DU
does seem to report very strange time estimates, in the first 2 or 3 minutes. I think it is simply because the timing estimator is not getting accurate info about the size of the disk until midway into the repairs. If I wait long enough, it usually comes up with more accurate estimates after about half way through.
These kinds of 'counters/estimators' are usually put at the beginning or end of a routine that gets called hundreds of thousands of time a second. But it has to have enough 'authority' to do its thing as often as possible while not bogging down the rea purpose of the program. Apparently, DU is programmed to display the "1 minute" value before the estimating routines ever start working or until they have a reliable value. We, therefore, get to watch the ever so slowly moving 'bar' and the stoopid "! minute to go" message for several minutes.
The hard part is not to assume that something is in an infinite loop and stopping the program before it can finish the task. The faster our computers work, the shorter our tolerance for delays of any kind!
As for multiple 'bars,' I've never seen that unless there is some kind of message that a different task is being performed each time a new 'bar' appears. That should never happen with this task.