With every vendor we have looked at it appears their devices all have “custom boards”, and are not compatible with SDK manager.
Two questions:
- Can anyone recommend an NVIDIA vendor for Jetson Orin NX 16 GB that have boards that would support NVIDIA SDK manager?
Buy NV developer kit then…
- With these custom boards, would there be any loss of functionality compared to standard boards?
Possible loss and also possibly have extra functionality… all depends on what you need…
FYI, different pins of the module can become different functions. Some carrier boards use the same electrical layout as the dev kits, and those use the same exact software. Others will require a different device tree. Those manufacturers either provide this in the form of a patch to the NVIDIA flash software (you only patch once), and then they flash the same. Others will produce rebranded flash software which mainly differs in device tree. The main problem with a custom device tree is that if one goes to a new major release, then the device tree must wait for the third party vendor. Usually, if you use the same major release and only increment the patch level, it is likely that the same device tree which previously worked will still work.
Thank you for your response.
Are you saying the NV developer kits are the only way to get a standard board?
NV says the developer kits are not to be used in production, partly because they only have basic testing done before they are shipped, as opposed to the NV production modules having extensive testing.
The dev kits also have much shorter warrantees.
I think the question here is what is your meaning of a “standard board”…
Sdkmanager can only support NV devkit by default… Other kind of carrier board may have their vendor to provide the customized BSP…
But those vendors are also using the NV BSP as template to make their customized one…
Vendor’s board may have other I/O enabled but in the meantime it could indicate some other interfaces are disabled too…
There is no perfect thing in the world… all depend on what you need.
Are you aware of a way to get a standard board that is production ready?
When I go to NIVDIA site under Jetsons, then select shop now the only options I see are Developer kits, and production grade modules that seem like they do not come with a complete board, for example they do not seem to have ethernet ports, usb c, or even a way to plug in a power supply.
Enterprise Marketplace | NVIDIA - Robotics Edge
What is your exact point of “production ready”? Are you going to make a product by buying the board from other vendors and sell it for yourself?
If you are not, then why it bothers to get a “non-production” board?
Hi thank you for your response.
We need a Jetson device that is suitable for production environment, that is compatible with NVIDIA SDK Manager.
We are not building a product to resell, but we need a device that is reliable enough for production workloads.
Our use case will be to deploy a computer vision solution on the Jetson device , the output of the computer vision solution from that device will be used in production data sets
NVIDIA documentation states that: 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.
Quick Start — NVIDIA Jetson Linux Developer Guide 1 documentation
Based on NVIDIA documentation it also seems that the “dev kits” are not production quality as they are not tested well enough to be trusted in a production environment, they are also not expected to last as long as production modules and have a shorter warrantee than the production grade modules.
In summary, I want to know where I can buy a Jetson Orin NX 16 GB that 1. Has a production grade module, (not a dev kit) and 2. Does not have a “custom board”, (we need a standard board that is compatable with SDK manager).
The reason I would like to avoid a custom board is that with many of those you cannot use NVIDIA SDK Manager, and it seems it is much more difficult to get support on these NVIDIA forums.
Hi,
Actually you don’t get this whole term here. You still think too much on that “production” thing. It actually does not really matter.
Let me clarify more about it
" A Jetson developer kit includes a non-production-specification Jetson module".
The issue here is the “module” on NV developer kit is not for production. Which means when a vendor wants to make a product, they won’t use the module from NV developer kit. Such vendor should buy the “production module” from NV and use it to make their own carrier board.
However, such “production module” can work on “NV devkit carrier board” too. All the modules sold from NV could work on our developer kit.
None of the “custom board” can 100% work with sdkmanager. If you want something that can 100% work with SDKmanager, then get a production Jetson module. Put it on NV developer kit. And I can guarantee it would definitely work.
You really need to think about what does “production” mean to you. If your project will run on Jetson production module based product in future, then your consideration is correct. You need to buy a production module to test.
However, if your project won’t run on that in future, then your consideration is just over-thinking. Even picking devkit module is fine.
Are you saying that there are no vendors that sell a jetson device with “standard board”, and production grade module, that will work with SDK manager.
I understand the “custom boards” will not work 100% with SDK manager.
It sounds like you are saying the only way to get a jetson device with “standard board”, and production grade module, that will work with SDK manager. Is to buy a production module and put it in a dev kit?
That seems very unusual if I am understanding this correctly.
I already have a dev kit for development, but I am ready to deploy the solution now in production on a production grade Jetson device.
If I cannot buy a Jetson with a standard board and a production grade module, then we would go with the vendor we have available that can provide the Jetson with production grade module, on a custom board. We would just have to wait for their flash guide for Jetpack 6 stable release.
Thank you.
Hi,
Just to clarify. Are we talking about Orin NX or Orin Nano?
If we are talking about Orin NX and you already had a dev kit. Then this discussion is done because Orin NX does not have difference of “non production” or “production” module.
They are all production modules.
Just a table for your reference.
When you are talking about Orin AGX, then it indeed has production module and non-production module (as it has developer kit version).
If the case is Orin Nano, then there is minor difference of it because Orin Nano has sdcard version module on devkit. But production module does not have sdcard slot. That is the only difference.
As for Orin NX, it does not matter what kind of module you are using. They are definitely production one as those vendors are using.
Link for above table:
Understood on the Orin NX all being production modules.
Back to the main topic in this thread. Standard boards that will work 100% with SDK manager.
Are you saying that none of the Jetson Orin NX devices I can get from vendors are 100% compatibles with NVIDIA SDK manager?
If that is the case then we will just use the vendor we have and accept the fact that we will have to wait until their flash guides are ready to be able to use Jetpack 6 stable release.
It is possible to have. But I really cannot provide a recommended list for you because I rarely see a board that really matches Orin Nano developer kit…
Sounds good, thank you very much for your assistance.
We will go with the custom board from the vendor and just wait for them to finish the flash guide for Jetpack 6 .
I’ll point out something you may not be considering: Dev kits really are meant for development from a business perspective. When NVIDIA sells these the warranty is not transferable, and any warranty for resale is up to the vendor. When NVIDIA sells commercial modules, then the warranty is transferable. Modules sold separately are intended for production.
The carrier board in a dev kit is not sold separately. These also do not have transferable warranties. This is why third party carrier boards exist, and some of those third parties provide an exact layout match (electrically, and reflected in the device tree or firmware). If there is an exact layout match, then you can easily use NVIDIA’s software directly every time.
Do you make your own carrier board? If yes, then you are the one who adds warranty to this, but you could send modules for warranty to NVIDIA. Do you use someone else’s carrier board? If yes, then it is up to that other manufacturer to warrant carrier board, but NVIDIA would still honor the module warranty. Is the third party carrier board an electrical layout match to the NVIDIA reference carrier board design? If yes, then you don’t need the third party manufacturer’s software, although perhaps they add something; if no, then you must use their firmware (and perhaps drivers if new hardware is involved beyond simply a new layout on pin function).
Dev kits tend to come with a power supply. Jetsons are a bit picky on power regulation quality, and those power supplies are high quality. It would be up to you or a third party to research a sufficient power supply if using a third party carrier board.
If you do have issues with a separately sold module, then testing is mostly confirmed on a dev kit carrier board. This is the reference design.
I suggest you look for a third party carrier board which states that you flash using the NVIDIA software, and in which there is no patch or other addition to the flash software via the vendor of the carrier board.
This topic was automatically closed 14 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.
