diff --git a/core/archipelago/src/electrs_status.rs b/core/archipelago/src/electrs_status.rs
index 6f3dad7f..105560e2 100644
--- a/core/archipelago/src/electrs_status.rs
+++ b/core/archipelago/src/electrs_status.rs
@@ -174,7 +174,8 @@ pub async fn get_electrs_sync_status() -> ElectrsSyncStatus {
         Ok(Err(e)) => {
             // ElectrumX may not be ready on 50001 during initial sync
             let err_msg = e.to_string();
-            let (status, error) = if err_msg.contains("connect") || err_msg.contains("Connection refused") {
+            let err_lower = err_msg.to_lowercase();
+            let (status, error) = if err_lower.contains("connect") || err_lower.contains("reset") || err_lower.contains("refused") {
                 // Estimate progress from data directory size
                 let _est_pct = if data_bytes > 0 {
                     ((data_bytes as f64 / ESTIMATED_FULL_INDEX_BYTES) * 100.0).min(99.0)
diff --git a/scripts/deploy-to-target.sh b/scripts/deploy-to-target.sh
index f86aa08f..132bf941 100755
--- a/scripts/deploy-to-target.sh
+++ b/scripts/deploy-to-target.sh
@@ -643,6 +643,21 @@ PYEOF
     # Create data directories for DWN, content sharing, federation, identities
     progress "Creating data directories"
     ssh $SSH_OPTS "$TARGET_HOST" '
+      # Rootless podman: allow binding to ports >= 80 (default is 1024)
+      if ! grep -q "unprivileged_port_start=80" /etc/sysctl.d/99-rootless-podman.conf 2>/dev/null; then
+        echo "net.ipv4.ip_unprivileged_port_start=80" | sudo tee /etc/sysctl.d/99-rootless-podman.conf > /dev/null
+        sudo sysctl -p /etc/sysctl.d/99-rootless-podman.conf 2>/dev/null
+        echo "   Rootless port binding enabled (>=80)"
+      fi
+      # Rootless podman: enable lingering for container persistence
+      if [ "$(loginctl show-user archipelago 2>/dev/null | grep Linger)" != "Linger=yes" ]; then
+        sudo loginctl enable-linger archipelago
+        echo "   Linger enabled for archipelago user"
+      fi
+      # Rootless podman: enable podman socket
+      systemctl --user enable podman.socket 2>/dev/null || true
+      systemctl --user start podman.socket 2>/dev/null || true
+
       sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/archipelago/dwn/messages
       sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/archipelago/dwn/protocols
       sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/archipelago/content/files