diff --git a/applypatch/applypatch.c b/applypatch/applypatch.c
index 9d32ee9..9e631dd 100644
--- a/applypatch/applypatch.c
+++ b/applypatch/applypatch.c
@@ -424,20 +424,18 @@
         {
             size_t start = 0;
             int success = 0;
-            int fd = open(partition, O_RDWR | O_SYNC);
+            int fd = open(partition, O_RDWR);
             if (fd < 0) {
                 printf("failed to open %s: %s\n", partition, strerror(errno));
                 return -1;
             }
             int attempt;
 
-            for (attempt = 0; attempt < 10; ++attempt) {
-                size_t next_sync = start + (1<<20);
-                printf("raw O_SYNC write %s attempt %d start at %d\n", partition, attempt+1, start);
+            for (attempt = 0; attempt < 2; ++attempt) {
                 lseek(fd, start, SEEK_SET);
                 while (start < len) {
                     size_t to_write = len - start;
-                    if (to_write > 4096) to_write = 4096;
+                    if (to_write > 1<<20) to_write = 1<<20;
 
                     ssize_t written = write(fd, data+start, to_write);
                     if (written < 0) {
@@ -450,10 +448,6 @@
                         }
                     }
                     start += written;
-                    if (start >= next_sync) {
-                        fsync(fd);
-                        next_sync = start + (1<<20);
-                    }
                 }
                 fsync(fd);
 
@@ -506,8 +500,6 @@
                     success = true;
                     break;
                 }
-
-                sleep(2);
             }
 
             if (!success) {
@@ -519,11 +511,7 @@
                 printf("error closing %s (%s)\n", partition, strerror(errno));
                 return -1;
             }
-            // hack: sync and sleep after closing in hopes of getting
-            // the data actually onto flash.
-            printf("sleeping after close\n");
             sync();
-            sleep(5);
             break;
         }
     }
diff --git a/bootloader.h b/bootloader.h
index 712aa1a..c2895dd 100644
--- a/bootloader.h
+++ b/bootloader.h
@@ -38,11 +38,24 @@
  * The recovery field is only written by linux and used
  * for the system to send a message to recovery or the
  * other way around.
+ *
+ * The stage field is written by packages which restart themselves
+ * multiple times, so that the UI can reflect which invocation of the
+ * package it is.  If the value is of the format "#/#" (eg, "1/3"),
+ * the UI will add a simple indicator of that status.
  */
 struct bootloader_message {
     char command[32];
     char status[32];
-    char recovery[1024];
+    char recovery[768];
+
+    // The 'recovery' field used to be 1024 bytes.  It has only ever
+    // been used to store the recovery command line, so 768 bytes
+    // should be plenty.  We carve off the last 256 bytes to store the
+    // stage string (for multistage packages) and possible future
+    // expansion.
+    char stage[32];
+    char reserved[224];
 };
 
 /* Read and write the bootloader command from the "misc" partition.
diff --git a/recovery.cpp b/recovery.cpp
index e956ed7..8d4ce97 100644
--- a/recovery.cpp
+++ b/recovery.cpp
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@
   { "show_text", no_argument, NULL, 't' },
   { "just_exit", no_argument, NULL, 'x' },
   { "locale", required_argument, NULL, 'l' },
+  { "stages", required_argument, NULL, 'g' },
   { NULL, 0, NULL, 0 },
 };
 
@@ -76,6 +77,7 @@
 RecoveryUI* ui = NULL;
 char* locale = NULL;
 char recovery_version[PROPERTY_VALUE_MAX+1];
+char* stage = NULL;
 
