diff --git a/source/ChanSort.Loader.TCL/DtvDataSerializer.cs b/source/ChanSort.Loader.TCL/DtvDataSerializer.cs
index 89c29b7..1082c8a 100644
--- a/source/ChanSort.Loader.TCL/DtvDataSerializer.cs
+++ b/source/ChanSort.Loader.TCL/DtvDataSerializer.cs
@@ -1,11 +1,14 @@
-#define Win10_TAR
-#define TestBuild
+//#define Win10_TAR
+#define GNU_TAR
+//#define TestBuild
 
-using System.Diagnostics;
 using System.Text;
 using Microsoft.Data.Sqlite;
 using ChanSort.Api;
-#if !Win10_TAR
+#if Win10_TAR
+using System.Diagnostics;
+#elif GNU_TAR
+#else
 using SharpCompress.Archives;
 using SharpCompress.Archives.Tar;
 using SharpCompress.Common;
@@ -31,6 +34,10 @@ namespace ChanSort.Loader.TCL
     private readonly HashSet<string> tableNames = new();
     private readonly StringBuilder protocol = new();
 
+#if GNU_TAR
+    private GnuTar gnuTar;
+#endif
+
     #region ctor()
     public DtvDataSerializer(string inputFile) : base(inputFile)
     {
@@ -140,6 +147,9 @@ namespace ChanSort.Loader.TCL
       psi.Arguments = $"xf \"{this.FileName}\"";
       var proc = Process.Start(psi);
       proc.WaitForExit();
+#elif GNU_TAR
+      this.gnuTar = new GnuTar();
+      gnuTar.ExtractToDirectory(this.FileName, this.TempPath);
 #else
       using var tar = TarArchive.Open(this.FileName);
       var rdr = tar.ExtractAllEntries();
@@ -442,6 +452,8 @@ left outer join CurCIOPSerType c on c.u8DtvRoute=p.u8DtvRoute
       psi.Arguments = $"cf \"{this.FileName}\" *";
       var proc = Process.Start(psi);
       proc.WaitForExit();
+#elif GNU_TAR
+      this.gnuTar.UpdateFromDirectory(this.FileName);
 #else
       using var tar = TarArchive.Create();
       tar.AddAllFromDirectory(this.TempPath);
diff --git a/source/ChanSort.Loader.TCL/GnuTar.cs b/source/ChanSort.Loader.TCL/GnuTar.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..33668ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/ChanSort.Loader.TCL/GnuTar.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,323 @@
+using System.Text;
+
+namespace ChanSort.Loader.TCL;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Minimal implementation to support the contents of TCL's .tar.
+/// Reading supports all "ustar" formats including old-GNU and POSIX 1990 .tar flavors.
+/// Saving uses the "old-GNU" format, that's used by TCL.
+///
+/// Unlike all tools and libraries available under Windows, this implementation preserves unix metadata like:
+/// file mode, user-id, group-id, user name, group name and device major/minor number
+///
+/// Information about GNU tar can be found on https://www.gnu.org/software/tar/manual/html_node/Standard.html 
+/// </summary>
+internal class GnuTar
+{
+  private static readonly DateTime Epoc = new (1970, 1, 1);
+  private static readonly byte[] Padding = new byte[512];
+
+  public Encoding Encoding { get; set; } = Encoding.UTF8;
+  public List<TarEntry> Entries { get; } = new();
+
+  #region ExtractToDirectory()
+  public void ExtractToDirectory(string tarPath, string targetDir)
+  {
+    var data = File.ReadAllBytes(tarPath);
+    this.Read(data);
+
+    foreach (var entry in this.Entries)
+    {
+      if (entry.TypeFlag == TarEntryTypes.Directory)
+      {
+        entry.Path = Path.Combine(targetDir, entry.Name.TrimEnd('/', '\\'));
+        Directory.CreateDirectory(entry.Path);
+      }
+      else if (entry.TypeFlag == TarEntryTypes.File || entry.TypeFlag == TarEntryTypes.File0)
+      {
+        var path = Path.Combine(targetDir, entry.Name);
+        Directory.CreateDirectory(Path.GetDirectoryName(path));
+        using (var outStream = new FileStream(path, FileMode.Create))
+          outStream.Write(data, entry.Position, entry.Size);
+        entry.Path = path;
+        File.SetLastWriteTimeUtc(path, entry.LastModified);
+      }
+      else
+        throw new NotImplementedException($"unsupported tar entry type {(char)entry.TypeFlag} for {entry.Name}");
+    }
+  }
+  #endregion
+
+  #region Read()
+  public void Read(string path)
+  {
+    var stream = new FileStream(path, FileMode.Open);
+    Read(stream, false);
+  }
+
+  public void Read(byte[] data)
+  {
+    using var stream = new MemoryStream(data);
+    Read(stream);
+  }
+
