diff --git a/.github/workflows/bwrap.yml b/.github/workflows/bwrap.yml
index 66cea846..882ade15 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/bwrap.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/bwrap.yml
@@ -12,6 +12,52 @@ on:
       - master
 
 jobs:
+  alt_pass1:
+    name: Alt Run up to Linux build under bubblewrap
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Install bubblewrap
+        run: sudo apt install bubblewrap
+      - name: Checkout repo
+        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        with:
+          submodules: recursive
+          # There is a strange bug(?) in nongnu, when you clone a git repository
+          # against a commit != HEAD with depth=1, it errors out.
+          fetch-depth: 0
+      - name: Query cache for sources
+        id: cache
+        uses: actions/cache/restore@v3
+        with:
+          path: |
+            distfiles
+          key: cache-${{ hashFiles('steps/*/sources') }}
+      - name: Get sources
+        if: steps.cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        run: ./download-distfiles.sh
+      - name: Cache sources
+        if: steps.cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        uses: actions/cache/save@v3
+        with:
+          path: |
+            distfiles
+          key: cache-${{ hashFiles('steps/*/sources') }}
+      - name: Run bootstrap
+        run: ./rootfs.py --bwrap --external-sources --build-kernels --cores 2 --internal-ci pass1 --tcc_bootstrap_alt
+      - name: Archive created packages
+        if: failure() # archive failed builds progress
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
+        with:
+          name: alt_packages
+          path: target/external/repo/**
+      - name: Tar alt_pass1 image
+        run: tar -cf alt_pass1_image.tar target
+      - name: Archive alt_pass1_image
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
+        with:
+          name: internal_alt_pass1_image
+          path: alt_pass1_image.tar
+
   pass1:
     name: Run up to Linux build under bubblewrap
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
diff --git a/rootfs.py b/rootfs.py
index c31d5a18..4b5cdc3c 100755
--- a/rootfs.py
+++ b/rootfs.py
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ def create_configuration_file(args):
             config.write("DISK=sda1\n")
             config.write("KERNEL_BOOTSTRAP=False\n")
         config.write(f"BUILD_KERNELS={args.update_checksums or args.build_kernels}\n")
+        config.write(f"TCC_BOOTSTRAP_ALT={args.tcc_bootstrap_alt}\n")
 
 # pylint: disable=too-many-statements,too-many-branches
 def main():
@@ -109,6 +110,9 @@ def main():
 
     parser.add_argument("-b", "--bare-metal", help="Build images for bare metal",
                         action="store_true")
+    parser.add_argument("--tcc_bootstrap_alt",
+                        help="Use tcc_bootstrap_alt.",
+                        action="store_true")
 
     args = parser.parse_args()
 
diff --git a/steps/manifest b/steps/manifest
index 77eab6f7..9bade636 100644
--- a/steps/manifest
+++ b/steps/manifest
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 build: checksum-transcriber-1.0
 build: simple-patch-1.0
 build: mes-0.25
+build: tcc_bootstrap_alt-0.2 ( TCC_BOOTSTRAP_ALT == True )
 build: tcc-0.9.26
 build: tcc-0.9.27
 define: BUILD_FIWIX = ( KERNEL_BOOTSTRAP == True || BUILD_KERNELS == True )
diff --git a/steps/mes-0.25/pass1.kaem b/steps/mes-0.25/pass1.kaem
index 47a1f891..1924f19a 100755
--- a/steps/mes-0.25/pass1.kaem
+++ b/steps/mes-0.25/pass1.kaem
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ rm mes/module/mes/psyntax.pp mes/module/mes/psyntax.pp.header
 cp mes/module/srfi/srfi-9-struct.mes mes/module/srfi/srfi-9.mes
 cp mes/module/srfi/srfi-9/gnu-struct.mes mes/module/srfi/srfi-9/gnu.mes
 
