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 the Jetson AGX Orin Developer Kit
NVIDIA^® Jetson Orin™ NX modules and the Jetson Xavier NX Developer Kit carrier board
NVIDIA^® Jetson Xavier™ NX series modules and the Jetson Xavier NX Developer Kit
NVIDIA^® Jetson AGX Xavier™ series modules and the 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 (Ubuntu 18.04 or Ubuntu 20.04) 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.
- A display device or a serial console is connected. A serial console is a terminal program, such as minicom, that runs on the host computer or another connected computer.
- If flashing the rootfs to an SD card on Orin NX or Xavier NX, the card must be 64GB or larger.

Environment Variables¶

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

${L4T_RELEASE_PACKAGE} contains the name of the Jetson Linux release package: Jetson_Linux_<version>_aarch64.tbz2.
${SAMPLE_FS_PACKAGE} contains the name of the sample file system package: Tegra_Linux_Sample-Root-Filesystem_<version>_aarch64.tbz2.
${BOARD} contains the name of a supported configuration of Jetson module and the carrier board. Common values for this field can be found in the Configuration column in the Jetson Modules and Configurations table.

To Flash the Jetson Developer Kit Operating Software¶

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

Enter the following commands to untar the files and assemble the rootfs:

$ tar xf ${L4T_RELEASE_PACKAGE}
$ sudo tar xpf ${SAMPLE_FS_PACKAGE} -C Linux_for_Tegra/rootfs/
$ cd Linux_for_Tegra/
$ sudo ./apply_binaries.sh
$ sudo ./tools/l4t_flash_prerequisites.sh

Ensure that your Jetson developer kit is configured and connected to your Linux host as described in Assumptions.
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 64GB 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.
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.

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

Jetson AGX Orin Devkit:

$ sudo ./flash.sh jetson-agx-orin-devkit internal

Jetson AGX Xavier Devkit:

$ sudo ./flash.sh jetson-agx-xavier-devkit internal

Jetson Orin NX + Xavier NX Devkit (NVMe):

$ sudo ./tools/kernel_flash/l4t_initrd_flash.sh --external-device nvme0n1p1 \
  -c tools/kernel_flash/flash_l4t_external.xml -p "-c bootloader/t186ref/cfg/flash_t234_qspi.xml" \
  --showlogs --network usb0 p3509-a02+p3767-0000 internal

Jetson Orin NX + Xavier NX Devkit (USB):

$ sudo ./tools/kernel_flash/l4t_initrd_flash.sh --external-device sda1 \
  -c tools/kernel_flash/flash_l4t_external.xml -p "-c bootloader/t186ref/cfg/flash_t234_qspi.xml" \
  --showlogs --network usb0 p3509-a02+p3767-0000 internal

Jetson Xavier NX Devkit (SD card):

$ sudo ./flash.sh jetson-xavier-nx-devkit internal

A list of common configurations is provided in Jetson Modules and Configurations.

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 Dev-Kit Module (P3701-0000)	Development	Jetson AGX Orin reference carrier board (P3737-0000)	`jetson-agx-orin-devkit`	Flashes QSPI-NOR and eMMC
Jetson AGX Orin 32GB-DRAM (P3701-0004)	Production	Jetson AGX Orin reference carrier board (P3737-0000)	`jetson-agx-orin-devkit`	Flashes QSPI-NOR and eMMC
Jetson Orin NX (P3767-0000)	Production	Jetson Xavier NX reference carrier board (P3509-0000)	`p3509-a02+p3767-0000`	Flashes QSPI-NOR and USB/NVMe drive (only supported via l4t_initrd_flash.sh)
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) and 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), and 64 GB-DRAM (P2888-0005)	Development and 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 the components of a developer kit. Production modules are compatible with the listed carrier boards and are mainly intended for production use, so they are only sold separately. Development and production modules are sold both ways.

For each configuration shown above, there is a corresponding file with the 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¶

Connect your Linux host computer to the appropriate USB port on your Jetson developer kit (see Assumptions).
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 Developer Kit module)
  - 7223 for Jetson AGX Orin (P3701-0004 with 32GB)
  - 7323 for Jetson Orin NX (P3767-0000 with 16GB)
  - 7423 for Jetson Orin NX (P3767-0001 with 8GB)
  - 7523 for Jetson Orin Nano (P3767-0003 with 8GB)
  - 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 (P2888-0005 with 64GB)
  - 7019 for Jetson AGX Xavier Industrial (P2888-0008)