Update Tinycore

Download the latest version of Tinycore from one of the mirrors. New versions have improvements and additional features.

One option is to download bzImage and tinycore.gz. These can be downloaded from any of the mirrors, under /3.x/release/distribution_files/.

Another option is to download the .iso file, so it can also be written to a CD. This can be downloaded from /3.x/release/.

If you downloaded the iso file, you can extract bzImage and tinycore.gz from it.

In this example, let's say you downloaded tinycore_3.6.iso to /home/tc/dl

Create a new directory in /home/tc/dl. Let's call it tmp.

Open the terminal and type

sudo su
cd /home/tc/dl
/bin/mount tinycore_3.6.iso tmp

or

sudo su
cd /home/tc/dl
busybox mount tinycore_3.6.iso tmp

You can then copy and paste bzImage and tinycore.gz from tmp.

One option is to simply replace the existing bzImage and tinycore.gz with the newer version, and restart the computer.

You can do this using a root file manager. Open the terminal and type

sudo fluff

If using xfe, type

sudo xfe

You may want to keep the original version of Tinycore, as well as install the more recent version.

To do this, using a root file manager, create a new directory in /mnt/sda1 (use the correct partition if not sda1) for the more recent version. Let's call the new directory tc3.5.1 when installing tinycore 3.5.1, and call the new directory tc3.6 when installing tinycore 3.6.

Paste bzImage and tinycore.gz to the new directory you created.

Update the bootloader.

If using Extlinux, using a root text editor (sudo editor), open /mnt/sda1/boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf

Edit it to be something like this.

UI vesamenu.c32
TIMEOUT 50

LABEL tinycore 3.6
KERNEL /tc3.6/bzImage
APPEND initrd=/tc3.6/tinycore.gz quiet opt=sda1 home=sda1 norestore tce=sda1"

LABEL tinycore 3.5.1
KERNEL /tc3.5.1/bzImage
APPEND initrd=/tc3.5.1/tinycore.gz quiet opt=sda1 home=sda1 norestore tce=sda1"

LABEL tinycore 3.4.1
KERNEL /boot/bzImage
APPEND initrd=/boot/tinycore.gz quiet opt=sda1 home=sda1 norestore tce=sda1"

Use the correct partition if not sda1.

If using Grub legacy, edit /mnt/sda1/boot/grub/menu.lst to be something like this.

default 0
timeout 5

title Tinycore 3.6
root (hd0,0)
kernel /tc3.6/bzImage quiet opt=sda1 tce=sda1 home=sda1 norestore
initrd /tc3.6/tinycore.gz

title Tinycore 3.5.1
root (hd0,0)
kernel /tc3.5.1/bzImage quiet opt=sda1 tce=sda1 home=sda1 norestore
initrd /tc3.5.1/tinycore.gz

title Tinycore 3.4.1
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/bzImage quiet opt=sda1 tce=sda1 home=sda1 norestore
initrd /boot/tinycore.gz

Use the correct partition if not sda1.

If you are using a different bootloader, update as appropriate.

You can now run any of the versions you have installed.

Having more than one version is a good idea when experimenting and testing, as if something does not work properly, you can run another version.

We encourage people to download and install the release candidates, so you can help the Tinycore team, by testing them for improvements and bugs, before the final release.

When updating from version 2x to 3x, it is better to do a complete new installation as there are major changes, and all of the extensions also need to be replaced.

The same thing may happen when updating from 3x to 4x.

To update applications see Update Applications.