+if match x${TCC_BOOTSTRAP_ALT} xFalse; then
 # Build mes-m2
 kaem --verbose --strict --file kaem.${MES_ARCH}
 cp bin/mes-m2 ${BINDIR}/mes-m2
@@ -265,10 +266,14 @@ mescc lib/linux/stat.c
 catm ${LIBDIR}/${MES_ARCH}-mes/libc+tcc.a ${LIBDIR}/${MES_ARCH}-mes/libc.a islower.o isupper.o tolower.o toupper.o abtod.o dtoab.o search-path.o execvp.o fclose.o fdopen.o ferror.o fflush.o fopen.o fprintf.o fread.o fseek.o ftell.o fwrite.o printf.o remove.o snprintf.o sprintf.o sscanf.o vfprintf.o vprintf.o vsnprintf.o vsprintf.o vsscanf.o abort.o calloc.o qsort.o strtod.o strtof.o strtol.o strtold.o strtoll.o strtoul.o strtoull.o memmem.o strcat.o strchr.o strlwr.o strncpy.o strrchr.o strstr.o strupr.o sigaction.o ldexp.o mprotect.o localtime.o sigemptyset.o setjmp.o close.o rmdir.o stat.o
 catm ${LIBDIR}/${MES_ARCH}-mes/libc+tcc.s ${LIBDIR}/${MES_ARCH}-mes/libc.s islower.s isupper.s tolower.s toupper.s abtod.s dtoab.s search-path.s execvp.s fclose.s fdopen.s ferror.s fflush.s fopen.s fprintf.s fread.s fseek.s ftell.s fwrite.s printf.s remove.s snprintf.s sprintf.s sscanf.s vfprintf.s vprintf.s vsnprintf.s vsprintf.s vsscanf.s abort.s calloc.s qsort.s strtod.s strtof.s strtol.s strtold.s strtoll.s strtoul.s strtoull.s memmem.s strcat.s strchr.s strlwr.s strncpy.s strrchr.s strstr.s strupr.s sigaction.s ldexp.s mprotect.s localtime.s sigemptyset.s setjmp.s close.s rmdir.s stat.s
 
+fi
+
 # Make directories
 mkdir ${PREFIX}/lib/linux ${INCDIR}/mes ${INCDIR}/sys ${INCDIR}/linux ${INCDIR}/arch
 mkdir ${PREFIX}/lib/${MES_ARCH}-mes ${PREFIX}/lib/linux/${MES_ARCH}-mes ${INCDIR}/linux/${MES_ARCH}
 
+if match x${TCC_BOOTSTRAP_ALT} xFalse; then
+
 # Install libraries
 cp ${LIBDIR}/${MES_ARCH}-mes/libc.a ${PREFIX}/lib/${MES_ARCH}-mes/
 cp ${LIBDIR}/${MES_ARCH}-mes/libc+tcc.a ${PREFIX}/lib/${MES_ARCH}-mes/
@@ -282,6 +287,8 @@ cp ${LIBDIR}/${MES_ARCH}-mes/crt1.s ${PREFIX}/lib/${MES_ARCH}-mes/
 cp ${LIBDIR}/linux/${MES_ARCH}-mes/elf${ARCH_BITS}-footer-single-main.hex2 ${PREFIX}/lib/linux/${MES_ARCH}-mes/
 cp ${LIBDIR}/linux/${MES_ARCH}-mes/elf${ARCH_BITS}-header.hex2 ${PREFIX}/lib/linux/${MES_ARCH}-mes/
 
+fi
+
 # Install header files
 cp include/alloca.h ${INCDIR}/alloca.h
 cp include/argz.h ${INCDIR}/argz.h
@@ -356,7 +363,7 @@ cp include/sys/wait.h ${INCDIR}/sys/wait.h
 cd ../..
 
 # Checksums
-if match x${UPDATE_CHECKSUMS} xTrue; then
+if match x${UPDATE_CHECKSUMS}${TCC_BOOTSTRAP_ALT} xTrueFalse; then
     sha256sum -o ${pkg}.${ARCH}.checksums \
         /usr/bin/mes \
         /usr/bin/mes-m2 \
@@ -374,6 +381,7 @@ if match x${UPDATE_CHECKSUMS} xTrue; then
         /usr/lib/linux/${MES_ARCH}-mes/elf${ARCH_BITS}-footer-single-main.hex2
 
     cp ${pkg}.${ARCH}.checksums ${SRCDIR}
-else
+fi
+if match x${UPDATE_CHECKSUMS}${TCC_BOOTSTRAP_ALT} xFalseFalse; then
     sha256sum -c ${pkg}.${ARCH}.checksums
 fi
diff --git a/steps/tcc-0.9.26/pass1.kaem b/steps/tcc-0.9.26/pass1.kaem
index be93e55a..4367cc18 100755
--- a/steps/tcc-0.9.26/pass1.kaem
+++ b/steps/tcc-0.9.26/pass1.kaem
@@ -62,7 +62,9 @@ if match ${ARCH} riscv64; then
     HAVE_LONG_LONG=1
 fi
 