 /*
  * The recovery tool communicates with the main system through /cache files.
@@ -172,6 +174,7 @@
     struct bootloader_message boot;
     memset(&boot, 0, sizeof(boot));
     get_bootloader_message(&boot);  // this may fail, leaving a zeroed structure
+    stage = strndup(boot.stage, sizeof(boot.stage));
 
     if (boot.command[0] != 0 && boot.command[0] != 255) {
         LOGI("Boot command: %.*s\n", (int)sizeof(boot.command), boot.command);
@@ -959,6 +962,14 @@
         case 't': show_text = 1; break;
         case 'x': just_exit = true; break;
         case 'l': locale = optarg; break;
+        case 'g': {
+            if (stage == NULL || *stage == '\0') {
+                char buffer[20] = "1/";
+                strncat(buffer, optarg, sizeof(buffer)-3);
+                stage = strdup(buffer);
+            }
+            break;
+        }
         case '?':
             LOGE("Invalid command argument\n");
             continue;
@@ -969,6 +980,7 @@
         load_locale_from_cache();
     }
     printf("locale is [%s]\n", locale);
+    printf("stage is [%s]\n", stage, stage);
 
     Device* device = make_device();
     ui = device->GetUI();
@@ -976,6 +988,12 @@
 
     ui->SetLocale(locale);
     ui->Init();
+
+    int st_cur, st_max;
+    if (stage != NULL && sscanf(stage, "%d/%d", &st_cur, &st_max) == 2) {
+        ui->SetStage(st_cur, st_max);
+    }
+
     ui->SetBackground(RecoveryUI::NONE);
     if (show_text) ui->ShowText(true);
 
diff --git a/res/images/stage_empty.png b/res/images/stage_empty.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..251ec19
--- /dev/null
+++ b/res/images/stage_empty.png
Binary files differ
diff --git a/res/images/stage_fill.png b/res/images/stage_fill.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1ab79e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/res/images/stage_fill.png
Binary files differ
diff --git a/screen_ui.cpp b/screen_ui.cpp
index 656f724..eddae11 100644
--- a/screen_ui.cpp
+++ b/screen_ui.cpp
@@ -71,7 +71,9 @@
     menu_items(0),
     menu_sel(0),
     animation_fps(20),
-    installing_frames(-1) {
+    installing_frames(-1),
+    stage(-1),
+    max_stage(-1) {
     for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
         backgroundIcon[i] = NULL;
 
@@ -98,15 +100,29 @@
         int iconHeight = gr_get_height(surface);
         int textWidth = gr_get_width(text_surface);
         int textHeight = gr_get_height(text_surface);
+        int stageHeight = gr_get_height(stageMarkerEmpty);
+
+        int sh = (max_stage >= 0) ? stageHeight : 0;
 
         iconX = (gr_fb_width() - iconWidth) / 2;
-        iconY = (gr_fb_height() - (iconHeight+textHeight+40)) / 2;
+        iconY = (gr_fb_height() - (iconHeight+textHeight+40+sh)) / 2;
 
         int textX = (gr_fb_width() - textWidth) / 2;
-        int textY = ((gr_fb_height() - (iconHeight+textHeight+40)) / 2) + iconHeight + 40;
+        int textY = ((gr_fb_height() - (iconHeight+textHeight+40+sh)) / 2) + iconHeight + 40;
 
         gr_blit(surface, 0, 0, iconWidth, iconHeight, iconX, iconY);
 
+        if (stageHeight > 0) {
+            int sw = gr_get_width(stageMarkerEmpty);
+            int x = (gr_fb_width() - max_stage * gr_get_width(stageMarkerEmpty)) / 2;
+            int y = iconY + iconHeight + 20;
+            for (int i = 0; i < max_stage; ++i) {
+                gr_blit((i < stage) ? stageMarkerFill : stageMarkerEmpty,
+                        0, 0, sw, stageHeight, x, y);
+                x += sw;
+            }
+        }
+
         gr_color(255, 255, 255, 255);
         gr_texticon(textX, textY, text_surface);
     }
@@ -350,6 +366,8 @@
 
     LoadBitmap("progress_empty", &progressBarEmpty);
     LoadBitmap("progress_fill", &progressBarFill);
+    LoadBitmap("stage_empty", &stageMarkerEmpty);
+    LoadBitmap("stage_fill", &stageMarkerFill);
 
