set_time_limit problem

Hi, I realize that set_time_limit is a regular problem on this list but I haven't found an answer to my problems in the archivs so I hope someone can help me. I've run into time-limit issues on a script I've written. So, I call set_time_limit(0) at the beginning and this works fine locally - the script takes about 45 seconds to mine various database files. When I upload it to a server, it has no effect however. So, I called phpinfo(INFO_CONFIGURATION) to find if the call to set_time_limit() had any effect:

       max_execution_time   0 (local)  30 (master)

However, the same call also produced:

    safe_mode    Off     Off
    safe_mode_exec_dir    /no value/     /no value/
    safe_mode_gid    Off     Off
    safe_mode_include_dir    /no value/     /no value/

which would suggest that safe_mode is Off ... but the value returned by the same call for Configure Command: './configure' '--with-config-file-path=/etc' '--enable-safe-mode=yes' '--enable-force-cgi-redirect=yes' '--with-gdbm' '--with-mysql' '--with-exec-dir=/www/cgi-bin' '--bindir=/www/cgi-bin' '--enable-ftp' '--enable-trans-sid' '--with-gd=/usr' '--with-zlib=/usr' '--with-jpeg-dir=/usr' '--enable-gd-native-ttf' '--with-png-dir=/usr' '--with-ttf=/usr/lib' '--enable-bcmath' would seem to suggest that admin (who, unfortunately, do not support PHP questions) enabled safe mode. So 2 questions for you all * Why, if the intitial configuration enabled safe mode, would it not be seen to be enabled when I call phpinfo(INFO_CONFIGURATION)? * If, in fact, it is in safe_mode, what options do I have to get around this 30 second limit? Thank you for any light you can shed Colm