+if match x${TCC_BOOTSTRAP_ALT} xTrue; then
 
+else
 ${MES} --no-auto-compile -e main ${BINDIR}/mescc.scm -- \
     -S \
     -o tcc.s \
@@ -97,6 +99,8 @@ chmod 755 ${BINDIR}/tcc-mes
 # test tcc-mes
 tcc-mes -version
 
+fi
+
 # Recompile the mes C library
 cd ../${MES_PKG}
 
@@ -105,12 +109,19 @@ cd lib
 catm ../unified-libc.c ctype/isalnum.c ctype/isalpha.c ctype/isascii.c ctype/iscntrl.c ctype/isdigit.c ctype/isgraph.c ctype/islower.c ctype/isnumber.c ctype/isprint.c ctype/ispunct.c ctype/isspace.c ctype/isupper.c ctype/isxdigit.c ctype/tolower.c ctype/toupper.c dirent/closedir.c dirent/__getdirentries.c dirent/opendir.c dirent/readdir.c linux/access.c linux/brk.c linux/chdir.c linux/chmod.c linux/clock_gettime.c linux/close.c linux/dup2.c linux/dup.c linux/execve.c linux/fcntl.c linux/fork.c linux/fsync.c linux/fstat.c linux/_getcwd.c linux/getdents.c linux/getegid.c linux/geteuid.c linux/getgid.c linux/getpid.c linux/getppid.c linux/getrusage.c linux/gettimeofday.c linux/getuid.c linux/ioctl.c linux/ioctl3.c linux/kill.c linux/link.c linux/lseek.c linux/lstat.c linux/malloc.c linux/mkdir.c linux/mknod.c linux/nanosleep.c linux/_open3.c linux/pipe.c linux/_read.c linux/readlink.c linux/rename.c linux/rmdir.c linux/setgid.c linux/settimer.c linux/setuid.c linux/signal.c linux/sigprogmask.c linux/symlink.c linux/stat.c linux/time.c linux/unlink.c linux/waitpid.c linux/wait4.c linux/${MES_ARCH}-mes-${MES_LIBC_SUFFIX}/_exit.c linux/${MES_ARCH}-mes-${MES_LIBC_SUFFIX}/syscall.c linux/${MES_ARCH}-mes-${MES_LIBC_SUFFIX}/_write.c math/ceil.c math/fabs.c math/floor.c mes/abtod.c mes/abtol.c mes/__assert_fail.c mes/assert_msg.c mes/__buffered_read.c mes/__init_io.c mes/cast.c mes/dtoab.c mes/eputc.c mes/eputs.c mes/fdgetc.c mes/fdgets.c mes/fdputc.c mes/fdputs.c mes/fdungetc.c mes/globals.c mes/itoa.c mes/ltoab.c mes/ltoa.c mes/__mes_debug.c mes/mes_open.c mes/ntoab.c mes/oputc.c mes/oputs.c mes/search-path.c mes/ultoa.c mes/utoa.c posix/alarm.c posix/buffered-read.c posix/execl.c posix/execlp.c posix/execv.c posix/execvp.c posix/getcwd.c posix/getenv.c posix/isatty.c posix/mktemp.c posix/open.c posix/raise.c posix/sbrk.c posix/setenv.c posix/sleep.c posix/unsetenv.c posix/wait.c posix/write.c stdio/clearerr.c stdio/fclose.c stdio/fdopen.c stdio/feof.c stdio/ferror.c stdio/fflush.c stdio/fgetc.c stdio/fgets.c stdio/fileno.c stdio/fopen.c stdio/fprintf.c stdio/fputc.c stdio/fputs.c stdio/fread.c stdio/freopen.c stdio/fscanf.c stdio/fseek.c stdio/ftell.c stdio/fwrite.c stdio/getc.c stdio/getchar.c stdio/perror.c stdio/printf.c stdio/putc.c stdio/putchar.c stdio/remove.c stdio/snprintf.c stdio/sprintf.c stdio/sscanf.c stdio/ungetc.c stdio/vfprintf.c stdio/vfscanf.c stdio/vprintf.c stdio/vsnprintf.c stdio/vsprintf.c stdio/vsscanf.c stdlib/abort.c stdlib/abs.c stdlib/alloca.c stdlib/atexit.c stdlib/atof.c stdlib/atoi.c stdlib/atol.c stdlib/calloc.c stdlib/__exit.c stdlib/exit.c stdlib/free.c stdlib/mbstowcs.c stdlib/puts.c stdlib/qsort.c stdlib/realloc.c stdlib/strtod.c stdlib/strtof.c stdlib/strtol.c stdlib/strtold.c stdlib/strtoll.c stdlib/strtoul.c stdlib/strtoull.c string/bcmp.c string/bcopy.c string/bzero.c string/index.c string/memchr.c string/memcmp.c string/memcpy.c string/memmem.c string/memmove.c string/memset.c string/rindex.c string/strcat.c string/strchr.c string/strcmp.c string/strcpy.c string/strcspn.c string/strdup.c string/strerror.c string/strlen.c string/strlwr.c string/strncat.c string/strncmp.c string/strncpy.c string/strpbrk.c string/strrchr.c string/strspn.c string/strstr.c string/strupr.c stub/atan2.c stub/bsearch.c stub/chown.c stub/__cleanup.c stub/cos.c stub/ctime.c stub/exp.c stub/fpurge.c stub/freadahead.c stub/frexp.c stub/getgrgid.c stub/getgrnam.c stub/getlogin.c stub/getpgid.c stub/getpgrp.c stub/getpwnam.c stub/getpwuid.c stub/gmtime.c stub/ldexp.c stub/localtime.c stub/log.c stub/mktime.c stub/modf.c stub/mprotect.c stub/pclose.c stub/popen.c stub/pow.c stub/rand.c stub/rewind.c stub/setbuf.c stub/setgrent.c stub/setlocale.c stub/setvbuf.c stub/sigaction.c stub/sigaddset.c stub/sigblock.c stub/sigdelset.c stub/sigemptyset.c stub/sigsetmask.c stub/sin.c stub/sys_siglist.c stub/system.c stub/sqrt.c stub/strftime.c stub/times.c stub/ttyname.c stub/umask.c stub/utime.c ${MES_ARCH}-mes-${MES_LIBC_SUFFIX}/setjmp.c
 cd ..
 