+  public void Read(Stream stream, bool keepOpen = true)
+  {
+    try
+    {
+      Entries.Clear();
+      var header = new byte[512];
+      var memStream = stream as MemoryStream;
+      while (true)
+      {
+        var len = stream.Read(header, 0, 512);
+        if (len < 512)
+          break;
+
+        if (header.All(b => b == 0)) // end block is all-zero
+          break;
+
+        var position = stream.Position;
+        var entry = ReadEntryHeader(header);
+        entry.Data = memStream?.ToArray();
+        entry.Position = (int)position;
+        Entries.Add(entry);
+
+        var extra = entry.Size % 512;
+        if (extra != 0)
+          extra = 512 - extra;
+        stream.Seek(entry.Size + extra, SeekOrigin.Current);
+      }
+    }
+    finally
+    {
+      if (!keepOpen)
+        stream.Dispose();
+    }
+  }
+  #endregion
+
+  #region ReadEntryHeader()
+  private TarEntry ReadEntryHeader(byte[] header)
+  {
+    var e = new TarEntry();
+    e.Name = ReadString(header, 0, 100, this.Encoding);
+    e.Mode = (ushort)ReadNumber(header, 100, 8);
+    e.UserId = ReadNumber(header, 108, 8);
+    e.GroupId = ReadNumber(header, 116, 8);
+    e.Size = ReadNumber(header, 124, 12);
+    var mtime = (uint)ReadNumber(header, 136, 12);
+    e.LastModified = Epoc.AddSeconds(mtime);
+    e.Checksum = (uint)ReadNumber(header, 148, 8);
+    e.TypeFlag = (TarEntryTypes)header[156];
+    e.LinkName = ReadString(header, 157, 100, this.Encoding);
+
+    e.Magic = ReadString(header, 257, 6);
+    e.Version = ReadString(header, 263, 2);
+    if (e.Magic != "ustar" && !(e.Magic == "ustar " && e.Version == " "))
+      throw new InvalidOperationException("not a POSIX/GNU or old-GNU tar");
+    e.Username = ReadString(header, 265, 32, this.Encoding);
+    e.Groupname = ReadString(header, 297, 32, this.Encoding);
+    e.DeviceMajor = ReadOptionalNumber(header, 329, 8);
+    e.DeviceMinor = ReadOptionalNumber(header, 337, 8);
+    e.Prefix = ReadString(header, 345, 155, this.Encoding);
+
+    return e;
+  }
+  #endregion
+
+  #region ReadString(), ReadNumber()
+  private string ReadString(byte[] data, int offset, int length, Encoding encoding = null)
+  {
+    encoding ??= Encoding.ASCII;
+    int idx = Array.IndexOf(data, (byte)0, offset);
+    if (idx == 0)
+      idx = data.Length;
+    if (idx > 0)
+      length = Math.Min(length, idx - offset);
+    return encoding.GetString(data, offset, length);
+  }
+  
+  private int ReadNumber(byte[] data, int offset, int length)
+  {
+    var val = ReadOptionalNumber(data, offset, length);
+    return val ?? 0;
+  }
+
+  private int? ReadOptionalNumber(byte[] data, int offset, int length)
+  {
+    var nr = ReadString(data, offset, length).TrimEnd(' ');
+    return nr.Length == 0 ? null : Convert.ToInt32(nr, 8);
+  }
+
+  #endregion
+
+
+  #region UpdateFromDirectory()
+  public void UpdateFromDirectory(string tarPath)
+  {
+    using var outStream = new FileStream(tarPath, FileMode.Create);
+    using var memStream = new MemoryStream(512);
+    foreach (var entry in this.Entries)
+    {
+      byte[] data = null;
+      if (entry.TypeFlag == TarEntryTypes.Directory)
+      {
+        if (!Directory.Exists(entry.Path))
+          continue;
+      }
+      else
+      {
+        var info = new FileInfo(entry.Path);
+        if (!info.Exists)
+          continue;
+
+        data = File.ReadAllBytes(entry.Path);
+        entry.Size = data.Length;
+        entry.LastModified = info.LastWriteTimeUtc;
+      }
+
+      // prepare header in a memory stream and patch checksum into it
+      memStream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);
+      WriteEntryHeader(entry, memStream);
+      entry.Checksum = CalcChecksum(memStream.GetBuffer());
+      memStream.Seek(148, SeekOrigin.Begin);
+      WriteNumber(memStream, (ushort)entry.Checksum, 7);
+      outStream.Write(memStream.GetBuffer(), 0, 512);
+
+      // write file data
+      if (data != null)
+        outStream.Write(data, 0, data.Length);
+      
+      // padding zeros to 512
+      var padlen = entry.Size % 512;
+      if (padlen != 0)
+        outStream.Write(Padding, 0, 512 - padlen);
+    }
+
