MiniOS Xperience is a live USB system for an old 32-bit PC, built on Tiny Core Linux 16.2. It starts from the stick and does not install onto the internal hard drive. It was built for a Gateway MA3: one 32-bit core, about 441 MB of working memory, and no hardware video decoder.
Get the image from the v0.2.260 release page. Download MiniOS-TC-v0.2.260-bar.img and SHA256SUMS.txt.
SHA-256 of the image:
C9237E3E63DAFBF83E152ECAE8807AD65B6075B5BB69E88B457B42F8F863875E
To check your download on Windows, run certutil -hashfile MiniOS-TC-v0.2.260-bar.img SHA256 and compare the result.
Use a USB stick of at least 1 GB. Do not select the internal disk.
- Download Rufus from https://rufus.ie and start it as administrator.
- Insert the USB stick and select it.
- Click SELECT and choose
MiniOS-TC-v0.2.260-bar.img. - When Rufus asks how to write the image, choose DD Image. Do not choose ISO mode.
- Click START and wait until Rufus says READY.
- If Windows asks to format the stick, click Cancel.
On Linux, find the stick with lsblk and use the disk name, not a partition:
sudo dd if=MiniOS-TC-v0.2.260-bar.img of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress conv=fsync
- Leave the stick inserted and turn the PC on.
- Open the boot menu (often F10, F12, or Esc) and choose the USB stick. Use Legacy / CSM mode, not UEFI only.
- Start MiniOS is already selected and starts after a few seconds.
- MiniOS command line only is for a desktop that does not start. The user name is
tc. Press Enter at the password prompt. - The corner of the desktop reads MiniOS-TC-v0.2.260.
A row of buttons runs along the bottom.
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| YouTube | Search YouTube and play a result. |
| TikTok | Search TikTok and play a result. |
| Streaming | Search free radio and TV stations. |
| Nightly | Web browser. JavaScript starts off. |
| Text Browser | A text-only browser. |
| Media Player | Play a local video or music file. |
| Games | GTK Tetris and LBreakout2. The first use downloads about 2.6 MB. |
| AI | A chat window. It needs an Internet connection. |
| Document | AbiWord word processor. |
| Spreadsheet | Gnumeric. Known issue, see below. |
| Wifi | Connect to a wireless network (Broadcom 4318). |
| Refresh RAM | Free memory after a heavy program. |
| Exit | Leave MiniOS. |
Open one program at a time on the Gateway.
- The Spreadsheet button opens and closes right away. Document and the other buttons work.
- The first start of a new stick can sit on a blue screen. Power off and boot the same stick again.
Details are in docs/KNOWN-ISSUES.md.
See docs/DEVELOPING.md for the folder layout, how to bake a new image, and how the stick is built.
The MiniOS programs and documents are under the MIT License. See LICENSE. Tiny Core Linux and the packages in the image keep their own licenses.