+if match x${TCC_BOOTSTRAP_ALT} xTrue; then
+# Recompile libc: crt{1,n,i}, libtcc.a, libc.a
+tcc-boot0 -c -D HAVE_CONFIG_H=1 -I include -I include/linux/${MES_ARCH} -o ${LIBDIR}/crt1.o lib/linux/${MES_ARCH}-mes-${MES_LIBC_SUFFIX}/crt1.c
+else
 # crt1.o
 tcc-mes -c -D HAVE_CONFIG_H=1 -I include -I include/linux/${MES_ARCH} -o ${LIBDIR}/crt1.o lib/linux/${MES_ARCH}-mes-${MES_LIBC_SUFFIX}/crt1.c
 
 catm ${LIBDIR}/crtn.o
 catm ${LIBDIR}/crti.o
-if match ${ARCH} x86; then
+
+fi
+
+if match ${ARCH}${TCC_BOOTSTRAP_ALT} x86False; then
     # crtn.o
     tcc-mes -c -D HAVE_CONFIG_H=1 -I include -I include/linux/${MES_ARCH} -o ${LIBDIR}/crtn.o lib/linux/${MES_ARCH}-mes-gcc/crtn.c
 
@@ -118,6 +129,14 @@ if match ${ARCH} x86; then
     tcc-mes -c -D HAVE_CONFIG_H=1 -I include -I include/linux/${MES_ARCH} -o ${LIBDIR}/crti.o lib/linux/${MES_ARCH}-mes-gcc/crti.c
 fi
 
