diff --git a/apps/vault/locales/i18n.json b/apps/vault/locales/i18n.json
index 33b54bc7c..2a9c8a53c 100644
--- a/apps/vault/locales/i18n.json
+++ b/apps/vault/locales/i18n.json
@@ -161,6 +161,12 @@
         "zh": "HOTP",
         "en-tts": "HOTP"
     },
+    "vault.hotp.count": {
+        "en": "Please enter the initial HOTP count:",
+        "ja": "最初の HOTP カウントを入力してください:",
+        "zh": "请输入初始 HOTP 计数：",
+        "en-tts": "Please enter the initial HOTP count:"
+    },
     "vault.newitem.name": {
         "en": "Please name the credential:",
         "ja": "クレデンシャルに名前を付ける:",
diff --git a/apps/vault/src/actions.rs b/apps/vault/src/actions.rs
index e65b7422c..9696b5692 100644
--- a/apps/vault/src/actions.rs
+++ b/apps/vault/src/actions.rs
@@ -391,6 +391,21 @@ impl ActionManager {
                 };
                 let validated_secret = base32::encode(base32::Alphabet::RFC4648 { padding: false }, &ss_vec);
 
+                let timestep = if !is_totp {
+                    // get the initial count if it's an HOTP record
+                    self.tt.sleep_ms(SWAP_DELAY_MS).unwrap();
+                    match self.modals
+                        .alert_builder(t!("vault.hotp.count", xous::LANG))
+                        .field(Some("0".to_string()), Some(length_validator))
+                        .build()
+                    {
+                        Ok(entry) => entry.content()[0].content.as_str().unwrap().parse::<u64>().unwrap(),
+                        _ => {log::error!("Count entry failed"); self.action_active.store(false, Ordering::SeqCst); return}
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    30 // default TOTP timestep otherwise
+                };
+
                 // time, hash, etc. are all the "expected defaults" -- if you want to change them, edit the record after entering it.
                 let mut totp = storage::TotpRecord {
                     version: VAULT_TOTP_REC_VERSION,
@@ -398,7 +413,7 @@ impl ActionManager {
                     secret: validated_secret,
                     algorithm: TotpAlgorithm::HmacSha1,
                     digits: 6,
-                    timestep: if is_totp {30} else {0},
+                    timestep,
                     ctime: 0,
                     is_hotp: !is_totp,
                     notes: t!("vault.notes", xous::LANG).to_string(),
diff --git a/apps/vault/src/totp.rs b/apps/vault/src/totp.rs
index 98497d3ad..4ad2cd604 100644
--- a/apps/vault/src/totp.rs
+++ b/apps/vault/src/totp.rs
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ impl Into<String> for TotpAlgorithm {
 
 #[derive(Debug)]
 pub(crate) struct TotpEntry {
-    pub step_seconds: u16,
+    pub step_seconds: u64,
     pub shared_secret: Vec<u8>,
     pub digit_count: u8,
     pub algorithm: TotpAlgorithm,
@@ -100,25 +100,31 @@ fn unpack_u64(v: u64) -> [u8; 8] {
 
 fn generate_hmac_bytes(unix_timestamp: u64, totp_entry: &TotpEntry) -> Result<Vec<u8>, Error> {
     let mut computed_hmac = Vec::new();
+    let checked_step = if totp_entry.step_seconds == 0 {
+        log::warn!("totp step_seconds was 0, this would cause a div-by-zero; forcing to 1. Check that this is not an HOTP record?");
+        1
+    } else {
+        totp_entry.step_seconds
+    };
     match totp_entry.algorithm {
         // The OpenTitan HMAC core does not support hmac-sha1. Fall back to
         // a software implementation.
         TotpAlgorithm::HmacSha1 => {
             let mut mac: Hmac<Sha1> = Hmac::new_from_slice(&totp_entry.shared_secret)?;
-            mac.update(&unpack_u64(unix_timestamp / totp_entry.step_seconds as u64));
+            mac.update(&unpack_u64(unix_timestamp / checked_step));
             let hash: &[u8] = &mac.finalize().into_bytes();
             computed_hmac.extend_from_slice(hash);
         }
         // note: sha256/sha512 implementations not yet tested, as we have yet to find a site that uses this to test against.
         TotpAlgorithm::HmacSha256 => {
             let mut mac: Hmac<sha2::Sha256> = Hmac::new_from_slice(&totp_entry.shared_secret)?;
-            mac.update(&unpack_u64(unix_timestamp / totp_entry.step_seconds as u64));
+            mac.update(&unpack_u64(unix_timestamp / checked_step));
             let hash: &[u8] = &mac.finalize().into_bytes();
             computed_hmac.extend_from_slice(hash);
         }
         TotpAlgorithm::HmacSha512 => {
             let mut mac: Hmac<sha2::Sha512> = Hmac::new_from_slice(&totp_entry.shared_secret)?;
-            mac.update(&unpack_u64(unix_timestamp / totp_entry.step_seconds as u64));
+            mac.update(&unpack_u64(unix_timestamp / checked_step));
             let hash: &[u8] = &mac.finalize().into_bytes();
             computed_hmac.extend_from_slice(hash);
         }
diff --git a/apps/vault/src/ux/framework.rs b/apps/vault/src/ux/framework.rs
index 892194ab8..3bea641ec 100644
--- a/apps/vault/src/ux/framework.rs
+++ b/apps/vault/src/ux/framework.rs
@@ -598,7 +598,7 @@ impl VaultUx {
                             let algorithm = TotpAlgorithm::try_from(fields[3]).unwrap_or(TotpAlgorithm::HmacSha1);
                             let is_hotp = fields[4].to_uppercase() == "HOTP";
                             let totp = totp::TotpEntry {
-                                step_seconds: if !is_hotp {step_seconds as u16} else {1},  // step_seconds is re-used by hotp as the code.
+                                step_seconds: if !is_hotp {step_seconds} else {1},  // step_seconds is re-used by hotp as the code.
                                 shared_secret,
                                 digit_count,
                                 algorithm
@@ -771,9 +771,9 @@ impl VaultUx {
                     let digit_count = u8::from_str_radix(fields[1], 10).unwrap_or(6);
                     let step_seconds = u64::from_str_radix(fields[2], 10).unwrap_or(30);
                     let algorithm = TotpAlgorithm::try_from(fields[3]).unwrap_or(TotpAlgorithm::HmacSha1);
-                    let is_hotp = fields[4] == "HOTP";
+                    let is_hotp = fields[4].to_uppercase() == "HOTP";
                     let totp = totp::TotpEntry {
-                        step_seconds: if !is_hotp {step_seconds as u16} else {1}, // step_seconds is re-used by hotp as the code.
+                        step_seconds: if !is_hotp {step_seconds} else {1}, // step_seconds is re-used by hotp as the code.
                         shared_secret,
                         digit_count,
                         algorithm