No monitor or serial output from Jetson Nano 2GB

Autonomous Machines Jetson & Embedded Systems Jetson Nano
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1

My Jetson Nano 2GB kit had worked great for about 9 months, but it stopped working all of a sudden. Here are the symptoms:

  • I see the yellow LED on when I connect a USB-C power cable. (I’ve tried two different power cables.)
  • There is no output on HDMI. I don’t see the green NVIDIA boot screen, either. Just black screen. It seems like monitors think there is something connected on HDMI, but just black screen. (I’ve tried three different monitors & cables.)
  • There is no output on serial console, either. I got the Adafruit TTL serial cable as recommended, but there is no output on the console.
  • I’ve tried to load a new jetpack images using SD card, but the board doesn’t seem to boot at all, so no use.

Is there any other way to trouble shoot this? I would appreciate any suggestion and/or thoughts. Thanks.

2

If this issue suddenly happened, then it sounds like the hardware problem.

Also, want to know that did you ever see the log coming out from serial console before? Just want to confirm your setup is correct.

If you have ubuntu 18.04 x64 host, also try to flash the board with sdkmanager.

3

No, I have not used the serial console before. I didn’t have a reason to use it until now. :-) Not seeing the green boot logo makes me think the hardware is faulty.

I don’t have 18.04, but I have 20.04. Would that work?

4

Ok, if serial console was never verified before, then this gives some chances that this may be not a hardware problem…

Sometimes the bootloader just crashes accidentally. And keep replacing the sdcard image will not able to fix that. So your reflash on your sdcard is in vain. In that case, only sdkm will bring the board back.

Sdkmanager officially does not support to flash jetpack on 20.04. But there are some tricks shared by other users over the forum. You can search 20.04 as keyword and it shall give that post…

5

Well… It turns out that the USB serial cable has a loose connector. I had to lift it up to make a proper connection to the USB port. :-( Anyway I was able to get some output from the console, which gives me some hope.

I will try the sdkmanager thing now. Thanks.

minicom.cap (26.8 KB)

6

All tricks for 20.04 didn’t work for me. I’m now installing 18.04 on one of my computers.

In the mean time I’ve looked at the serial console output more closely. There are many I2C write errors:

  • I2C slave not started
  • I2C write failed
  • Writing offset failed
  • eeprom_init: EEPROM read failed
  • pm_ids_update: eeprom init failed

Are those normal? Should I be worried?

7

If your flash software install on the 20.04 host worked, and if the “Linux_for_Tegra/rootfs/” content is populated (your attempt could have succeeded in getting to the point where that content was set up), then you might possibly succeed at flashing on command line from the “Linux_for_Tegra/” directory:
sudo ./flash.sh jetson-nano-2gb-devkit mmcblk0p1

Please note that all this can do is flash, it cannot add other optional packages. However, if it does flash and you can log in, then the apt tool could possibly used to add the other content. In the long run though you will be better off with an Ubuntu 18.04 host PC (some time in early 2022 this will migrate to 20.04).

8

I installed sdkmanager on Ubuntu 18.04 successfully. Unfortunately it failed to flash jetson OS. Is there anything else I could try?

Here is the output from the serial console:

[0002.148] Enabled early print
[0002.151] [L4T TegraBoot] (version ���>X [ؽ��Y)
[0002.155] Processing in recovery mode
[0002.158] A02 Bootrom Patch rev = 1023
[0002.162] Power-up reason: software reset
[0002.166] Established communication link with host
[0003.153] NvTbootI2cWrite(): error code 0x00045100 Error while starting write n
[0003.161] NvTbootI2cDeviceRead(): error code 0x00045001 Error while sending the
[0003.169] NvTbootI2c: Read failed for slave 0xac, offset 0x00 with error code 1

Here is the output from the SDK Manager:

15:52:17 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 1.1038 ] tegrarcm --oem platformdetails eeprom /home/boyoon/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_4.6_Linux_JETSON_NANO_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/bootloader/cvm.bin

15:52:17 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 1.1050 ] Applet version 00.01.0000

15:52:17 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 1.1877 ] Applet version 00.01.0000

15:52:19 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 3.1961 ] RCM 0 is saved as rcm_0.rcm

15:52:19 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 3.2261 ] Assuming zero filled SBK key

15:52:19 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 3.2820 ] BR_CID: 0x32101001644612c10400000001028500

15:52:19 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 3.2826 ] RCM version 0X210001

15:52:20 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 4.3057 ] tegrarcm --oem platformdetails eeprom /home/boyoon/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_4.6_Linux_JETSON_NANO_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/bootloader/bbd.bin

15:52:20 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 4.3077 ] Applet version 00.01.0000

15:52:20 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 4.4047 ] Applet version 00.01.0000

15:52:22 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 4.4071 ]