+if match ${ARCH}${TCC_BOOTSTRAP_ALT} x86True; then
+    tcc-boot0 -c -D HAVE_CONFIG_H=1 -I include -I include/linux/${MES_ARCH} -o ${LIBDIR}/crtn.o lib/linux/${MES_ARCH}-mes-gcc/crtn.c
+    tcc-boot0 -c -D HAVE_CONFIG_H=1 -I include -I include/linux/${MES_ARCH} -o ${LIBDIR}/crti.o lib/linux/${MES_ARCH}-mes-gcc/crti.c
+fi
+
+if match x${TCC_BOOTSTRAP_ALT} xTrue; then
+tcc-boot0 -c -D HAVE_CONFIG_H=1 -D HAVE_LONG_LONG=1 -D HAVE_FLOAT=1 -I include -I include/linux/${MES_ARCH} -o libtcc1.o lib/libtcc1.c
+else
 # libc+gcc.a
 tcc-mes -c -D HAVE_CONFIG_H=1 -I include -I include/linux/${MES_ARCH} -o unified-libc.o unified-libc.c
 tcc-mes -ar cr ${LIBDIR}/libc.a unified-libc.o
@@ -125,19 +144,70 @@ tcc-mes -ar cr ${LIBDIR}/libc.a unified-libc.o
 # libtcc1.a
 mkdir ${LIBDIR}/tcc
 tcc-mes -c -D HAVE_CONFIG_H=1 -D HAVE_LONG_LONG=1 -D HAVE_FLOAT=1 -I include -I include/linux/${MES_ARCH} -o libtcc1.o lib/libtcc1.c
+fi
+
 if match ${ARCH} riscv64; then
+    IS_RISCV64=True
     tcc-mes -c -D HAVE_CONFIG_H=1 -D HAVE_LONG_LONG=1 -D HAVE_FLOAT=1 -I include -I include/linux/${MES_ARCH} -o lib-arm64.o ../${TCC_PKG}/lib/lib-arm64.c
     tcc-mes -ar cr ${LIBDIR}/tcc/libtcc1.a libtcc1.o lib-arm64.o
 else
+    IS_RISCV64=False
+fi
+
+if match x${IS_RISCV64}${TCC_BOOTSTRAP_ALT} xFalseFalse; then
     tcc-mes -ar cr ${LIBDIR}/tcc/libtcc1.a libtcc1.o
 fi
 
+if match x${TCC_BOOTSTRAP_ALT} xTrue; then
+tcc-boot0 -c -D__linux__ -D HAVE_CONFIG_H=1 -I include -I include/linux/${MES_ARCH} -I /usr/include/mes/ -o unified-libc.o unified-libc.c
+else
 # libgetopt.a
 tcc-mes -c -D HAVE_CONFIG_H=1 -I include -I include/linux/${MES_ARCH} lib/posix/getopt.c
 tcc-mes -ar cr ${LIBDIR}/libgetopt.a getopt.o
+fi
 
 cd ../${TCC_PKG}
 
+if match x${TCC_BOOTSTRAP_ALT} xTrue; then
+mkdir /usr/lib/mes/tcc/
+
+# boot1
+tcc-boot0 \
+    -nostdinc \
+    -c \
+    -o tcc-boot1.o \
+    -D __linux__ \
+    -D BOOTSTRAP=1 \
+    -D HAVE_FLOAT=1 \
+    -D HAVE_BITFIELD=1 \
+    -D HAVE_LONG_LONG=0 \
+    -D HAVE_SETJMP=1 \
+    -I /usr/include/mes/ \
+    -I . \
+    -I ${PREFIX}/include \
+    -D TCC_TARGET_${TCC_TARGET_ARCH}=1 \
+    -D CONFIG_TCCDIR=\"${LIBDIR}/tcc\" \
+    -D CONFIG_TCC_CRTPREFIX=\"${LIBDIR}\" \
+    -D CONFIG_TCC_ELFINTERP=\"/mes/loader\" \
+    -D CONFIG_TCC_LIBPATHS=\"${LIBDIR}:${LIBDIR}/tcc\" \
+    -D CONFIG_TCC_SYSINCLUDEPATHS=\"${PREFIX}/include/mes\" \
+    -D TCC_LIBGCC=\"${LIBDIR}/libc.a\" \
+    -D TCC_LIBTCC1=\"libtcc1.a\" \
+    -D CONFIG_TCCBOOT=1 \
+    -D CONFIG_TCC_STATIC=1 \
+    -D CONFIG_USE_LIBGCC=1 \
+    -D TCC_VERSION=\"0.9.26\" \
+    -D ONE_SOURCE=1 \
+    tcc.c
+
+tcc-boot0 -static -nostdlib /usr/lib/mes/crt1.o ../mes-0.25/unified-libc.o ../mes-0.25/libtcc1.o tcc-boot1.o -o tcc-boot0-new
+
+#replace tcc-boot0 with full one
+
+cp tcc-boot0-new ${BINDIR}/tcc-boot0
+
+
+else
 # boot0 (ref comments here for all boot*)
 # compile
 tcc-mes \
@@ -170,6 +240,8 @@ tcc-mes \
     tcc.c
 # Install
 cp tcc-boot0 ${BINDIR}/
+fi
+
 chmod 755 ${BINDIR}/tcc-boot0
 cd ../${MES_PKG}
 # Recompile libc: crt{1,n,i}, libtcc.a, libc.a
@@ -295,6 +367,56 @@ tcc-boot2 -c -D HAVE_CONFIG_H=1 -I include -I include/linux/${MES_ARCH} -o unifi
 tcc-boot2 -ar cr ${LIBDIR}/libc.a unified-libc.o
 cd ../${TCC_PKG}
 