     LoadLocalizedBitmap("installing_text", &backgroundText[INSTALLING_UPDATE]);
     LoadLocalizedBitmap("erasing_text", &backgroundText[ERASING]);
@@ -440,6 +458,13 @@
     pthread_mutex_unlock(&updateMutex);
 }
 
+void ScreenRecoveryUI::SetStage(int current, int max) {
+    pthread_mutex_lock(&updateMutex);
+    stage = current;
+    max_stage = max;
+    pthread_mutex_unlock(&updateMutex);
+}
+
 void ScreenRecoveryUI::Print(const char *fmt, ...)
 {
     char buf[256];
diff --git a/screen_ui.h b/screen_ui.h
index 14b9138..f494e9e 100644
--- a/screen_ui.h
+++ b/screen_ui.h
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@
     void ShowProgress(float portion, float seconds);
     void SetProgress(float fraction);
 
+    void SetStage(int current, int max);
+
     // text log
     void ShowText(bool visible);
     bool IsTextVisible();
@@ -58,9 +60,6 @@
     enum UIElement { HEADER, MENU, MENU_SEL_BG, MENU_SEL_FG, LOG, TEXT_FILL };
     virtual void SetColor(UIElement e);
 
-  protected:
-    int install_overlay_offset_x, install_overlay_offset_y;
-
   private:
     Icon currentIcon;
     int installingFrame;
@@ -73,6 +72,8 @@
     gr_surface *installation;
     gr_surface progressBarEmpty;
     gr_surface progressBarFill;
+    gr_surface stageMarkerEmpty;
+    gr_surface stageMarkerFill;
 
     ProgressType progressBarType;
 
@@ -104,6 +105,8 @@
 
     int iconX, iconY;
 
+    int stage, max_stage;
+
     void draw_install_overlay_locked(int frame);
     void draw_background_locked(Icon icon);
     void draw_progress_locked();
diff --git a/ui.h b/ui.h
index d85fc65..2dfe848 100644
--- a/ui.h
+++ b/ui.h
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@
 
     // Initialize the object; called before anything else.
     virtual void Init();
+    // Show a stage indicator.  Call immediately after Init().
+    virtual void SetStage(int current, int max) { }
 
     // After calling Init(), you can tell the UI what locale it is operating in.
     virtual void SetLocale(const char* locale) { }
diff --git a/updater/install.c b/updater/install.c
index 1455557..872cbf8 100644
--- a/updater/install.c
+++ b/updater/install.c
@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@
 #include <linux/xattr.h>
 #include <inttypes.h>
 
+#include "bootloader.h"
+#include "applypatch/applypatch.h"
+#include "cutils/android_reboot.h"
 #include "cutils/misc.h"
 #include "cutils/properties.h"
 #include "edify/expr.h"
@@ -42,7 +45,6 @@
 #include "mtdutils/mounts.h"
 #include "mtdutils/mtdutils.h"
 #include "updater.h"
-#include "applypatch/applypatch.h"
 
 #ifdef USE_EXT4
 #include "make_ext4fs.h"
@@ -1269,7 +1271,6 @@
     }
 
     if (args[0]->size < 0) {
-        printf("%s(): no file contents received", name);
         return StringValue(strdup(""));
     }
     uint8_t digest[SHA_DIGEST_SIZE];
@@ -1322,12 +1323,11 @@
 
     FileContents fc;
     if (LoadFileContents(filename, &fc, RETOUCH_DONT_MASK) != 0) {
-        ErrorAbort(state, "%s() loading \"%s\" failed: %s",
-                   name, filename, strerror(errno));
         free(filename);
-        free(v);
+        v->size = -1;
+        v->data = NULL;
         free(fc.data);
-        return NULL;
+        return v;
     }
 