+    // end-of-file marker: 2x 512 byte blocks with all zeros
+    outStream.Write(Padding, 0, Padding.Length);
+    outStream.Write(Padding, 0, Padding.Length);
+  }
+  #endregion
+
+  #region CalcChecksum()
+  private uint CalcChecksum(byte[] data)
+  {
+    uint sum = 0;
+    int count = data.Length;
+    for (int i=0; count>0; i++, count--)
+      sum += data[i];
+    return sum;
+  }
+  #endregion
+
+  #region WriteEntryHeader()
+  private void WriteEntryHeader(TarEntry e, Stream strm)
+  {
+    WriteString(strm, e.Name, 100, this.Encoding);
+    WriteNumber(strm, e.Mode, 8);
+    WriteNumber(strm, e.UserId, 8);
+    WriteNumber(strm, e.GroupId, 8);
+    WriteNumber(strm, e.Size, 12);
+    WriteNumber(strm, (int)(e.LastModified - Epoc).TotalSeconds, 12);
+    strm.Write("        "u8.ToArray(), 0, 8); // placeholder for checksum
+    strm.WriteByte((byte)e.TypeFlag);
+    WriteString(strm, e.LinkName, 100, this.Encoding);
+    strm.Write(Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(e.Magic), 0, 6);
+    WriteString(strm, e.Version, 2);
+    WriteString(strm, e.Username, 32);
+    WriteString(strm, e.Groupname, 32);
+    WriteNumber(strm, e.DeviceMajor, 8);
+    WriteNumber(strm, e.DeviceMinor, 8);
+    WriteString(strm, e.Prefix, 155, this.Encoding);
+    strm.Write(Padding, 0, 512 - 500);
+  }
+  #endregion
+
+  #region WriteString()
+  private void WriteString(Stream strm, string str, int length, Encoding enc = null)
+  {
+    enc ??= Encoding.UTF8;
+    var bytes = enc.GetBytes(str);
+    if (bytes.Length >= length)
+    {
+      strm.Write(bytes, 0, length-1);
+      strm.WriteByte(0);
+      return;
+    }
+    
+    strm.Write(bytes, 0, bytes.Length);
+    strm.Write(Padding, 0, length - bytes.Length);
+  }
+  #endregion
+
+  #region WriteNumber()
+  private void WriteNumber(Stream strm, int number, int length)
+  {
+    var str = Convert.ToString((uint)number, 8);
+    if (str.Length >= length)
+      throw new ArgumentException($"{number} is too long for {length} octal digits");
+    for (int i=length - str.Length - 1; i>0; i--)
+      strm.WriteByte((byte)'0');
+    var bytes = Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(str);
+    strm.Write(bytes, 0, bytes.Length);
+    strm.WriteByte(0);
+  }
+
+  private void WriteNumber(Stream strm, int? number, int length)
+  {
+    if (number.HasValue)
+      WriteNumber(strm, number.Value, length);
+    else
+      WriteString(strm, "", length);
+  }
+  #endregion
+}
+
+#region enum TarEntryTypes
+public enum TarEntryTypes : byte
+{
+  File0 = (byte)'\0',
+  File = (byte)'0',
+  Link = (byte)'1',
+  Sym = (byte)'2',
+  CharDevice = (byte)'3',
+  BlockDevice = (byte)'4',
+  Directory = (byte)'5',
+  FiFo = (byte)'6',
+  Cont = (byte)'7',
+  ExtendedFileHeader = (byte)'x',
+  GlobalHeader = (byte)'g'
+}
+#endregion
+
+#region class TarEntry
+class TarEntry
+{
+  // original tar V7
+  public string Name { get; set; }
+  public ushort Mode { get; set; }
+  public int UserId { get; set; }
+  public int GroupId { get; set; }
+  public int Size { get; set; }
+  public DateTime LastModified { get; set; }
+  public uint Checksum { get; set; }
+  public TarEntryTypes TypeFlag { get; set; }
+  public string LinkName { get; set; }
+    
+  // UStar (POSIX 1003.1-1990) / GNU / old-GNU
+  public string Magic { get; set; }
+  public string Version { get; set; }
+  public string Username { get; set; }
+  public string Groupname { get; set; }
+  public int? DeviceMajor { get; set; }
+  public int? DeviceMinor { get; set; }
+  public string Prefix { get; set; }
+
+  // internal
+  public byte[] Data { get; set; }
+  public int Position { get; set; }
+  public string Path { get; set; }
+}
+#endregion
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/source/Information/FileStructures_for_HHD_Hex_Editor_Neo/LaSat_lst.h b/source/Information/FileStructures_for_HHD_Hex_Editor_Neo/LaSat_lst.h
index eb916d0..c433bb9 100644
--- a/source/Information/FileStructures_for_HHD_Hex_Editor_Neo/LaSat_lst.h
+++ b/source/Information/FileStructures_for_HHD_Hex_Editor_Neo/LaSat_lst.h
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#include <stddefs.h>
+#include "chansort.h"
 
