diff --git a/iso/docker/Dockerfile.arm64 b/iso/docker/Dockerfile.arm64
index e9213e6..442c6c2 100644
--- a/iso/docker/Dockerfile.arm64
+++ b/iso/docker/Dockerfile.arm64
@@ -65,8 +65,6 @@ RUN git clone --depth=1 https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/archiso.git /tmp/
     install -Dm755 /tmp/archiso/scripts/run_archiso.sh /usr/bin/run_archiso && \
     install -d /usr/share/archiso && \
     cp -a /tmp/archiso/configs /usr/share/archiso/ && \
-    echo "=== archiso hook locations ===" && \
-    find /tmp/archiso -name "archiso" -not -path "*/\.git/*" | sort && \
     rm -rf /tmp/archiso
 
 # Pre-download linux-aarch64 and create a local pacman repo so mkarchiso
diff --git a/iso/docker/entrypoint-arm64.sh b/iso/docker/entrypoint-arm64.sh
index 309b98f..96f4244 100755
--- a/iso/docker/entrypoint-arm64.sh
+++ b/iso/docker/entrypoint-arm64.sh
@@ -146,31 +146,128 @@ rm -f "$PROFILE/packages.x86_64"
 # ── 3. airootfs overlay — files that land in the live system ─────────
 AIROOTFS="$PROFILE/airootfs"
 
-# The archiso mkinitcpio hooks must be in the airootfs chroot so mkinitcpio
-# can build a working initramfs. ALARM has no archiso package, so we find
-# the hooks from the archiso source we copied into /usr/share/archiso/.
+# The archiso mkinitcpio hooks are not shipped as separate files in the
+# archiso git repo. ALARM has no archiso package. Write them here with
+# correct module loading, device detection, and overlay setup.
 mkdir -p "$AIROOTFS/usr/lib/initcpio/hooks" "$AIROOTFS/usr/lib/initcpio/install"
 
-_find_hook() {
-    # Try releng airootfs first, then any other location under /usr/share/archiso
-    local name="$1"
-    local found
-    found=$(find /usr/share/archiso -path "*/initcpio/${name}/archiso" | head -1)
-    echo "${found}"
+cat > "$AIROOTFS/usr/lib/initcpio/hooks/archiso" <<'HOOK'
+#!/usr/bin/ash
+
+run_earlyhook() {
+    # Load all modules needed for live boot before udev runs
+    modprobe -q squashfs 2>/dev/null || true
+    modprobe -q overlay  2>/dev/null || true
+    modprobe -q iso9660  2>/dev/null || true
+    modprobe -q loop     2>/dev/null || true
+    modprobe -q vfat     2>/dev/null || true
 }
 
-_hook_runtime=$(_find_hook "hooks")
-_hook_install=$(_find_hook "install")
+run_hook() {
+    # Read kernel cmdline parameters
+    for _param in $(cat /proc/cmdline); do
+        case "${_param}" in
+            archisobasedir=*) archisobasedir="${_param#archisobasedir=}" ;;
+            archisolabel=*)   archisolabel="${_param#archisolabel=}"     ;;
+        esac
+    done
+    [ -z "${archisobasedir}" ] && archisobasedir="arch"
+    export mount_handler="archiso_mount_handler"
+}
 