     v->size = fc.size;
@@ -1337,6 +1337,105 @@
     return v;
 }
 
+// Immediately reboot the device.  Recovery is not finished normally,
+// so if you reboot into recovery it will re-start applying the
+// current package (because nothing has cleared the copy of the
+// arguments stored in the BCB).
+//
+// The argument is the partition name passed to the android reboot
+// property.  It can be "recovery" to boot from the recovery
+// partition, or "" (empty string) to boot from the regular boot
+// partition.
+Value* RebootNowFn(const char* name, State* state, int argc, Expr* argv[]) {
+    if (argc != 2) {
+        return ErrorAbort(state, "%s() expects 2 args, got %d", name, argc);
+    }
+
+    char* filename;
+    char* property;
+    if (ReadArgs(state, argv, 2, &filename, &property) < 0) return NULL;
+
+    char buffer[80];
+
+    // zero out the 'command' field of the bootloader message.
+    memset(buffer, 0, sizeof(((struct bootloader_message*)0)->command));
+    FILE* f = fopen(filename, "r+b");
+    fseek(f, offsetof(struct bootloader_message, command), SEEK_SET);
+    fwrite(buffer, sizeof(((struct bootloader_message*)0)->command), 1, f);
+    fclose(f);
+    free(filename);
+
+    strcpy(buffer, "reboot,");
+    if (property != NULL) {
+        strncat(buffer, property, sizeof(buffer)-10);
+    }
+
+    property_set(ANDROID_RB_PROPERTY, buffer);
+
+    sleep(5);
+    free(property);
+    ErrorAbort(state, "%s() failed to reboot", name);
+    return NULL;
+}
+
+// Store a string value somewhere that future invocations of recovery
+// can access it.  This value is called the "stage" and can be used to
+// drive packages that need to do reboots in the middle of
+// installation and keep track of where they are in the multi-stage
+// install.
+//
+// The first argument is the block device for the misc partition
+// ("/misc" in the fstab), which is where this value is stored.  The
+// second argument is the string to store; it should not exceed 31
+// bytes.
+Value* SetStageFn(const char* name, State* state, int argc, Expr* argv[]) {
+    if (argc != 2) {
+        return ErrorAbort(state, "%s() expects 2 args, got %d", name, argc);
+    }
+
+    char* filename;
+    char* stagestr;
+    if (ReadArgs(state, argv, 2, &filename, &stagestr) < 0) return NULL;
+
+    // Store this value in the misc partition, immediately after the
+    // bootloader message that the main recovery uses to save its
+    // arguments in case of the device restarting midway through
+    // package installation.
+    FILE* f = fopen(filename, "r+b");
+    fseek(f, offsetof(struct bootloader_message, stage), SEEK_SET);
+    int to_write = strlen(stagestr)+1;
+    int max_size = sizeof(((struct bootloader_message*)0)->stage);
+    if (to_write > max_size) {
+        to_write = max_size;
+        stagestr[max_size-1] = 0;
+    }
+    fwrite(stagestr, to_write, 1, f);
+    fclose(f);
+
+    free(stagestr);
+    return StringValue(filename);
+}
+
+// Return the value most recently saved with SetStageFn.  The argument
+// is the block device for the misc partition.
+Value* GetStageFn(const char* name, State* state, int argc, Expr* argv[]) {
+    if (argc != 2) {
+        return ErrorAbort(state, "%s() expects 1 arg, got %d", name, argc);
+    }
+
+    char* filename;
+    if (ReadArgs(state, argv, 1, &filename) < 0) return NULL;
+
+    char buffer[sizeof(((struct bootloader_message*)0)->stage)];
+    FILE* f = fopen(filename, "rb");
+    fseek(f, offsetof(struct bootloader_message, stage), SEEK_SET);
+    fread(buffer, sizeof(buffer), 1, f);
+    fclose(f);
+    buffer[sizeof(buffer)-1] = '\0';
+
+    return StringValue(strdup(buffer));
+}
+
 void RegisterInstallFunctions() {
     RegisterFunction("mount", MountFn);
     RegisterFunction("is_mounted", IsMountedFn);
@@ -1379,4 +1478,8 @@
     RegisterFunction("ui_print", UIPrintFn);
 
     RegisterFunction("run_program", RunProgramFn);
+
+    RegisterFunction("reboot_now", RebootNowFn);
+    RegisterFunction("get_stage", GetStageFn);
+    RegisterFunction("set_stage", SetStageFn);
 }