15:52:22 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: ./tegraflash.py --chip 0x21 --applet “/home/boyoon/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_4.6_Linux_JETSON_NANO_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/bootloader/nvtboot_recovery.bin” --skipuid --cmd “dump eeprom boardinfo cvm.bin”

15:52:22 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 0.0086 ] Assuming zero filled SBK key

15:52:22 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 0.0160 ] tegrarcm --chip 0x21 0 --updatesig rcm_list_signed.xml

15:52:22 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 0.0306 ] RCM version 0X210001

15:52:23 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 1.0831 ] tegrarcm --oem platformdetails eeprom /home/boyoon/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_4.6_Linux_JETSON_NANO_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/bootloader/cvm.bin

15:52:23 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 1.0847 ] Applet version 00.01.0000

15:52:23 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 1.0873 ] Saved platform info in /home/boyoon/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_4.6_Linux_JETSON_NANO_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/bootloader/cvm.bin

15:52:23 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 1.1681 ] Applet version 00.01.0000

15:52:25 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 1.1735 ]

15:52:25 ERROR: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: Board ID(3448) version(400)

15:52:25 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: copying bootloader(/home/boyoon/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_4.6_Linux_JETSON_NANO_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/bootloader/t210ref/cboot.bin)… done.

15:52:26 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: copying initrd(/home/boyoon/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_4.6_Linux_JETSON_NANO_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/bootloader/l4t_initrd.img)… done.

15:52:26 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: Making Boot image… done.

15:52:26 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: copying tegraboot(/home/boyoon/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_4.6_Linux_JETSON_NANO_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/bootloader/t210ref/nvtboot.bin)… done.

15:52:26 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: Copying nv_boot_control.conf to rootfs

15:52:27 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: populating kernel to rootfs… done.

15:52:27 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: populating initrd to rootfs… done.

15:52:27 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: Making system.img…

15:54:30 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: populating rootfs from /home/boyoon/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_4.6_Linux_JETSON_NANO_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/rootfs …

16:00:51 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: populating /boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf … done.

16:01:15 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: Sync’ing system.img … done.

16:01:27 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: system.img built successfully.

16:01:27 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: Existing tbcfile(/home/boyoon/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_4.6_Linux_JETSON_NANO_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/bootloader/nvtboot_cpu.bin) reused.

16:01:27 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: copying tbcdtbfile(/home/boyoon/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_4.6_Linux_JETSON_NANO_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/kernel/dtb/tegra210-p3448-0003-p3542-0000.dtb)… done.

16:01:27 ERROR: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: command terminated with error

16:01:27 SUMMARY: DateTime Target Setup - target: Depends on failed component

9

It seems like it failed to copy & paste the whole messages.

Here is the output from SDK Manager in the beginning of the flash process:

16:54:44 DEBUG: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: using adapter to install NV_L4T_FLASH_NANO_WITH_OS_IMAGE_COMP@JETSON_NANO_TARGETS to /home/boyoon/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_4.6_Linux_JETSON_NANO_TARGETS

16:54:44 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: current working directory is /home/boyoon/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_4.6_Linux_JETSON_NANO_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra

16:54:44 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: exec_command: /tmp/tmp_NV_L4T_FLASH_NANO_WITH_OS_IMAGE_COMP.sh

16:54:44 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: *** Checking ONLINE mode … OK.

16:54:44 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: *** Checking target board connection … 1 connections found.

16:54:44 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: *** Reading ECID … FUSELEVEL=fuselevel_production hwchipid=0x21 bootauth=

16:54:44 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: *** Reading EEPROM … “/home/boyoon/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_4.6_Linux_JETSON_NANO_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/bootloader/tegraflash.py” --chip 0x21 --applet “/home/boyoon/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_4.6_Linux_JETSON_NANO_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/bootloader/nvtboot_recovery.bin” --skipuid --cmd “dump eeprom boardinfo cvm.bin; dump eeprom baseinfo bbd.bin”

16:54:44 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 0.0042 ] tegrarcm --listrcm rcm_list.xml --chip 0x21 0 --download rcm /home/boyoon/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_4.6_Linux_JETSON_NANO_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/bootloader/nvtboot_recovery.bin 0 0

16:54:44 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 0.0095 ] Assuming zero filled SBK key

16:54:44 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 0.0438 ] tegrarcm --chip 0x21 0 --updatesig rcm_list_signed.xml

16:54:44 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 0.0983 ] RCM version 0X210001

16:54:45 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 1.1565 ] Applet version 00.01.0000

16:54:45 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 1.1589 ] Saved platform info in /home/boyoon/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_4.6_Linux_JETSON_NANO_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/bootloader/cvm.bin

16:54:45 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 1.2390 ] Applet version 00.01.0000