+# rebuild tcc-boot2 with itself
+# LJW FIXME find a neater way to repeat this step (maybe a separate kaem script)
+tcc-boot2 \
+    -g \
+    -v \
+    -static \
+    -o tcc-boot2 \
+    -D BOOTSTRAP=1 \
+    -D HAVE_BITFIELD=1 \
+    -D HAVE_FLOAT=1 \
+    -D HAVE_LONG_LONG=1 \
+    -D HAVE_SETJMP=1 \
+    -I . \
+    -I ${PREFIX}/include/mes \
+    -D TCC_TARGET_${TCC_TARGET_ARCH}=1 \
+    -D CONFIG_TCCDIR=\"${LIBDIR}/tcc\" \
+    -D CONFIG_TCC_CRTPREFIX=\"${LIBDIR}\" \
+    -D CONFIG_TCC_ELFINTERP=\"/mes/loader\" \
+    -D CONFIG_TCC_LIBPATHS=\"${LIBDIR}:${LIBDIR}/tcc\" \
+    -D CONFIG_TCC_SYSINCLUDEPATHS=\"${PREFIX}/include/mes\" \
+    -D TCC_LIBGCC=\"${LIBDIR}/libc.a\" \
+    -D TCC_LIBTCC1=\"libtcc1.a\" \
+    -D CONFIG_TCCBOOT=1 \
+    -D CONFIG_TCC_STATIC=1 \
+    -D CONFIG_USE_LIBGCC=1 \
+    -D TCC_VERSION=\"0.9.26\" \
+    -D ONE_SOURCE=1 \
+    -L . \
+    tcc.c
+cp tcc-boot2 ${BINDIR}
+chmod 755 ${BINDIR}/tcc-boot2
+cd ../${MES_PKG}
+tcc-boot2 -c -D HAVE_CONFIG_H=1 -I include -I include/linux/${MES_ARCH} -o ${LIBDIR}/crt1.o lib/linux/${MES_ARCH}-mes-${MES_LIBC_SUFFIX}/crt1.c
+if match ${ARCH} x86; then
+    tcc-boot2 -c -D HAVE_CONFIG_H=1 -I include -I include/linux/${MES_ARCH} -o ${LIBDIR}/crtn.o lib/linux/${MES_ARCH}-mes-gcc/crtn.c
+    tcc-boot2 -c -D HAVE_CONFIG_H=1 -I include -I include/linux/${MES_ARCH} -o ${LIBDIR}/crti.o lib/linux/${MES_ARCH}-mes-gcc/crti.c
+fi
+
+tcc-boot2 -c -D HAVE_CONFIG_H=1 -D HAVE_LONG_LONG=1 -D HAVE_FLOAT=1 -I include -I include/linux/${MES_ARCH} -o libtcc1.o lib/libtcc1.c
+if match ${ARCH} riscv64; then
+    tcc-boot2 -c -D HAVE_CONFIG_H=1 -I include -I include/linux/${MES_ARCH} -o lib-arm64.o ../${TCC_PKG}/lib/lib-arm64.c
+    tcc-boot2 -ar cr ${LIBDIR}/tcc/libtcc1.a libtcc1.o lib-arm64.o
+else
+    tcc-boot2 -ar cr ${LIBDIR}/tcc/libtcc1.a libtcc1.o
+fi
+
+tcc-boot2 -c -D HAVE_CONFIG_H=1 -I include -I include/linux/${MES_ARCH} -o unified-libc.o unified-libc.c
+tcc-boot2 -ar cr ${LIBDIR}/libc.a unified-libc.o
+cd ../${TCC_PKG}
+
 # Test boot2
 tcc-boot2 -version
 
@@ -315,10 +437,8 @@ cd ../..
 
