Preparing a Jetson Developer Kit for Use
This section explains how to prepare a Jetson developer kit for use by flashing it with the appropriate software.
Assumptions
•You have a Jetson developer kit.
For the Jetson Nano Developer Kit, you can skip this guide and simply download and use the supported microSD card image. Alternatively, you can follow these instructions to flash the QSPI-NOR, or flash the QSPI-NOR and a microSD card inserted on the Jetson Nano module.
•Your Jetson developer kit is powered off, and is connected as follows. (Note that your Jetson developer kit may not come with the devices and cables listed below.)
•A USB cable connects the correct USB port on your Jetson developer kit to your Linux host for flashing.
For the NVIDIA Jetson AGX Xavier Developer Kit, use the USB-C port next to the power button. For the other Jetson developer kits, use the micro USB port.
•Any required USB peripherals such as keyboard and mouse are connected to the Jetson developer kit, possibly through a USB hub.
•A wired Ethernet connection is available for installing optional software on the Jetson developer kit after L4T is installed and running.
•Either a display device or a serial console is connected to the Jetson developer kit.
•The qemu-user-static package has been installed on the Linux host:
sudo apt-get install qemu-user-static
The installation process needs this package to install certain NVIDIA software components onto the Jetson developer kit.
Environment Variables
The directions that follow assume that:
•${L4T_RELEASE_PACKAGE} contains the L4T release package’s name.
•For Jetson Nano and Jetson TX1 modules: Jetson-210_Linux_r32.4.2_aarch64.tbz2
•For Jetson Xavier NX, Jetson AGX Xavier series, and Jetson TX2 series modules: Jetson_Linux_L4T r32.4.2_aarch64.tbz2
•${SAMPLE_FS_PACKAGE} contains the filename of the sample filesystem package:
Tegra_Linux_Sample-Root-Filesystem_L4TRELEASEVERSION.tbz2
•${BOARD} contains the name of a configuration supported for your specific Jetson module and carrier board.
Some examples are:
•jetson-nano-devkit
•jetson-tx2-devkit
•jetson-xavier-nx-devkit
Recent and future configuration files’ names follow this format:
<board_part_number>+<module_part_number>[-<modifier>].conf
•<board_part_number> is the P‑number (the full part number) for the NVIDIA carrier board that the .conf file supports.
•<module_part_number> is the P‑number for the Jetson module that the .conf file supports.
•<modifier> is an optional string that indicates which of several configurations the .conf file applies; for example, on a module that may have either eMMC or microSD card memory, which one it uses to flash the operating software.
Older configuration files’ name generally follow this format:
<config_name>[-<modifier>].conf
Where <config_name> is a name that represents the carrier board and module that the .conf file supports.
To flash Jetson Developer Kit operating software
1.Download the latest L4T release package and sample file system for your Jetson developer kit from:
2.Enter these commands to untar the files and assemble the rootfs:
$ tar xf ${L4T_RELEASE_PACKAGE}
$ cd Linux_for_Tegra/rootfs/
$ sudo tar xpf ../../${SAMPLE_FS_PACKAGE}
$ cd ..
$ sudo ./apply_binaries.sh
3.Ensure that your Jetson developer kit is configured and connected to your Linux host as described in Assumptions.
4.Put your Jetson developer kit into Force Recovery Mode (RCM).
•For Jetson Xavier NX Developer Kit:
1)Ensure that your Jetson Xavier NX developer kit is powered off, and that a 16 GB or larger size microSD card is inserted in the SD card slot.
2)To ensure that the developer kit starts in Force Recovery Mode, place a jumper across pins 9 and 10 (FC REC and GND) of the button header (J14), located on the edge of the carrier board under the Jetson module.
3)Connect the included power adapter to J16. The developer kit powers on and enters Force Recovery mode.
4)Remove the jumper from pins 9 and 10 of the button header.
5)Continue the software installation.
•For the Jetson Nano Developer Kit:
6)Ensure that your Jetson Nano Developer Kit is powered off, and that a 16 GB or larger microSD card is inserted into the module’s microSD card slot.
7)To ensure that the developer kit starts in Force Recovery Mode, place a jumper across the FRC pins of the button header on the carrier board.
•For carrier board revision A02, these are pins 3 and 4 of J40, which is located near the camera header.
•For carrier board revision B01, these are pins 9 and 10 of J50, which is located on the edge of the carrier board under the Jetson module.
8)Place a jumper across J48 to enable use of a DC power adapter.
9)Connect a DC power adapter to J25. The developer kit powers on automatically and enters Force Recovery Mode.
10)Remove the jumper from the FRC pins of the button header.
11)Continue the software installation.
•For other Jetson developer kits that have hardware buttons:
1)Ensure that the developer kit is powered off.
2)Press and hold down the Force Recovery button.
3)Press, then release the Power button.
4)Release the Recovery button.
5)Continue the software installation.
You can confirm that your developer kit is in Force Recovery mode by following the procedure in To determine whether the developer kit is in Force Recovery mode.
5.Enter this command on your Linux host to flash (install) the L4T release onto the Jetson developer kit:
sudo ./flash.sh ${BOARD} mmcblk0p1
The value of the environment variable $(BOARD) determines the configuration that the flashing script applies. The table at the end of this section describes the configurations available for each Jetson module with its respective Jetson developer kit carrier board.
There is a configuration file that corresponds to each value of $(BOARD). Its name is the value of $(BOARD) with the filename $(BOARD).conf. For example, the configuration file that corresponds to jetson-nano-devkit is jetson-nano-devkit.conf.
Flashing L4T takes about 10 minutes, or more with a slow host computer.
6.The Jetson developer kit automatically reboots at the end of the installation process. At this point your Jetson developer kit is operational. Follow the prompts on the display to set up a user account and log in.
To determine whether the developer kit is in Force Recovery mode
1.Connect your Linux host to the correct USB port on your Jetson developer kit (see Assumptions).
2.Open a terminal window on your host and enter the command lsusb.
The Jetson module is in Force Recovery mode if you see this message:
Bus <bbb> Device <ddd>: ID 0955: <nnnn> Nvidia Corp.
Where:
•<bbb> is any three-digit number
•<ddd> is any three-digit number
•<nnnn> is a four-digit number that represents the type of Jetson module:
As an alternative, you can look for the message above on the display device or serial console connected to one of the developer kit’s USB ports. (See Assumptions.)