Getting Started with Jetson Using SDK Manager on Ubuntu 22.04

The finale version, after many, many attempts

This tutorial will cover how to install Ubuntu 22.04 on NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin and Jetson Orin NX series with the NVIDIA SDK Manager.

Requirements

• NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin Development Kit or NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX Development Kit and its accessories (power supply).

• DisplayPort cable and a compatible monitor.

• USB Type A keyboard and mouse

• A Linux host computer with Ubuntu 22.04 installed.

NVIDIA SDK Manager has strict requirement on the host OS version. The system compatibility matrix is available from the SDK Manager website:

Additionally, install these packages on the host system:

sudo apt-get install make build-essential libncurses-dev bison flex libssl-dev libelf-dev

Install NVIDIA SDK Manager

Download SDK Manager from this website.

After download, use apt package manager to install the application.

sudo apt install ~/Downloads/sdkmanager_2.4.0-13235_amd64.deb

Launch SDKManager from the app search page.

Download SDK Components

For this step, we don't need to connect the hardware yet.

Launch SDK Manager.

In Step 01, select the target hardware and the JetPack version.

In Step 02, select to install "Host SDK Components" and "Jetson Linux".

Here, we set download path as

/home/tk/Downloads/nvidia/sdkm_downloads/

and the installation path as

/home/tk/Documents/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/

Wait for download and install.

Towards the end of installation, it will try to connect to the board. We can simply skip this step.

Toolchain Setup

Since we are going to modify the Linux Kernel, we also need to download the compilation toolchain.

Download Bootlin Toolchain gcc 11.3 from the release page:

NVIDIA Jetson Linux Release 36.5NVIDIA Developer

After download, unpack the file to the following directory:

/home/tk/Documents/nvidia/toolchain/aarch64--glibc--stable-2022.08-1/

Configure the Kernel

Sync the kernel source code with Git

cd /home/tk/Documents/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_6.2.2_Linux_JETSON_ORIN_NX_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/source/
./source_sync.sh -t jetson_36.5

A bunch of file will appear under <install_path>/Linux_for_Tegra/source/ .

This process will take quite a while, depending on the Internet connection. To get a better estimate of progress, make edit to the script to show git clone message:

source_sync.sh

  else
		# Clone repository if it doesn't exist
		echo "Cloning ${WHAT_SOURCE} repository ..."
-		if ! git clone ${clone_args} "${REPO_URL}" "${LDK_SOURCE_DIR}" > \
-     /dev/null 2>&1; then
+		if ! git clone ${clone_args} "${REPO_URL}" "${LDK_SOURCE_DIR}"; then
			echo "Failed to clone ${WHAT_SOURCE} repository"
			return 1
		fi
	fi

To enable realtime kernel, run

cd ~/Documents/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_6.2.2_Linux_JETSON_ORIN_NX_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/source/
./generic_rt_build.sh "enable"

By default, the gs_usb module is not included on JetPack 6.X. This makes the USB-CAN adapter unusable.

To add USB-CAN support, edit the config file and add the following fields:

nano ./kernel/kernel-jammy-src/arch/arm64/configs/defconfig

defconfig

CONFIG_CAN=m
+ CONFIG_CAN_GS_USB=m
CONFIG_CAN_VCAN=m
CONFIG_CAN_FLEXCAN=m
CONFIG_CAN_RCAR=m
CONFIG_CAN_RCAR_CANFD=m

defconfig

CONFIG_USB_SERIAL=m
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_CP210X=m
+ CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_CH341=m
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_FTDI_SIO=m
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_OPTION=m

Building the Kernel

Now, we can proceed to build the kernel and out-of-tree modules.

Build Kernel

cd /home/tk/Documents/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_6.2.2_Linux_JETSON_ORIN_NX_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/source/
export CROSS_COMPILE=/home/tk/Documents/nvidia/toolchain/aarch64--glibc--stable-2022.08-1/bin/aarch64-buildroot-linux-gnu-
make -C kernel

export INSTALL_MOD_PATH=/home/tk/Documents/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_6.2.2_Linux_JETSON_ORIN_NX_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/rootfs/
sudo -E make install -C ./kernel/
cp ./kernel/kernel-jammy-src/arch/arm64/boot/Image /home/tk/Documents/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_6.2.2_Linux_JETSON_ORIN_NX_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/kernel/Image

Build OOT Modules

cd /home/tk/Documents/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_6.2.2_Linux_JETSON_ORIN_NX_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/source/
export IGNORE_PREEMPT_RT_PRESENCE=1
export CROSS_COMPILE=/home/tk/Documents/nvidia/toolchain/aarch64--glibc--stable-2022.08-1/bin/aarch64-buildroot-linux-gnu-
export KERNEL_HEADERS=$PWD/kernel/kernel-jammy-src/
make modules

export INSTALL_MOD_PATH=/home/tk/Documents/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_6.2.2_Linux_JETSON_ORIN_NX_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/rootfs/
sudo -E make modules_install

cd /home/tk/Documents/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_6.2.2_Linux_JETSON_ORIN_NX_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/
sudo ./tools/l4t_update_initrd.sh

(Optionally) Build DTB

cd /home/tk/Documents/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_6.2.2_Linux_JETSON_ORIN_NX_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/source/
export CROSS_COMPILE=/home/tk/Documents/nvidia/toolchain/aarch64--glibc--stable-2022.08-1/bin/aarch64-buildroot-linux-gnu-
export KERNEL_HEADERS=$PWD/kernel/kernel-jammy-src/
make dtbs
cp ./kernel-devicetree/generic-dts/dtbs/* /home/tk/Documents/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_6.2.2_Linux_JETSON_ORIN_NX_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/kernel/dtb/

Hardware Connection

Jetson Orin AGX

Connect USB keyboard and mouse, and the DisplayPort port to a monitor.

