diff --git a/+hw/Timeline.m b/+hw/Timeline.m
index 60f5046e..c9ffcfc6 100644
--- a/+hw/Timeline.m
+++ b/+hw/Timeline.m
@@ -494,12 +494,17 @@ function stop(obj)
             % timebase for Alyx and optionally into universal timebase if
             % conversion is provided. TODO: Make timelineToALF a class method
             if exist('+alf/timelineToALF','file') && exist('writeNPY','file')
-                alf.timelineToALF(obj.Data, [],...
-                    fileparts(dat.expFilePath(obj.Data.expRef, 'timeline', 'master')))
+                % save only to master repo as data are redundent
+                masterSavePath = fileparts(dat.expFilePath(obj.Data.expRef, 'timeline', 'master'));
+                ALFpath = fullfile(masterSavePath, 'raw_sync_data');
+                if ~exist(ALFpath, 'dir')
+                  mkdir(ALFpath)
+                end
+                alf.timelineToALF(obj.Data, [], fullfile(masterSavePath, 'raw_sync_data'))
             else
                 warning('did not write files into alf format. Check that alyx-matlab and npy-matlab repositories are in path');
             end
-            
+
             %Register ALF components and hardware structures to Alyx
             %database. TODO: Make this process more robust.
             subject = dat.parseExpRef(obj.Data.expRef);
@@ -643,6 +648,8 @@ function livePlot(obj, data)
             if isempty(obj.Axes)
                 f = figure('Units', 'Normalized');
                 obj.Axes = gca; % store a handle to the axes
+                % ensure underscores in channel names not interpreted as underscores
+                obj.Axes.TickLabelInterpreter = 'none';
                 if isprop(obj, 'FigurePosition') && ~isempty(obj.FigurePosition)
                     set(f, 'Position', obj.FigurePosition); % set the figure position
                 end
diff --git a/cortexlab/+tl/bindMpepServer.m b/cortexlab/+tl/bindMpepServer.m
index 8b24d81e..afe90a85 100644
--- a/cortexlab/+tl/bindMpepServer.m
+++ b/cortexlab/+tl/bindMpepServer.m
@@ -86,6 +86,11 @@ function processMpep(listener, msg)
         tls.AlyxInstance = ai;
       case 'expstart'
         % create a file path & experiment ref based on experiment info
+        stubsPaths = prepareExperiment(info.expRef, 'timeline', ...
+          'fullPathInSettings', true, 'computerID', 'timeline');
+        tlSavePath = fileparts(dat.expFilePath(info.expRef, 'timeline', 'master'));
+        assert(tlSavePath == fileparts(stubsPaths{1}), ...
+          'iblrig local data path does not match dat.paths master repo location')
         try % start Timeline
           assert(~tlObj.IsRunning, ...
             'Rigbox:tl:bindMpepServer:timelineAlreadyRunning', ...
@@ -101,6 +106,14 @@ function processMpep(listener, msg)
         end
       case 'expend'
         tlObj.stop(); % stop Timeline
+        % Touch a flag file to disk for the copy script to find
+        masterSavePath = fileparts(dat.expFilePath(info.expRef, 'timeline', 'master'));
+        [fID, errmsg] = fopen(fullfile(masterSavePath, 'transfer_me.flag'), 'w');
+        if isempty(errmsg)
+          fclose(fID);
+        else
+          warning('Failed to create transfer flag: %s', errmsg)
+        end
       case 'expinterrupt'
         tlObj.stop(); % stop Timeline
     end