 # Checksums
 if match x${UPDATE_CHECKSUMS} xTrue; then
+# LJW FIXME is this a bug? should it say pkg and ARCH?
     sha256sum -o ${pkg}.checksums \
-        /usr/bin/tcc-mes \
-        /usr/bin/tcc-boot0 \
-        /usr/bin/tcc-boot1 \
         /usr/bin/tcc \
         /usr/lib/mes/libc.a \
         /usr/lib/mes/libgetopt.a \
@@ -331,3 +451,18 @@ if match x${UPDATE_CHECKSUMS} xTrue; then
 else
     sha256sum -c ${pkg}.${ARCH}.checksums
 fi
+
+# Check extra hashes when doing mes build
+if match x${UPDATE_CHECKSUMS}${TCC_BOOTSTRAP_ALT} xTrueFalse; then
+# LJW FIXME is this a bug? should it say pkg and ARCH?
+    sha256sum -o ${pkg}_mes.checksums \
+        /usr/bin/tcc-mes \
+        /usr/bin/tcc-boot0 \
+        /usr/bin/tcc-boot1
+
+    cp ${pkg}_mes.checksums ${SRCDIR}
+fi
+
+if match x${UPDATE_CHECKSUMS}${TCC_BOOTSTRAP_ALT} xFalseFalse; then
+    sha256sum -c ${pkg}_mes.${ARCH}.checksums
+fi
diff --git a/steps/tcc-0.9.26/tcc-0.9.26.riscv64.checksums b/steps/tcc-0.9.26/tcc-0.9.26.riscv64.checksums
index 09d88933..6975cf9b 100644
--- a/steps/tcc-0.9.26/tcc-0.9.26.riscv64.checksums
+++ b/steps/tcc-0.9.26/tcc-0.9.26.riscv64.checksums
@@ -1,6 +1,3 @@
-22c74eec2ee1694247fae2958979c2326bab41ecbf5ba279b38417f63bf8892d  /usr/bin/tcc-mes
-4aff7e61488c03322a682a086405831aa4d99681b2761ddc8b0a76888395a11b  /usr/bin/tcc-boot0
-9973b5e730c0b9d65aa0ad2332a51adbb247546478d2e86697bba6de4f2f03fc  /usr/bin/tcc-boot1
 5b5b131cc6bb7f62b11bc99092a1e48c2975af00c7d22fb52de5f561dbdc749a  /usr/bin/tcc
 93fbb5473bfaf2abaf6598a21dd5f0ac3c6237bfa15bc0c85328608233de55bc  /usr/lib/mes/libc.a
 98e2d2d543a113c82c8de39f32d4d43b1fe7f3159c5956c5e3224e7f4162601f  /usr/lib/mes/libgetopt.a
diff --git a/steps/tcc-0.9.26/tcc-0.9.26.x86.checksums b/steps/tcc-0.9.26/tcc-0.9.26.x86.checksums
index d9f42895..dd13baa3 100644
--- a/steps/tcc-0.9.26/tcc-0.9.26.x86.checksums
+++ b/steps/tcc-0.9.26/tcc-0.9.26.x86.checksums
@@ -1,6 +1,3 @@
-48f0ac2f1fb8002a6a6958557732b83778f744de3e09085987d65c6981a57ab3  /usr/bin/tcc-mes
-b758fff28f3d03b057b0414eb92da0c46e22bc8e9da29af33fbe65b01047d25d  /usr/bin/tcc-boot0
-56e267e3031f548ea155d61a97fc3e6e8fff277159d7ae3273820a8c0f4582a0  /usr/bin/tcc-boot1
 3404d1e8f61be09c1caeba03dcf99abae8881a485fe13160e6bb5fe44538d378  /usr/bin/tcc
 3bfd10dfe347c4fb40fbf5f2f705cd806c77e0f80cf4ad1ecfd4beddada2937c  /usr/lib/mes/libc.a
 12c07ae103e7e3b390150a79e5c600d88de14e9bb73a066f6342582729ef5a3f  /usr/lib/mes/libgetopt.a
diff --git a/steps/tcc-0.9.26/tcc-0.9.26_mes.riscv64.checksums b/steps/tcc-0.9.26/tcc-0.9.26_mes.riscv64.checksums
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..42c01ca6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/steps/tcc-0.9.26/tcc-0.9.26_mes.riscv64.checksums
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+22c74eec2ee1694247fae2958979c2326bab41ecbf5ba279b38417f63bf8892d  /usr/bin/tcc-mes
