[Solved] How to install the SDKManager on Ubuntu 18.04?

Robotics & Edge Computing Jetson Systems Jetson Nano
1

I’m new to Jetson Nano (old version).
The Jetson I got has no TF slot but a 16G emmc, so I need the SDKManager to flash the JetPack.
I downloaded SDKManager 2.1.0 and installed it on ubuntu 22.04.
It says the old Jetson Nano need JetPack 4.x which can only be accessed with ubuntu 16.04 or 18.04. So I installed ubuntu 18.04 to my PC.

But SDKManager 2.1.0 can’t be installed!
“libcanberra-gtk-module but it is not installable”
I guess the module is not available for the old version of ubuntu, cause ubuntu 22.04 works.

I tried to install SDKManager 2.0.0 and 1.9.3 on ubuntu 18.04, but they both throw me this:
(sudo apt install ./sdkmanager_[version]-[build#]_amd64.deb )
(download from: SDK Manager Downloads Archive | NVIDIA Developer )
“reading package lists…Error”

I can’t find the other old versions of the SDKManager to download, such as 1.8.4.
Only old docs available online: NVIDIA SDK Manager Archives — SDK Manager 2.1.0 documentation

2

Even the models which have an SD card use JetPack/SDKM to flash (there is also QSPI memory on each module, and SD card models use that for boot content). Once the SD card model is flashed once you can normally use a range of prebuilt o/s images, but of course the eMMC model does not boot to SD card, so you will use JetPack/SDKM each time.

For reference, L4T is Ubuntu with NVIDIA drivers added, and this is what actually gets flashed. L4T releases are more or less tied to JetPack releases, but JetPack can be started like this to see older releases:
sdkmanager --archived-versions

There are both host PC requirements and flash target requirements. The intersection of the two determines which host Ubuntu release you can use. I’ll suggest Ubuntu 18.04 is perfect for flashing an older Nano (Xavier and Orin Nano are different). The release version you want is the latest L4T R32.x. Go here, and this will lead to the right JetPack/SDKM (search the page for “JetPack”):
https://developer.nvidia.com/linux-tegra
(also has documentation)

An additional explanation is that a given JetPack/SDKM can only install on a certain range of host PC Ubuntu releases. You would need an Ubuntu 20.04/22.04 host PC for the latest. You’d then run with “sdkmanager --archived-versions”, but this will only work if the Jetson model you want to flash allows Ubuntu 20.04/22.04. So you have to use the older Ubuntu host PC to install JetPack, and if you use the specific release for the most recent L4T R32.x release, then you don’t need the “--archived-versions” option. For this case it is JetPack 4.6.4.

More trivia: JetPack is a GUI front end to the actual flash software. SDKM is a network layer on top of JetPack. The actual flash software is much more flexible in host PC requirements, and more or less consists of installing and setting up the “driver package” and “sample root filesystem” correctly…SDKM does this for you and simplifies things if you have the correct host PC release. Manual flash is available on a far wider flavor of Linux host PCs if you are willing to learn a bit more.

3
  1. Current SDKManager 2.1.0 run on ubuntu 22.04 can’t download JetPack 4.6.4 with “sdkmanager – archived-versions”. ubuntu 22.04 doesn’t meet the requirement.
  2. I change the ubuntu version number to 18.04 to fool the SDKManager.
  3. I use SDKManager in CLI which can be easily set to DownloadOnly.
  4. The downloaded JetPack has many deb files, the flash tools is not there. I think the SDKManager is the flashing tools. Still need an available SDKManager.
  5. Retry the 2.0.0 and 1.9.3 SDKManager from SDK Manager Downloads Archive | NVIDIA Developer
    This time the file downloaded seemed be the right ones. The ones I downloaded before is 666mb, and they become 80mb this time. I have Hope!
  6. Reinstalled ubuntu 18.04, and update the OS. SDKManager 2.1.0 works this time! Update the OS!
4
  1. Install ubuntu 18.04 desktop on PC.
  2. Find a web cable, connect the PC with internet! My Wifi module is dead on ubuntu 18.04 which makes everything fall apart.
  3. Update the ubuntu software. (Don’t update to 20.04) And Wifi could be recovered if download a 3rd party driver.
  4. SDKManager 2.1.0 can be installed!
  5. Follow the SDKManager. Everything is normal now!
  6. The net cable can be used for Jetson Nano when installing Jetson SDK Components after flashing the Jetson OS.

Thanks linuxdev! His info is very helpful. I’m a Linux newbie user, what an adventure.