Help remastering Knoppix 3.7, KNOPPIX file too small

Hello,
I'm using the Klaus scripts to remaster Knoppix 3.7.
I created a remaster directory on a hard drive. As I settle in on the desired package content for the disc, I have repeatedly cycled through:
- chroot into the remaster
- use apt-get to install or remove some packages
- use the scripts to generate compressed filesystem, write ISO

This USUALLY works for me in the sense that I end up with an .iso of the correct size (about 650 MB in my case) and a disc made from the .iso boots correctly.

However, I have occasionally ended up with .iso files that are MUCH too small (like ~200 MB instead of ~650 MB). In the past, running the scripts again to make a new compressed filesystem and make a new .iso has resulted in a correctly sized (and functional) .iso. It seemed to help to have the internet connection active when running the 'make compressed filesystem' step. (I always say 'yes' to cleaning up the remaster).

Now I'm happy with the package content but CANNOT get a full sized .iso file. When the compressed file system is being created, it appears to end normally with messages indicating that there are about 29500 65536 size blocks (about 1.8 GB) and an overall compression ratio of 35%. So the resulting KNOPPIX file should be about 650 MB. But when I go look at the KNOPPIX file in the remaster directory tree, it is way too small (150 to 300 MB file size). The file size varies from one attempt to the next.

Any ideas as to what would cause this and how to deal with it?
Any suggestions for further debug ?

I have tried running the Klaus scripts both from the console and from within KDE. My most recent attempts were from the console where the re-apperance of the gui/menu obscures any error information that may have been output.

I suspected that insufficient swap space could cause this, but I still get the problem with a 2.5 GB swap file.

Thanks for Knoppix. Thanks to Klaus. Thanks for any advice.

Eddie

Here's some more information.
I tried a few more times, running the knoppix-remaster script from a shell in KDE, and repeated the problem several times. In each case, the last info in the terminal (after the compression completes) says that a process was 'terminated'. (It gives a process number, so presumably one of the commands in the Knoppix-3.4.mkcompressed script is getting 'terminated'.

I had been using the 2.6 kernel (for this boot and many previous attempts). Not knowing how to debug a 'process terminated' situation, I tried booting with the 2.4 kernel. Running with the 2.4 kernel, I was successful in my first attempt to create a compressed file system. It is a sample size of one, but it worked....