Connect to the host computer with the provided USB Type-C to Type A cable using the port near the 40 pin header.

Lastly, while holding the recovery button (middle button), connect the USB Type-C power cable. The device will enter recover mode and can be detected on the USB port.

Jetson Orin NX

Launch the SDK Manager again.

After connecting the hardware and powering up the device, it should automatically detect the USB device connection.

This time, in step 02, we select everything.

It should also detect the kernel file we have compiled by indicating "OS image ready".

In the pop up window, set the username and password of the new Jetson system.

Additionally, in this step we need to configure the storage device to install the OS. For Jetson NX, we are going to install to the NVMe SSD disk. For Jetson AGX, we can choose to install to the built-in eMMC device.

About 30% into the installation process, the Jetson will reboot and boot into the system.

When this happens, the SDKManager on the host computer will show this window.

Wait until the Jetson boots up fully, then click Install on the host side.

If it cannot find the device through the USB connection, try Ethernet connection instead.

Note

Sometimes it will report this error:

ERROR Flash Jetson Linux - flash: exportfs: Failed to stat /home/tk/Documents/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_6.2_Linux_JETSON_ORIN_NX_TARGETS/: No such file or directory

In case this happens, a possible solutions is as follows.

sudo nano /etc/exports

Remove ALL the uncommented lines in the file.

Then, try the installation again.

The rest of the installation takes about one hour to finish.

Finally, to verify the installed version, run the following commands on Jetson

sudo apt show nvidia-jetpack -a

Verify USB-CAN Connection

Detect if the CH341 driver module is loaded:

sudo modprobe ch341

On Jetson, the driver might conflict with brltty. In this case, we can use this command to see system log when plugging and unplugging the device:

sudo dmesg --follow

[ 3763.532473] tegra-xusb 3610000.usb: Firmware timestamp: 2023-02-10 03:48:10 UTC
[ 3763.827034] usb 3-4: usbfs: interface 0 claimed by ch341 while 'brltty' sets config #1
[ 3763.834483] ch341-uart ttyUSB0: ch341-uart converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0
[ 3763.834546] ch341 3-4:1.0: device disconnected
[ 3794.251698] usb 3-4: USB disconnect, device number 16
[ 3796.370012] usb 3-4: new full-speed USB device number 17 using xhci_hcd
[ 3796.553318] ch341 3-4:1.0: ch341-uart converter detected
[ 3796.567375] usb 3-4: ch341-uart converter now attached to ttyUSB0
[ 3796.660855] tegra-xusb 3610000.usb: Firmware timestamp: 2023-02-10 03:48:10 UTC
[ 3796.958238] usb 3-4: usbfs: interface 0 claimed by ch341 while 'brltty' sets config #1
[ 3796.965900] ch341-uart ttyUSB0: ch341-uart converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0
[ 3796.965957] ch341 3-4:1.0: device disconnected

In the log above, we observe two issues:

• usbfs: interface 0 claimed by ch341 while 'brltty' sets config #1: This suggests a conflict. The CH341 driver claimed the USB interface, but brltty, a service for braille terminals, also attempted to set the USB configuration at the same time.

• brltty interfered: This conflict caused the CH341 device to become unstable or be disconnected.

When this conflict happens, /dev/ttyUSB will not appear.

To resolve this, stop and permanently disable brltty:

sudo systemctl stop brltty
sudo systemctl disable brltty

If this still does not solve the problem, consider uninstall brltty:

sudo apt remove brltty

References

Jetson AGX Orin Developer Kit User Guide - Two Ways to Set Up SoftwareNVIDIA Developer

Getting Started with reComputer Mini | Seeed Studio Wikiwiki.seeedstudio.com

Quick Start — NVIDIA Jetson Linux Developer Guidedocs.nvidia.com

Kernel Customization — NVIDIA Jetson Linux Developer Guidedocs.nvidia.com

Useful links for USB-CAN

https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/does-jetpack-6-0-not-support-gs-usb-usb-to-can/328702

https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/missing-gs-usb-kernel-module-for-jetpack-6/275287/7

https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/flashing-orion-nx-on-seed-recomputer-j4012-success/290669

Useful links for CH340/CH341 Driver

https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/issue-with-ch340-usb-to-serial-converter-not-creating-device-files-on-jetson-orin-nano-super/326022

https://nvidia-jetson.piveral.com/jetson-orin-nano/orin-nano-wont-detect-arduino-dev-ttyusb-or-dev-ttyacm/

Starting over

To remove all the existing configurations of the SDK Manager, run the following command

rm -rf ~/.nvsdkm/