+4aff7e61488c03322a682a086405831aa4d99681b2761ddc8b0a76888395a11b  /usr/bin/tcc-boot0
+9973b5e730c0b9d65aa0ad2332a51adbb247546478d2e86697bba6de4f2f03fc  /usr/bin/tcc-boot1
diff --git a/steps/tcc-0.9.26/tcc-0.9.26_mes.x86.checksums b/steps/tcc-0.9.26/tcc-0.9.26_mes.x86.checksums
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..23b694d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/steps/tcc-0.9.26/tcc-0.9.26_mes.x86.checksums
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+48f0ac2f1fb8002a6a6958557732b83778f744de3e09085987d65c6981a57ab3  /usr/bin/tcc-mes
+b758fff28f3d03b057b0414eb92da0c46e22bc8e9da29af33fbe65b01047d25d  /usr/bin/tcc-boot0
+56e267e3031f548ea155d61a97fc3e6e8fff277159d7ae3273820a8c0f4582a0  /usr/bin/tcc-boot1
diff --git a/steps/tcc_bootstrap_alt-0.2/pass1.kaem b/steps/tcc_bootstrap_alt-0.2/pass1.kaem
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..84237065
--- /dev/null
+++ b/steps/tcc_bootstrap_alt-0.2/pass1.kaem
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2024 Liam Wilson <cosinusoidally@gmail.com>
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
+
+set -ex
+
+# Check tarball checksums
+checksum-transcriber sources
+sha256sum -c sources.SHA256SUM
+
+# Unpack
+mkdir src
+
+cd src
+ungz --file ${DISTFILES}/${pkg}.tar.gz --output ${pkg}.tar
+
+untar --non-strict --file ./${pkg}.tar
+
+# Build
+cd ./${pkg}
+/bootstrap-seeds/POSIX/x86/hex0-seed ./x86/hex0_x86.hex0 ./x86/artifact/hex0-seed
+chmod 755 ./x86/artifact/hex0-seed
+/bootstrap-seeds/POSIX/x86/hex0-seed ./x86/kaem-minimal.hex0 ./x86/artifact/kaem-optional-seed
+chmod 755 ./x86/artifact/kaem-optional-seed
+kaem --file kaem.x86
+cp artifacts/tcc_27_boot_static.exe /usr/bin/tcc-boot0
+chmod 755 /usr/bin/tcc-boot0
+
+cd ../..
+
+# Checksums
+if match x${UPDATE_CHECKSUMS} xTrue; then
+    sha256sum -o ${pkg}.${ARCH}.checksums \
+        /usr/bin/tcc-boot0
+
+    cp ${pkg}.${ARCH}.checksums ${SRCDIR}
+else
+    sha256sum -c ${pkg}.${ARCH}.checksums
+fi
diff --git a/steps/tcc_bootstrap_alt-0.2/sources b/steps/tcc_bootstrap_alt-0.2/sources
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c0d1c1e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/steps/tcc_bootstrap_alt-0.2/sources
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+https://github.com/cosinusoidally/tcc_bootstrap_alt/releases/download/0.2/tcc_bootstrap_alt-0.2.tar.gz b8afe6d054a7e3e17b7f18a80776eb7c69469913d21e96261eadc598de48484a
diff --git a/steps/tcc_bootstrap_alt-0.2/tcc_bootstrap_alt-0.2.x86.checksums b/steps/tcc_bootstrap_alt-0.2/tcc_bootstrap_alt-0.2.x86.checksums
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..28b0485b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/steps/tcc_bootstrap_alt-0.2/tcc_bootstrap_alt-0.2.x86.checksums
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+68339f674652b934929568b613a74f75668d3fee6664b4d528781d764f5e7750  /usr/bin/tcc-boot0