Booting Jetson AGX Orin from USB

Robotics & Edge Computing Jetson Systems Jetson AGX Orin
1

Hello. I have been following the Quick Start guide and when I am using the latest Jetson ISO form a USB the Orin will not boot into the USB. I used the recommended Belena Etcher to make the ISO USB. I also tried Rufus and redownloaded the ISO multiple times to make sure that wasn’t the problem. It will boot into the preinstalled ubuntu environment but just not from USB. Please advise!

2

— 🤖 This is an automated AI response. I’m here to help, but please verify important details! —

I could not find clear support for booting Jetson AGX Orin from a USB drive in the provided documentation. However, I found information on booting from an SD card.

To boot Jetson Orin Nano Developer Kit with a microSD card for JetPack 6.2, you can follow these steps:

  1. Download the latest JetPack 6.x image for Jetson Orin Nano Developer Kit from the official JetPack page.
  2. Use Balena Etcher to flash the SD card with the image.
  3. Insert the SD card into the slot on the Jetson module.
  4. Power-on by plugging the DC power supply.
  5. Complete the initial software setup (oem-config).
  6. Ensure firmware update is scheduled.

Please note that this information is specific to booting from an SD card, and I couldn’t find any information on booting from a USB drive. If you have any further questions or concerns, please let me know.

— We support team will also look into your issue to have further suggestions soon. please stay tuned. —

4

If the developer kit does not boot from the USB flash drive automatically, open the UEFI boot manager during boot and select the USB flash drive. quick_start If it goes to fast to see how to open uefi boot manager then try:

power off Orin.
power on Orin
hit esc key repeatedly to get in to menu.
Then you can pick Boot Manager
Then pick your usb stick and hit enter and Orin should reboot into the usb stick installation.

5

Hi @jacob.laube,

For Jetson AGX Orin Developer Kit, the Jetson ISO USB path is supported, but there are two details to check first:

  1. Confirm the currently installed BSP version

    Since your board still boots into the preinstalled Ubuntu environment, please run:

    cat /etc/nv_tegra_release

    The current Jetson ISO path for JetPack 7.2 / L4T r39.2 requires the installed BSP to be L4T r35.5 or newer. If your devkit is running a release older than r35.5, please update/flash it to r35.5 or newer first, then retry the Jetson ISO method.

  2. Select the USB device from the UEFI Boot Manager

    After writing the Jetson ISO image to the USB drive, insert it before powering on the AGX Orin. If it boots from eMMC instead of the USB stick, open the UEFI Boot Manager during boot and manually select the USB flash drive.

    If you see a QSPI capsule update prompt during the Jetson ISO boot flow, please confirm it with Y. That update is required when the installed firmware is older than the firmware bundled with the ISO.

Recommendation: please start by sharing the output of cat /etc/nv_tegra_release, the exact Jetson ISO filename or download link you used, and whether the USB stick appears in the UEFI Boot Manager. Also let us know what happens after selecting the USB entry, for example whether it returns to eMMC boot, shows a black screen, reaches the Jetson ISO GRUB menu, or reports an error.

Official reference: Jetson AGX Orin Developer Kit Quick Start Guide - Update BSP with Jetson ISO

Hope this helps!

6

cat /etc/nv_tegra_release

R35 (release), REVISION: 4.1, GCID: 33958178, BOARD: t186ref, EABI: aarch64, DATE: Tue Aug 1 19:57:35 UTC 2023

When I restart and rapidly press esc it goes to a black screen and does not boot into Ubuntu environment. It will run when I dont have USB flash media plugged in. I am using this download link

So it seems like the devkit is on a release older than r35.5 which would maybe explain this issue. I will try that

Could you point me to where I can find the r35.5?

7

Hi @jacob.laube,

Thanks for confirming the BSP version.

Your current release is L4T r35.4.1, which is below the r35.5 prerequisite for using the current Jetson ISO update path. Please update the AGX Orin Developer Kit to L4T r35.5.0 or newer first, then retry the Jetson ISO method.

You can get L4T r35.5.0 from the JetPack 5.1.3 / Jetson Linux 35.5.0 pages:

1. **JetPack 5.1.3 page**

https://developer.nvidia.com/embedded/jetpack-sdk-513

2. **Jetson Linux 35.5.0 download page**

https://developer.nvidia.com/embedded/jetson-linux-r3550

For AGX Orin Developer Kit, the usual options are to use SDK Manager with JetPack 5.1.3, or to use the Jetson Linux 35.5.0 Driver Package (BSP) and Sample Root Filesystem from the Jetson Linux page and follow the Jetson Linux Quick Start flashing flow for `jetson-agx-orin-devkit`.

After the board is updated to r35.5.0 or newer, please retry the Jetson ISO USB flow. If it still does not boot automatically from the USB stick, open the UEFI Boot Manager and manually select the USB flash drive. If you see a QSPI capsule update prompt during the ISO boot flow, please confirm it with `Y`.

For the black screen case, please also try with the monitor connected directly to the AGX Orin Developer Kit DisplayPort output, without a KVM switch if possible, while retrying the ISO boot path.

Official references:

- JetPack Archive: https://developer.nvidia.com/embedded/jetpack-archive

- Jetson AGX Orin Developer Kit Quick Start - Update BSP with Jetson ISO: Quick Start Guide — Jetson AGX Orin Developer Kit - User Guide

- Jetson Linux r35.5.0 Quick Start: Quick Start — NVIDIA Jetson Linux Developer Guide 1 documentation

Hope this helps!