Jetson Orin NX Keeps Restarting Every 5 Minutes – No Display, No Access

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

I have a Jetson Orin NX 16GB dev kit custom-built (180-13767 DAAA A23 (16GB)) for computer vision tasks. It was working fine for about two weeks running on Ubuntu 20.04. However, it recently started restarting every ~5 minutes and displays output errors like blank screen.

Issues Observed:

  1. The device restarts automatically every 5 minutes, even when idle.
  2. No display output on the monitor at any point.
  3. Cannot connect via SSH (tested from local network).
  4. Cannot access it via PuTTY over a micro-USB serial connection (device not detected by under device manager ports.
  5. Jetson SDK Manager does not detect the board.

Troubleshooting Steps Taken:

  1. Power Supply Check – Checked that the power source is adequate and stable at 12V 3A.
  2. SSH & Serial Console – Tried both, but got no response or output.
  3. Reflashed SSD – Completely reflashed the SSD, but the issue persists.
  4. Booted from microSD – Flashed a microSD card and attempted to boot from it instead of the SSD, but it didn’t work.
  5. Recovery Mode – Successfully entered recovery mode (board doesn’t show up via lsusb), and SDK Manager still does not detect it on the host PC.

Additional Context:

  • For our project we would prefer an OS image supporting Ubuntu 20.04, Jetpack 5.0+ (for cuda support) and python 3.11+. Any compatible OS versions that supports these or Ubuntu 22.04 that’s suitable is preferred.
  • The issue started suddenly after two weeks of normal operation.
  • No logs or error messages can be captured due to lack of output over any interface.
  • Jetson SDK Manager does not recognize the board, making recovery difficult.

What I Need Help With:

  • Could this be a watchdog-triggered reboot? If so, how can I disable it externally (given I can’t access the OS)?
  • Is it possible the bootloader is corrupted or display output is disabled in device tree/boot config?
  • Could this be carrier board-related hardware failure?
  • Any way to flash or recover without SDK Manager working?

Any guidance or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated. I’m open to debugging or rebuilding from scratch if needed — just need a working path forward. Thanks in advance!

2

Hi,

I would like to clarify some points first

  1. If this is really a NVIDIA devkit, then you can still dump the log by using usb-ttl cable. With below link.
    https://www.jetsonhacks.com/2019/04/19/jetson-nano-serial-console/

The method to use micro usb is still a USB function. It cannot output things when system crashed. But usb-ttl cable from UART still can.

  1. Recovery Mode – Successfully entered recovery mode (board doesn’t show up via lsusb), and SDK Manager still does not detect it on the host PC.

If this is NV devkit, then I have to make sure did you really have experience in using sdkmanager and recovery mode before? In most of time, we saw users talking about they put the board into rcm but turns out they didn’t.
Please be aware that cannot enter recovery mode is basically a hardware problem. If you can still boot up the board but it reboot 5 mins, then sounds like the board is not dead. It is another software problem.

3

Hi,

We attempted UART logging per guidance using a CP2102 USB-TTL adapter (drivers installed, COM3 assigned). Despite wiring the custom board’s UART1_DBG pins, PuTTY at 115200 baud showed no output, even during reboots.

This is a client-provided Orin NX dev kit (custom-built, non-retail) preloaded with Ubuntu 20.04/JetPack 5.0+. It worked initially but now reboots every 5 minutes with no display/SSH. Recovery mode (held button + USB-C) fails: no lsusb detection across multiple PCs/cables, and SDK Manager does not recognize the board.

Are there alternative reflashing methods (SPI, nvautoflash) if recovery mode is inaccessible?

Given the sudden failure after stable operation, we suspect hardware but seek your confirmation to proceed with RMA or diagnostics.

4

Hi,

There is no other method from recovery mode to flash the board.

Just to clarify.

  1. Is the board still working within that 5 mins or not?

  2. Do you have any extra board which is same as this one that can validate if your method is fine (e.g. dumping UART log/ putting into recovery mode). For example, if even your method to dump uart log is not working in another fine board, then maybe the method is wrong.

  3. If you have another board, could you put that Orin module from this carrier board to that one and see if it can be flashed with sdkmanager?

5

Is this still an issue to support? Any result can be shared?