16:54:48 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 3.2461 ] tegrarcm --listrcm rcm_list.xml --chip 0x21 0 --download rcm /home/boyoon/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_4.6_Linux_JETSON_NANO_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/bootloader/nvtboot_recovery.bin 0 0

16:54:48 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 3.2475 ] RCM 0 is saved as rcm_0.rcm

16:54:48 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 3.5759 ] RCM 1 is saved as rcm_1.rcm

16:54:49 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 4.8445 ] tegrasign --key None --list rcm_list.xml --pubkeyhash pub_key.key

16:54:49 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 4.8458 ] Assuming zero filled SBK key

16:54:49 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 5.1720 ] tegrarcm --chip 0x21 0 --updatesig rcm_list_signed.xml

16:54:50 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 5.3141 ] tegrarcm --chip 0x21 0 --rcm rcm_list_signed.xml

16:54:50 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 5.4138 ] RCM version 0X210001

16:54:51 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 6.4401 ] tegrarcm --oem platformdetails eeprom /home/boyoon/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_4.6_Linux_JETSON_NANO_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/bootloader/bbd.bin

16:54:51 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 6.4416 ] Applet version 00.01.0000

16:54:51 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 6.5233 ] Applet version 00.01.0000

16:54:53 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 6.5257 ]

16:54:53 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: ###############################################################################

16:54:53 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: ./tegraflash.py --chip 0x21 --applet “/home/boyoon/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_4.6_Linux_JETSON_NANO_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/bootloader/nvtboot_recovery.bin” --skipuid --cmd “dump eeprom boardinfo cvm.bin”

16:54:53 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 0.0087 ] Assuming zero filled SBK key

16:54:53 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 0.0526 ] RCM version 0X210001

16:54:54 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 1.1078 ] tegrarcm --oem platformdetails eeprom /home/boyoon/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_4.6_Linux_JETSON_NANO_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/bootloader/cvm.bin

16:54:54 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 1.1093 ] Applet version 00.01.0000

16:54:54 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 1.1976 ] Applet version 00.01.0000

16:54:56 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: [ 1.2001 ]

16:54:56 ERROR: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: Board ID(3448) version(400)

16:54:56 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: copying bootloader(/home/boyoon/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_4.6_Linux_JETSON_NANO_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/bootloader/t210ref/cboot.bin)… done.

16:55:00 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: copying initrd(/home/boyoon/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_4.6_Linux_JETSON_NANO_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/bootloader/l4t_initrd.img)… done.

16:55:02 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: Making Boot image… done.

16:55:02 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: copying tegraboot(/home/boyoon/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_4.6_Linux_JETSON_NANO_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/bootloader/t210ref/nvtboot.bin)… done.

16:55:02 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: copying bpffile(/home/boyoon/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_4.6_Linux_JETSON_NANO_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/bootloader/t210ref/sc7entry-firmware.bin)… done.

16:55:02 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: Copying nv_boot_control.conf to rootfs

16:55:05 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: populating kernel to rootfs… done.

16:55:06 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: populating initrd to rootfs… done.

16:55:06 INFO: Flash Jetson Nano - flash: Making system.img…

10

Wow. It turns out that the problem was not the hardware after all. I exported the logs from SDK Manager and looked through all of them one by one. I finally found the following error lines in one of them:

copying tbcdtbfile(/home/boyoon/nvidia/nvidia_sdk/JetPack_4.6_Linux_JETSON_NANO_TARGETS/Linux_for_Tegra/kernel/dtb/tegra210-p3448-0003-p3542-0000.dtb)… done.
ERROR xmllint not found! To install - please run: “sudo apt-get install libxml2-utils”
***** ERROR: flashing failed.**

After having installed libxml2-utils package, SDK Manager was able to flash the board successfully.

Please add libxml2-utils to the dependencies of sdkmanager .deb file. It could saved my half day today. ;-)

1 Like
11

Hi boyoonj,

Glad to know issue resovled and sorry for the trouble.
We are discussing with internal team on how to prevent similar issues in the future.

12

Hi, i just received my jetson nano 2gb from Cytron.io and I am facing the exact issue.
1/ yellow LED on when I connect a USB-C power cable ( using the official Raspberry pi USB c cable )
2/ No output on HDMI ( same, tried several monitors and cables )

As I am really new at this, and I would really appreciate a step by step guide.
(I’m using a Mac.)
What should i install? Where should i download “libxml2-utils package” ?

That jetson nano has been sitting on my desk for the past 2 days and i really would like to get a start at it this weekend.

13

You should probably start a new thread. However, although a Mac can install a preexisting SD card image to an SD card, it has no ability to use Linux packages (of which “libxml2-utils” is such a package). In reality you’ll probably have to use an Ubuntu 18.04 install. Don’t know if dual booting this is something you can do with a Mac or not. Some people use a VM, but VMs are not officially supported (VMs can be made to work, but usually require some adjustment of the USB pass through).

14

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