to detect which node holds the Promoted (Primary) DRBD resource.
 # Pacemaker is authoritative; DRBD role can briefly read as Secondary while
diff --git a/scripts/ha/cluster-init.sh b/scripts/ha/cluster-init.sh
index cb0130d..f222b8f 100755
--- a/scripts/ha/cluster-init.sh
+++ b/scripts/ha/cluster-init.sh
@@ -239,15 +239,28 @@ crm_standby -N "$NODE2" -v off 2>/dev/null || true
 log "Forcing $NODE1 to DRBD Primary for initial sync..."
 drbdadm primary ha-data --force
 
-log "Waiting for DRBD to finish initial sync (this may take several minutes)..."
-for i in $(seq 1 300); do
-  state=$(drbdadm dstate ha-data 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown")
-  if echo "$state" | grep -q "UpToDate/UpToDate"; then
-    log "DRBD sync complete: $state"
+log "Waiting for DRBD initial sync to complete (32 GB may take 10–20 min)..."
+_sync_spin=0
+_sync_chars=('|' '/' '-' $'\\')
+while true; do
+  _dstate=$(drbdadm dstate ha-data 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown")
+  if echo "$_dstate" | grep -q "UpToDate/UpToDate"; then
+    printf "\r%-80s\r" ""  # clear progress line
+    log "DRBD initial sync complete (dstate: $_dstate)"
     break
   fi
-  [[ $i -eq 300 ]] && warn "DRBD not UpToDate after 300 s — continuing anyway (check drbdadm status)"
-  sleep 1
+  _pct=$(grep -oE "sync'ed: [0-9.]+%" /proc/drbd 2>/dev/null | grep -oE "[0-9.]+" | head -1 || echo "")
+  _eta=$(grep -oE "finish: [0-9:]+" /proc/drbd 2>/dev/null | sed 's/finish: //' | head -1 || echo "")
+  _spd=$(grep -oE "speed: [0-9,]+" /proc/drbd 2>/dev/null | sed 's/speed: //' | head -1 || echo "")
+  _sc="${_sync_chars[$_sync_spin]}"
+  _sync_spin=$(( (_sync_spin + 1) % 4 ))
+  if [[ -n "$_pct" ]]; then
+    printf "\r  [%s] syncing: %s%% done — ETA %s @ %s K/s     " \
+      "$_sc" "$_pct" "${_eta:-??:??:??}" "${_spd:-?}"
+  else
+    printf "\r  [%s] waiting for sync to start (dstate: %s)     " "$_sc" "$_dstate"
+  fi
+  sleep 3
 done
 
 # ── 3. XFS filesystem ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────