Jetson Nano blank screen during and after boot

linuxdev · November 29, 2020, 5:45pm

@WayneWWW, here is an idea for solving release upgrade issues. Note that the file used to change whether release upgrades is here:

# dpkg -S /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades
ubuntu-release-upgrader-core: /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades

In that file the default is to allow and prompt via:
Prompt=lts

Changing this to not offer release upgrades:
Prompt=never

I’m not sure how one would replace “/etc/update-manager/release-upgrades” with another package when the original is owned by “ubuntu-release-upgrader-core”, but if that single file could be altered, and not allowed to be updated without updating the NVIDIA package for file release-upgrades, then LTS release upgrades would not be offered until NVIDIA allows it by updating the release-upgrades file from their own repository.

For everyone else: Just edit the release-upgrades file to “Prompt=never”.\

EDIT: Additionally, third party carrier board manufacturers could take advantage of this as well. This would be extensible to custom repositories.

WayneWWW · November 30, 2020, 2:32am

@fcomg_e,

You have to try these commands in fresh setup (re-flash, hold systemd and then run apt upgrade). If your systemd was already updated, then you cannot make it work by running these commands.

WayneWWW · November 30, 2020, 4:19am

@jetsonnvidia, let me ask this again: what is the version of jetpack you are using?

I just checked the latest version and we already disabled the update by setting Prompt=never.

If you were trying to upgrade the system from rel-32.2.x to rel-32.4.x, then it may not work because the OTA upgrade is a new feature since rel-32.3.1. I cannot guarantee what would happen if you use release prior to rel-32.3.1.
You said your Xorg config has been overwritten and you could see 20.04 update in the prompt. However, these are not happened on other users’ device. Thus, we need to know your software version.

jetsonnvidia · November 30, 2020, 12:49pm

@WayneWWW

Here is my output of “cat /etc_old/nv_tegra_release”:

# R32 (release), REVISION: 4.4, GCID: 23942405, BOARD: t210ref, EABI: aarch64, DATE: Fri Oct 16 19:44:43 UTC 2020

Does this help?

fcomg_e · November 30, 2020, 8:00pm

You are right!!! Looks like this works for the moment… thank you!!

WayneWWW · December 1, 2020, 4:01am

Hi @jetsonnvidia,

I meant… do you remember what was your previous version before you ran apt-get upgrade? You said this card has not gone through any upgrade for 1 years. But our OTA feature may not support some old release.

As for other users here, we have some result for this issue for far.

This issue is due to lightdm greeter which is incompatible with new systemd
If you are using gdm3, then you won’t have this issue.
Every jetson platform has chances to hit this error if you are using lightdm. Not limited to nano-2gb.

jetsonnvidia · December 1, 2020, 10:29am

Sorry, I do not know that version.

It was upgraded every 2-3 months. The original SD card image was 1 year old.

I also had trouble with lightdm on my 4GB Nano so it’s good to hear that officially it doesn’t work.

WayneWWW · December 2, 2020, 11:12am

We will fix this issue in next jetpack release. Sorry for the inconvenience here.

stuart_marshall · December 4, 2020, 3:57am

@WayneWWW, when you say fix the issue, do you mean the core issue that after apt upgrade the graphical desktop won’t start correctly anymore?

Do you have an estimate on when that fix will be released?

fcomg_e · December 4, 2020, 4:12pm

Thank you for all the help!!!

WayneWWW · December 7, 2020, 4:12am

It would be released recently.

brad.london · December 10, 2020, 4:59am

Ran into this issue today on a Nano 2gb. Clean image worked fine then after updating all the packages and rebooting I am getting the blank screen. Same as what fcomg_e outlined in the video.

cryptoalgo · December 10, 2020, 7:43am

Great i hope i can update my Jetson nano 2GB soon! I’ve broke an image twice, can i confirm that holding systems will allow a successful upgrade with GUI starting properly after reboot?

WayneWWW · December 10, 2020, 7:46am

Not sure if you have a typo. It should be “systemd”

cryptoalgo · December 11, 2020, 1:22pm

Yes, I’m fighting with Google autocorrect again. Ok so anyways, can i get your confirmation regarding updating? I don’t want to reflash my system again…

geologic.si · December 11, 2020, 2:52pm

Yesterday i had a black screen after updating my nano 2Gb after a fresh install, so the issue is not fixed.

But you can continue if you make this workaround (i tested it):

do a new fresh install
hold systemd
sudo apt update
sudo apt-mark hold systemd
sudo apt upgrade
reboot

I did not try software updater after that

interactivetech1 · December 12, 2020, 2:40am

I encountered this issue as well on my 2GB, and @permafrost55 suggestion to do systemctel restart gdm3 workaround works for me (when I connect to the Nano using serial console mode.

permafrost55 · December 12, 2020, 4:51am

@interactivetech1 I did find one issue. gdm3 uses a lot more memory and resources than lightDM. So I was having issues with my raspberry pi connected camera.

I’m really hoping NVidia can find the underlying issue so we can move forward. Instead of just saying we can’t update/upgrade. That’s not a fix, that’s a band aid.

Sorry to be harsh, but not being able to upgrade isn’t good long term.

shreyasbyndoor · December 14, 2020, 5:07pm

When can we expect to see a new build without these issues? I can also confirm that @geologic.si workaround did not give me booting issues upon a sudo apt upgrade.

pow · December 14, 2020, 9:42pm

hey mods can we please sticky this thread. as a lot of users are going through this issue and it would be very helpful to see it on the top of the fourm.

It seems to be an issue with lightdm. I just used ctrl-alt-f2 to switch to a different term after the screen goes blank on boot and switched to gdm.

any idea on when the fix will be issued? thanks