-if [[ -n "$_hook_runtime" && -n "$_hook_install" ]]; then
-    install -m755 "$_hook_runtime" "$AIROOTFS/usr/lib/initcpio/hooks/archiso"
-    install -m755 "$_hook_install" "$AIROOTFS/usr/lib/initcpio/install/archiso"
-    echo ">>> Official archiso mkinitcpio hooks installed (from $_hook_runtime)"
-else
-    echo "ERROR: archiso mkinitcpio hooks not found under /usr/share/archiso — listing:"
-    find /usr/share/archiso -name "archiso" 2>/dev/null | sort
-    exit 1
-fi
+archiso_mount_handler() {
+    local _newroot="${1}"
+    local _dev _sfs _arch _i
+
+    # Find ISO device by label; fall back to any iso9660 device
+    _i=0
+    while [ "${_i}" -lt 30 ]; do
+        if [ -n "${archisolabel}" ]; then
+            _dev=$(blkid -l -t "LABEL=${archisolabel}" -o device 2>/dev/null)
+        fi
+        [ -z "${_dev}" ] && \
+            _dev=$(blkid -t TYPE=iso9660 -o device 2>/dev/null | head -1)
+        [ -n "${_dev}" ] && break
+        sleep 1
+        _i=$(( _i + 1 ))
+    done
+
+    if [ -z "${_dev}" ]; then
+        echo "ERROR: archiso: cannot find ISO device (label=${archisolabel})"
+        return 1
+    fi
+    echo ":: archiso: found device ${_dev}"
+
+    mkdir -p /run/archiso/bootmnt
+    mount -r "${_dev}" /run/archiso/bootmnt || {
+        echo "ERROR: archiso: cannot mount ${_dev}"
+        return 1
+    }
+
+    # Squashfs path: arch/<uname -m>/airootfs.sfs
+    _arch=$(uname -m)
+    _sfs="/run/archiso/bootmnt/${archisobasedir}/${_arch}/airootfs.sfs"
+    echo ":: archiso: mounting squashfs ${_sfs}"
+
+    mkdir -p /run/archiso/airootfs
+    if ! mount -r -t squashfs "${_sfs}" /run/archiso/airootfs; then
+        echo "ERROR: archiso: cannot mount squashfs ${_sfs}"
+        echo "       contents of /run/archiso/bootmnt/${archisobasedir}/:"
+        ls "/run/archiso/bootmnt/${archisobasedir}/" 2>/dev/null || true
+        return 1
+    fi
+
+    # Writable overlay on top of the read-only squashfs
+    mkdir -p /run/archiso/cowspace
+    mount -t tmpfs -o size=75%,mode=0755 tmpfs /run/archiso/cowspace
+    mkdir -p /run/archiso/cowspace/upper /run/archiso/cowspace/work
+
+    mount -t overlay overlay \
+        -o "lowerdir=/run/archiso/airootfs,upperdir=/run/archiso/cowspace/upper,workdir=/run/archiso/cowspace/work" \
+        "${_newroot}" || {
+        echo "ERROR: archiso: overlay mount failed"
+        return 1
+    }
+    echo ":: archiso: overlay ready"
+}
+HOOK
+chmod 755 "$AIROOTFS/usr/lib/initcpio/hooks/archiso"
+
+cat > "$AIROOTFS/usr/lib/initcpio/install/archiso" <<'INSTALL'
+#!/bin/bash
+
+build() {
+    add_runscript
+
+    # Filesystems for the live medium
+    add_module squashfs
+    add_module overlay
+    add_module iso9660
+    add_module loop
+    add_module vfat
+    add_module fat
+    add_module nls_cp437
+    add_module nls_iso8859_1
+    add_module nls_utf8
+
+    # Required binaries
+    add_binary blkid
+    add_binary losetup
+    add_binary sleep
+    add_binary uname
+
+    # Pre-create mount points so the initramfs has them
+    add_dir /run/archiso/bootmnt
+    add_dir /run/archiso/airootfs
+    add_dir /run/archiso/cowspace
+}
+
+help() {
+    echo "Mounts the archiso squashfs live root via overlay."
+}
+INSTALL
+chmod 755 "$AIROOTFS/usr/lib/initcpio/install/archiso"
+echo ">>> archiso mkinitcpio hooks written to airootfs"
 
 mkdir -p "$AIROOTFS/etc/mkinitcpio.conf.d"
 cat > "$AIROOTFS/etc/mkinitcpio.conf.d/archiso.conf" <<'MKCONF'