The mimetype file is either compressed or not the first entry in the ZIP package.
PreFlight's repackager strictly places the uncompressed mimetype stream at index 0 with compression set to STORE, guaranteeing 100% EPUB 3 spec compliance.
The EPUB specification requires the file named 'mimetype' containing 'application/epub+zip' to be stored completely uncompressed (STORE method) at byte position 0. Standard zip programs compress everything, which breaks this rule.
Apple Books, Tolino, and e-readers read the first 68 bytes of the file to determine if it is an EPUB. If compressed or displaced, the file is rejected as corrupted.
Technical Specification: ZIP Local File Header at offset 0 must point to 'mimetype', compression method must be 0 (Stored), and no extra field data should precede it.