The information here is intended to help you get started quickly using the NVIDIA® Jetson™ Linux Driver Package (L4T) in conjunction with an NVIDIA Jetson developer kit.
Types and Models of Jetson Devices
Both Jetson modules and Jetson developer kits are available from NVIDIA. A Jetson developer kit includes a non-production specification Jetson module attached to a reference carrier board. You can use it with the JetPack SDK to develop and test software for your use case. Jetson developer kits are not intended for production use.
Jetson modules are suitable for deployment in a production environment throughout their operating lifetime. A Jetson module ships with no software preinstalled; you attach it to a carrier board designed or procured for your product and flash it with a software image you have developed.
This release of L4T supports the following Jetson devices:
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:
• <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:
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.
Jetson Modules and Configurations with Respective Jetson Developer Kit Carrier Board
Module Part Number
Module Notes
Value of $(BOARD)
Notes
Jetson Xavier NX P3668-0000
For development; not for production use.
jetson-xavier-nx-devkit
Flashes QSPI-NOR and microSD card.
Jetson Xavier NX
P3668-0001
For Development or production use.
jetson-xavier-nx-devkit-emmc
Flashes QSPI-NOR and eMMC.
Jetson Nano P3448-0000
For development; not for production use. Has a microSD card slot instead of eMMC memory.
jetson-nano-devkit
Flashes QSPI‑NOR and microSD card.
Jetson Nano P3448-0002
For development or production use.
jetson-nano-devkit-emmc
Flashes QSPI-NOR and eMMC.
Jetson AGX Xavier
P2888-0001 (16 GB)
P2888-0004 (32 GB)
For development or production use.
jetson-agx-xavier-devkit
Flashes eMMC for P2888-0001 (16 GB) or P2888-004 (32 GB).
P2888-0006 (8 GB)
jetson-agx-xavier-devkit-8gb
Flashes eMMC to P2888-006 (8 GB).
Jetson TX2
P3310-1000
For development or production use.
jetson-tx2-devkit
Flashes eMMC.
Jetson TX2i
P3489-0000
jetson-tx2-devkit-tx2i
Jetson TX2 4GB
P3489-0080
jetson-tx2-devkit-4GB
Jetson TX1
P2180-1000
For development with Jetson TX1 or TX2 developer kit, or production use.
jetson-tx1-devkit
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:
Module
<nnnn>
Module Description
Jetson Xavier NX
P3668-0000
7e19
Supplied with developer kit
P3668-0001
7e19
Production
Jetson Nano
P3448-0000
7f21
Supplied with developer kit
P3448-0002
7f21
Production
Jetson AGX Xavier series
P2888-0001
7019
16 GB memory
P2888-0004
7019
32 GB memory
P2888-0006
7e19
8 GB memory
Jetson TX2 series
P3310-1000
7c18
Jetson TX2
P3489-0000
7018
Jetson TX2i
P3489-0888
7418
Jetson TX2 4GB
Jetson TX1
P2180-1000
7721
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.)
This section applies only to upgrading L4T on a system where Jetpack is not installed.
To upgrade JetPack and L4T components to a new JetPack release on a system where both are installed, see the instructions in the JetPack documentation.
NVIDIA does not recommend installing L4T Debian packages on an L4T release earlier than r32.3.1, or on a system that is based on Ubuntu without NVIDIA customizations (without L4T).
apt reads a list of packages from the remote APT repository and identifies new and upgradable packages.
2. Enter the command:
apt list --upgradable
apt displays a list of new and upgradable packages.
3. To install the basic packages for L4T, enter the command:
sudo apt upgrade
4. Reboot your Jetson device when the upgrade is finished.
To upgrade to new minor release
1. Open the apt source configuration file in a text editor, for example:
$ sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nvidia-l4t-apt-source.list
2. Change the repository name and download URL in the deb commands.
The original commands are:
deb https://repo.download.nvidia.com/jetson/common r32 main
deb https://repo.download.nvidia.com/jetson/<platform> r32 main
Where <platform> is identifies the platform’s processor:
• t186 for Jetson TX2 series
• t194 for Jetson AGX Xavier series or Jetson Xavier NX
• t210 for Jetson Nano or Jetson TX1
Change the repository name from r32 to r32.4, and <platform> to the appropriate processor name for your platform. If your platform is Jetson Xavier NX, for example:
deb https://repo.download.nvidia.com/jetson/common r32.4 main
deb https://repo.download.nvidia.com/jetson/t194r32.4 main
3. Save and close the source configuration file.
4. Enter the commands:
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt dist-upgrade
If apt prompts you to choose a configuration file, reply Y for yes (to use the NVIDIA updated version of the file).
5. Reboot your Jetson device when the upgrade is finished.
