Cannot flash JetPack 7.2 on custom carrier board (Jetson Orin AGX) — tegrarcm_v2 USB write timeout + RCM boot ping failure, but works fine on JP6

Robotics & Edge Computing Jetson Systems Jetson AGX Orin
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1

Hi everyone,

I’m stuck on a flashing issue with a custom carrier board (Jetson Orin AGX module) and would appreciate any pointers.

Setup

  • Custom carrier board + Jetson Orin AGX module (Tegra234, chip 0x23)
  • The same board flashes and boots perfectly on JetPack 6.x.
  • I’m now trying to flash JetPack 7.2, and it fails consistently.

The failure is identical whether I use the stock NVIDIA firmware or my own custom firmware, so I don’t think this is a BCT/image issue — it looks board- or bootloader-flow-related.

Symptom 1 — massflash: USB write timeout

sudo ./tools/kernel_flash/l4t_initrd_flash.sh --flash-only --massflash 1 --network usb0 --showlogs
[   0.3935 ] tegrarcm_v2 --instance 1-10.1 --chip 0x23 0 --pollbl --download bct_mem mem_rcm_sigheader.bct.encrypt --download blob blob.bin
[   0.3938 ] BL: version 1.0.1.17-t234-54845784-9b0d5809 last_boot_error: 0
[   0.4031 ] Sending bct_mem
[   0.4098 ] Sending blob
[   0.5493 ] ERROR: might be timeout in USB write.
Error: Return value 3
Command tegrarcm_v2 --instance 1-10.1 --chip 0x23 0 --pollbl --download bct_mem mem_rcm_sigheader.bct.encrypt --download blob blob.bin
Cleaning up...

Symptom 2 — initrd flash to NVMe: RCM boot ping failure

sudo ./tools/kernel_flash/l4t_initrd_flash.sh --external-device nvme0n1p1 -c tools/kernel_flash/flash_l4t_nvme.xml -S 80GiB -p "-c bootloader/generic/cfg/flash_t234_qspi.xml" --network usb0 jetson-agx-orin-devkit external

15:30:11.930 - Error: Timeout
15:30:11.934 - Error: Device ping failed after RCM boot.
15:30:11.938 - Error: This can be due to XUSB not being enabled or device failed to boot.
15:30:11.942 - Error: Please retrieve the serial log to debug further.

Isolation testing (to rule out module / SSD)

  1. A stock NVIDIA Jetson Orin AGX dev kit flashes successfully with both stock and custom firmware.
  2. I then took the module + SSD from that working dev kit and installed them on my custom carrier board — flashing fails with the exact same errors.

So the only variable is the carrier board; the module and SSD are proven good.

My question

The same module + SSD flashes fine on the official dev kit but fails on my custom carrier board — and only on JP7.2, not JP6. What on the carrier-board side could differ that JP7.2’s flash/boot chain depends on, but JP6’s does not?

Any guidance would be hugely appreciated. Thanks in advance!

4

Hi,

Please provide the serial console log for JP6.2.2 and JP7.2 so we could diff further.

Thanks

5

Hi DavidDDD,
This is the failed UART log that I exported. Do you think this is what you need? I’ll record the details of JP6.X later and post them.

output.txt (31.0 KB)

6

Hi,

Do you also modify the eeprom in JP7.2 bsp?

Thanks

7

I did indeed overlook the modification of the EEPROM section in the BSP. After making the correction, I successfully flashed the system. Thank you for your guidance.