Jetson GPIO with Custom Carrier

msalazar · July 23, 2025, 4:40pm

Hi,

I was going through GPIO python libraries and came across Jetson GPIO. If I am using a custom carrier, i.e. not the NVIDIA Developer Kit, can I still utilize this library?

Going through the README, I came across this statement, which I was particularly interested inGPIO.TEGRA_SOC mode.

GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BOARD)
# or
GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BCM)
# or
GPIO.setmode(GPIO.CVM)
# or
GPIO.setmode(GPIO.TEGRA_SOC)

With this mode set you provide a string that corresponds to the GPIO you’re trying to configure as output or input, but what would that look like? If I run: sudo cat /sys/kernel/debug/gpio

Would either of the highlighted options work (in the scenario they’re configured as a regular GPIO in the pinmux). Would I be able to define the pin HIGH/LOW by using either “gpio-487” or “PAC.01” as a parameter.

I am using Orin AGX, and if this is not possible for custom carriers, can you potentially recommend another library?

proventusnova · July 23, 2025, 6:55pm

Hello @msalazar,

We wouldn’t think of a reason for the GPIO library not to work with your custom carrier.
Just take into consideration the difference that there might be between your carrier board’s pinmux and the devkit carrier board, since although the SOM will inherently have the same pins regardless of the carrier it is in, the routing on the carrier will probably change.

best regards,
Andrew
Embedded Software Engineer at ProventusNova

msalazar · July 23, 2025, 7:11pm

Hi @proventusnova,

Thanks for the clarification. Just to follow up on my original question.

Using the TEGRA_SOC method, how should I define parameter that is passed into the GPIO.setup() method?

For example when enabled using GPIO.board() mode you can do the following

GPIO.setup(10, GPIO.in)

This would set pin number 10 as an input. But how would you do that for the other method:

GPIO.setup("gpio485", GPIO.in)

Where can I find my corresponding pins string name?

Thanks.

proventusnova · July 23, 2025, 7:21pm

Hey @msalazar,

That is a great question.

Check this sample code out from the Jetson GPIO Repo:

github.com/NVIDIA/jetson-gpio

samples/test_all_apis.py

master

#!/usr/bin/env python

# Copyright (c) 2019-2025, NVIDIA CORPORATION. All rights reserved.
# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a
# copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"),
# to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation
# the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense,
# and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the
# Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
#
# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
# all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
#
# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
# IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
# FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.  IN NO EVENT SHALL
# THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
# LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING
# FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER
# DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

This file has been truncated. show original

In there they showcase different modes including TEGRA_SOC, that might give you a better understanding on how to achieve what you are looking for.

Please keep us posted and don’t hesitate to reach out if you need further support.

best regards,
Andrew
Embedded Software Engineer at ProventusNova

KevinFFF · July 29, 2025, 3:24am

Hi msalazar,

What’s the Jetpack version in use?

Do you have the similar design for the 40-pins header on your custom carrier board as the devkit ?

Please refer to jetson-gpio/lib/python/Jetson/GPIO/gpio_pin_data.py at master · NVIDIA/jetson-gpio · GitHub for the pin available for Jetson.GPIO.
If your have the different design on custom carrier board, it may not work.

msalazar · July 29, 2025, 11:00am

Hi Kevin,

The corresponding pin out does match. So I unfortunately can’t use GPIO.board.

I am using Jetpack 6.2 or r36.4.3

KevinFFF · July 30, 2025, 10:04am

Actually, you can update gpio_pin_data.py to match your design for the custom carrier board.

msalazar · July 30, 2025, 12:33pm

Hi Kevin,

Can you provide of example how I would modify gpio_pin_data.py? The custom carrier uses an Orin AGX.

KevinFFF · July 31, 2025, 6:09am

You can refer to Extending Jetson.GPIO to support gpio pins that are not on the 40 pin header - #3 by KevinFFF for the example what I shared the case for Orin NX.
Above modification is valid for the devkit.
Please note that you should refer to what the actual design of your custom carrier board.

You are using AGX Orin, please update in JETSON_ORIN_PIN_DEFS instead.

msalazar · July 31, 2025, 11:35am

Hi Kevin,

thanks for that example. One last question, in your answer you provide this entry:

(92, 'PP.00', "tegra234-gpio", 41, 28, 'CAM0_MCLK', 'GP52_CLK1', None, None),

What do the integers 92, 41, 28 represent? Additionally, How do I get the signal name i.e. ‘CAM0_MCLK’
and ‘GP52_CLK1’, I am assuming those are capabilities of the PP.00 pin, depending on the pinmux, but where can I grab the corresponding signal name?

KevinFFF · July 31, 2025, 12:11pm

41 and 28 are just 2 used number in the table.

You can find CAM0_MCLK in Column B(Jetson SODIMM Signal Name) and GP52_CLK1 in Column E(SOC Ball Name) of pinmux spreadsheet.

92 is the GPIO line number, you can run the following command to check.

$ sudo gpioinfo|grep PP.00
        line  92:      "PP.00"       unused   input  active-high

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Jetson GPIO with Custom Carrier

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