Quick Start

This topic will help you get started quickly using NVIDIA® Jetson™ Linux 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 NVIDIA® 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. Each Jetson module ships with no software preinstalled; you attach it to a carrier board designed or procured for your end product and flash it with the software image you have developed.

This release of Jetson Linux supports the following Jetson devices:

  • NVIDIA® Jetson AGX Orin™ modules and Jetson AGX Orin Developer Kit

  • NVIDIA® Jetson Xavier™ NX series modules and Jetson Xavier NX Developer Kit

  • NVIDIA® Jetson AGX Xavier™ series modules and Jetson AGX Xavier Developer Kit

For details about these Jetson devices, see the Jetson Software Documentation page of the NVIDIA Edge Computing web site, and the Jetson FAQ.

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.

Later sections of this guide explain in more detail how to:

  • Set up a Jetson developer kit

  • Flash software to a Jetson developer kit

Assumptions

  • You have a Jetson developer kit and a separate Linux host system.

  • 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.)

    • Linux host is connected for flashing through the appropriate USB port of the developer kit.

      For NVIDIA Jetson AGX Xavier Developer Kit, use the USB-C port next to the power button.

      For other Jetson developer kits, use the micro USB port.

    • Any required USB peripherals such as keyboard and mouse are connected to the Jetson developer. You may use a USB hub for this.

    • A wired Ethernet connection with internet access is connected for installing optional software on the developer kit when Jetson Linux has been installed and is running.

    • Either a display device or a serial console is connected. A serial console may be a terminal program running on the host computer or another connected computer.

Environment Variables

Your host system must be configured to set certain environment variables:

  • ${L4T_RELEASE_PACKAGE} contains the pathname of a file that contains the Jetson Linux release package name.

    For Jetson Xavier NX and Jetson AGX Xavier series, set the value Jetson_Linux_L4TRELEASEVERSION.tbz2.

  • ${SAMPLE_FS_PACKAGE} contains the sample file system package’s filename: Tegra_Linux_Sample-Root-Filesystem_L4TRELEASEVERSION.tbz2.

  • ${BOARD} contains the name of a supported configuration of Jetson module and carrier board. The most often-used configurations are:

    • jetson-agx-orin-devkit for a Jetson AGX Orin module and the Jetson AGX Orin Developer Kit reference board

    • jetson-xavier-nx-devkit for a Jetson Xavier NX module and the Jetson Xavier NX Developer Kit reference board

    • jetson-agx-xavier-devkit for a Jetson AGX Xavier module and the Jetson AGX Xavier Developer Kit reference board

To flash Jetson developer kit operating software

  1. Download the latest Jetson Linux release package and sample file system for your Jetson developer kit from https://developer.nvidia.com/linux-tegra

  2. Enter the following 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.

    • For Jetson Xavier NX Developer Kit:

      1. Ensure that your Jetson Xavier NX Developer Kit is powered off, and a 16GB or larger microSD card is inserted in the SD card slot.

      2. Enable Force Recovery Mode by placing 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 developer kit’s power adapter to J16. The developer kit powers on automatically and enters Force Recovery mode.

      4. Remove the jumper from pins 9 and 10 of the button header.

    • 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 Force Recovery button.

  5. Confirm that the developer kit is in Force Recovery Mode by following the procedure To determine whether the developer kit is in force recovery mode.

  6. Enter this command on your Linux host to install (flash) the Jetson release onto the Jetson developer kit:

    $ sudo ./flash.sh ${BOARD} mmcblk0p1
    

    The value of the environment variable ${BOARD} determines the configuration that flash.sh applies. A list of common configurations is given below in Jetson Modules and Configurations.

  7. The Jetson developer kit automatically reboots when the installation process is complete. 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

Jetson Linux provides ready-made support for the following configurations.

Module Module type * Carrier board Configuration Configuration notes
Jetson AGX Orin 32 GB (P3701-0000) Development Jetson AGX Orin reference carrier board (P3737-0000) jetson-agx-orin-devkit Flashes QSPI-NOR and eMMC
Jetson Xavier NX (P3668-0000) Development Jetson Xavier NX reference carrier board (P3509-0000) jetson-xavier-nx-devkit Flashes QSPI-NOR and microSD Card
Jetson Xavier NX 8 GB-DRAM (P3668-0001) & 16 GB-DRAM (P3668-0003) Production Jetson Xavier NX reference carrier board (P3509-0000) jetson-xavier-nx-devkit-emmc Flashes QSPI-NOR and eMMC
Jetson AGX Xavier 16 GB-DRAM (P2888-0001), 32 GB-DRAM (P2888-0003), & 64 GB-DRAM (P2888-0005) Development & production Jetson AGX Xavier reference carrier board (P2822-0000) jetson-agx-xavier-devkit Flashes internal eMMC
Jetson AGX Xavier Industrial (P2888-0008) Production Jetson AGX Xavier reference carrier board (P2822-0000) jetson-agx-xavier-industrial Flashes eMMC
* Development modules are sold only as components of a developer kit. Production modules are compatible with the listed carrier boards, but are intended primarily for production use, and are only sold separately. Development & production modules are sold both ways.

There is a configuration file corresponding to each value of ${BOARD}. Its name is the value of ${BOARD} with the filename extension .conf. For example, the configuration file for jetson-nano-devkit is jetson-nano-devkit.conf.

To Determine Whether the Developer Kit Is in Force Recovery Mode

  1. Connect your Linux host computer to the appropriate USB port on your Jetson developer kit (see Assumptions).

  2. Open a terminal window on your host computer and enter command lsusb. The Jetson module is in Force Recovery Mode if you see the 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 your Jetson module:

      • 7023 for Jetson AGX Orin (P3701-0000)

      • 7e19 for Jetson Xavier NX (P3668-0000 development m)

      • 7e19 for Jetson Xavier NX (P3668-0001)

      • 7019 for Jetson AGX Xavier (P2888-0001 with 16GB)

      • 7019 for Jetson AGX Xavier (P2888-0004 with 32GB)

      • 7019 for Jetson AGX Xavier Industrial (P2888-0008)