Jetson Nano: Older SD card image does not work with new version of Jetson Nano dev kit

Robotics & Edge Computing Jetson & Embedded Systems Jetson Nano
1

I have been using an SD card image for a couple of years now for several jetson Nanos with my preferred configuration and software installs.
I just ordered a couple of new Jetson Nano Developper kits, which to my surprise were slightly different in their design (different headers on the board).
I am able to start it with the new jetpack, but when trying to start it up from the image I use on older models of the developper kit, it won’t start (the Nvidia logo will keep flashing).
FYI, the same SD card works perfectly on another “older version” nano dev kit.

Is there a way to make the new version of the dev kit compatible with older “jetpack version” configurations ? I mean, is there a way I would be able to use my SD card images on the new version of the Jetson Nano Dev kit ?

Thank you.

2

See:
https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/can-i-switch-between-2-different-sd-cards-both-running-already-with-os-on-jetson-both-are-not-cloned/183125/7

The bootloader software is a “moving target”. There is QSPI storage which can be related to pointing at the boot device. If this is from an older version, then it probably is not compatible with a newer release. Actually flashing with JetPack/SDKM changes QSPI, and not just the partitions, so this is how you would get a compatible release. You won’t be able to mix older QSPI boot code with newer boot software, but I’m not sure which release marks “older versus newer” QSPI compatibility.

3

So you suggestion would be to flash the new model Nano using SDK (I guess I could flash the new nano using the old nano with an SDK install) with the older version of QSPI (I’ll have to try a few versions back to find the one that works I guess) ?
My full setup was put in place in the second semester of 2019.

4

This might work. You can use previous versions via starting this way:
sdkmanager --archivedversions

If the QSPI and rootfs are valid together, then what previously failed might start working. Btw, JetPack/SDKM is really just front end software, and it is “Linux for Tegra” (“L4T”) which gets flashed. On the Jetson itself you can find the L4T version via:
head -n 1 /etc/nv_tegra_release

If you then go to this web page it will show you L4T versions, and will let you find out which JetPack/SDKM was used with that L4T version once you click on that version:
https://developer.nvidia.com/embedded/jetpack-archive

5

This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.