 // CRCs are calculated MSB first (left-shift with initial mask 0x80000000), polynomial 0x04C11DB7, init-value 0xFFFFFFFF and exit-XOR 0x00000000
 
diff --git a/source/Information/FileStructures_for_HHD_Hex_Editor_Neo/chansort.h b/source/Information/FileStructures_for_HHD_Hex_Editor_Neo/chansort.h
index 8e30a9c..3de7a07 100644
--- a/source/Information/FileStructures_for_HHD_Hex_Editor_Neo/chansort.h
+++ b/source/Information/FileStructures_for_HHD_Hex_Editor_Neo/chansort.h
@@ -1,8 +1,30 @@
 typedef unsigned char byte;
 typedef unsigned short word;
 typedef unsigned int dword;
+typedef unsigned __int64 qword;
+
+typedef unsigned char BYTE;
+typedef unsigned short WORD;
+typedef unsigned int DWORD;
+typedef unsigned __int64 QWORD;
+
 typedef big_endian unsigned short uc16be;
 
+#ifndef stddef
+
+typedef char int8;
+typedef short int16;
+typedef long int32;
+typedef __int64 int64;
+
+typedef unsigned int uint;
+typedef unsigned char uint8;
+typedef unsigned short uint16;
+typedef unsigned long uint32;
+typedef unsigned __int64 uint64;
+
+#endif
+
 enum ServiceType : byte
 {
 	SDTV = 1,
@@ -11,4 +33,5 @@ enum ServiceType : byte
 	SDTV_MPEG4 = 22,
 	HDTV = 25,
 	Option = 211
-};
\ No newline at end of file
+};
+
diff --git a/source/Information/FileStructures_for_HHD_Hex_Editor_Neo/cvt_database-dat.h b/source/Information/FileStructures_for_HHD_Hex_Editor_Neo/cvt_database-dat.h
index 1942cd3..280c038 100644
--- a/source/Information/FileStructures_for_HHD_Hex_Editor_Neo/cvt_database-dat.h
+++ b/source/Information/FileStructures_for_HHD_Hex_Editor_Neo/cvt_database-dat.h
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#include <stddefs.h>
+#include "chansort.h"
 
 struct StringChar
 {
diff --git a/source/Information/FileStructures_for_HHD_Hex_Editor_Neo/philips_mgr_472.h b/source/Information/FileStructures_for_HHD_Hex_Editor_Neo/philips_mgr_472.h
index 4f4c270..b0ee137 100644
--- a/source/Information/FileStructures_for_HHD_Hex_Editor_Neo/philips_mgr_472.h
+++ b/source/Information/FileStructures_for_HHD_Hex_Editor_Neo/philips_mgr_472.h
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#include <stddefs.h>
+#include "chansort.h"
 
 #pragma byte_order(LittleEndian)
 
diff --git a/source/Information/FileStructures_for_HHD_Hex_Editor_Neo/philips_mgr_476.h b/source/Information/FileStructures_for_HHD_Hex_Editor_Neo/philips_mgr_476.h
index d84193d..c45d611 100644
--- a/source/Information/FileStructures_for_HHD_Hex_Editor_Neo/philips_mgr_476.h
+++ b/source/Information/FileStructures_for_HHD_Hex_Editor_Neo/philips_mgr_476.h
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#include <stddefs.h>
+#include "chansort.h"
 
 #pragma byte_order(LittleEndian)
 
diff --git a/source/Information/FileStructures_for_HHD_Hex_Editor_Neo/philips_mgr_480.h b/source/Information/FileStructures_for_HHD_Hex_Editor_Neo/philips_mgr_480.h
index 7713cdf..da06dbc 100644
--- a/source/Information/FileStructures_for_HHD_Hex_Editor_Neo/philips_mgr_480.h
+++ b/source/Information/FileStructures_for_HHD_Hex_Editor_Neo/philips_mgr_480.h
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#include <stddefs.h>
+#include "chansort.h"
 
 #pragma byte_order(LittleEndian)
 
diff --git a/source/changelog.md b/source/changelog.md
index 2c0cc78..29f013c 100644
--- a/source/changelog.md
+++ b/source/changelog.md
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 ChanSort Change Log 
 ===================
 
+2023-01-08
+- TCL/Thomson .tar: custom implementation for reading/writing .tar archives, preserving all 
+  unix file metadata (based on "old-GNU" .tar flavor, like the files exported by the TV)
+
 2023-01-06_1450
 - .HDB: added support for "Hide"-flag, added Skip/Lock/Fav for TechniSat DVB-C file format