!Dumb terminal OS iso tips
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15 June 2026
 --- 
These notes were emailed to me by The Free Thinker
from Australia. I'll add my notes as I modify the OS.
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!Making disk image into a 'dd-able' UEFI-compatible ISO
UEFI/BIOS boot
x86 and x86_64 bootable

Note: I might have left some things out.

Use TC adding extensions to ISO guide, then ISOHYBRID guide from Syslinux Wiki:
http://wiki.tinycorelinux.net/doku.php?id=wiki:integrating_extensions
https://wiki.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=Isohybrid
https://github.com/syzdek/efibootiso
https://github.com/kamilion/customizer/issues/99

(use "tce-load -wil" instead of "tce-load -i" if extensions not already downloaded)

tce-load -i mkisofs-tools syslinux mtools glibc_gconv dosfstools dumpet libisoburn

#Unpack the original ISO:

wget -O /tmp/tinycore.iso http://repo.tinycorelinux.net/17.x/x86/release/Core-current.iso
sudo mkdir /mnt/tmp
sudo mount /tmp/tinycore.iso /mnt/tmp -o loop,ro
mkdir -p /tmp/newiso/tce/optional
cp -a /mnt/tmp/boot /tmp/newiso
sudo umount /mnt/tmp

Modify newiso/boot/isolinux/isolinux.cfg (same format as syslinux.cfg
for disk images as in the other guide) and copy extensions to
newiso/tce/optional. Also mydata.tgz and onboot.lst to newiso/tce.

#Create UEFI ESP (EFI System Partition) Image:
cd /tmp
wget http://repo.tinycorelinux.net/17.x/x86/tcz/syslinux.tcz
unsquashfs syslinux.tcz
dd if=/dev/zero of=newiso/EFI/BOOT/efiboot.img bs=512 count=2880
mkfs.msdos -F 12 -n 'EFIBOOTISO' newiso/EFI/BOOT/efiboot.img
cd newiso
mmd -i EFI/BOOT/efiboot.img ::EFI
mmd -i EFI/BOOT/efiboot.img ::EFI/BOOT
mcopy -i EFI/BOOT/efiboot.img /tmp/squashfs-root/usr/local/share/syslinux/efi32/syslinux.efi
+::EFI/BOOT/BOOTIA32.EFI
mcopy -i EFI/BOOT/efiboot.img /usr/local/share/syslinux/efi64/syslinux.efi ::EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI

#Edit rootfs to enable tce directory on CD (hacky):
cd /tmp
mkdir core
cd core
gzip -d -c ../newiso/boot/core.gz | sudo cpio -i -d
* Edit file: etc/init.d/tc_noscan.lst
 (remove "cdrom" and "sr?" lines)
sudo find | sudo cpio -o -H newc | gzip -9 > ../core.gz
sudo mv newiso/boot/core.gz ./core_orig.gz
sudo mv core.gz newiso/boot/

##Create a new ISO:

cd /tmp
tce-load -i libisoburn.tcz

sudo xorriso -as mkisofs \
  -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table \
  -isohybrid-mbr /usr/local/share/syslinux/isohdpfx.bin \
  -b boot/isolinux/isolinux.bin -c boot/isolinux/boot.cat \
  -eltorito-alt-boot -e EFI/BOOT/efiboot.img \
  -no-emul-boot -isohybrid-gpt-basdat \
  -o TC-remastered_xorriso.iso newiso

#Check with:
dumpet -i TC-remastered_xorriso.iso
 - Should show an entry with "PlatformId: 0xef (EFI)"