Jetson Linux with BSP and RT-Kernel

Robotics & Edge Computing Jetson & Embedded Systems Jetson Orin NX
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1

Hi,
we are looking into using a Jetson device for the control of a robot and need a RT-Kernel for running ROS reliably. However I noticed that most (or all?) BSP come with a kernel (Linux_for_Tegra/kernel/Image). Does this mean I most likely can’t replace or update the kernel? So we can’t use an RT-Kernel that is not coming from the vendor and we won’t get security updates most likely, as this BSP packages are rarely updated. Furthermore you can’t update using apt or the SdkManager and would need to flash and deploy everything from scratch if you do get a kernel update.

I hope I am getting something wrong here or just looked at the wrong vendors.

Cheers,
David

3

Hi,
You are correct. The OTA update mechanism supports the default kernel image. And may no work for RT-kernel. So for RT-kernel, you need to re-flash the system to do the upgrade.

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The main question for me is still open: “What does it mean for me if the BSP / Patch replaces the kernel (Linux_for_Tegra/kernel/Image)?”

  • Is Linux_for_Tegra/kernel/Image the kernel of the system? And not the boot image, or something else.
    • If yes:
      • I guess the update mechanism would detect this and not update the kernel, right?
      • However, if I do replace the custom kernel i would probably loose some driver or break the system, because otherwise there would be no reason to replace the kernel…
      • Is it true that most Jetson devices (excluding the Nvidia devkits) replace the kernel?

Why not put the official Jetpack 6 RT-Kernel in a PPA? Re-flashing devices in an industrial setting at customer site is not the workflow we have in mind for support our customers…

5

Hi,
Please check steps in

Kernel Customization — NVIDIA Jetson Linux Developer Guide 1 documentation

After enabling RT kernel, you would need to rebuild kernel image and NVIDIA oot modules.

If you use AGX Orin developer kit, you can install the prebuilt Deb package:

Software Packages and the Update Mechanism — NVIDIA Jetson Linux Developer Guide 1 documentation

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Hi,I have the same problem. I follow the document, and then in the nvidia - l4t - apt - source. Add in the list deb https://repo.download.nvidia.com/jetson/rt-kernel r36.3 main. Then run sudo apt update, but it shows that the library is not found. In addition, my developer kit is orin nano.

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Maybe the RT kernel binaries are only available for the AGX Orin developer kit and not for the Orin Nano as DaneLLL refers specifically to it. Although i did not find this restriction in the linked docu at first sight.

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