Xavier module DOA?

Tech support directed me to this forum…

I have previously been using the Xavier development kit but recently purchased the bare Xavier module to integrate into a product. I attached it to a heatsink that my mechanical engineer assures me is sufficient to keep it passively cooled. (It’s twice as big as the module itself) Anyway, upon initial power up, the only thing that happens is that a white indicator light comes on. I’m still using the dev board’s carrier board so the only thing that has changed is that I now have a new Xavier module.

I figured that maybe it just comes unflashed. I needed to reflash the dev board Xavier to work with my cameras so I have tried to do that today by using flash.sh as recommended by the camera vendor. This went smoothly with the dev kit Xavier but I am getting errors from flash.sh:

The first time that I run it:
###############################################################################

L4T BSP Information:

R32 (release), REVISION: 1.0, GCID: 14531094, BOARD: t186ref, EABI: aarch64,

DATE: Wed Mar 13 07:41:08 UTC 2019

###############################################################################

Target Board Information:

Name: jetson-xavier, Board Family: t186ref, SoC: Tegra 194,

OpMode: production, Boot Authentication: NS,

###############################################################################
./flash.sh: line 347: systems: command not found

If I run it a second time it pauses for a bit and then gives me this:
###############################################################################

L4T BSP Information:

R32 (release), REVISION: 1.0, GCID: 14531094, BOARD: t186ref, EABI: aarch64,

DATE: Wed Mar 13 07:41:08 UTC 2019

###############################################################################
Error: probing the target board failed.
Make sure the target board is connected through
USB port and is in recovery mode.

lsusb give me the following:
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 154b:6008 PNY
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 05e3:0612 Genesys Logic, Inc.
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 21a9:1001
Bus 001 Device 009: ID 0955:7019 NVidia Corp.
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 05e3:0610 Genesys Logic, Inc. 4-port hub
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 067b:2303 Prolific Technology, Inc. PL2303 Serial Port
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 046d:c534 Logitech, Inc. Unifying Receiver
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

Because of this, I know that the computer can see the module.

Did I get a dead on arrival module or is there some sort of trick to get this thing running?

You are correct that bare modules do not arrive with software.

Do know that different carrier boards will require a different board support package, which in turn is mainly a device tree. Without the correct device tree the module won’t know the correct wiring layout for components on the carrier board.

When a third party BSP is used for their carrier board this is usually in the form of adding some optional files to replace other files on the host PC side prior to flashing.

Something which also gets in the way is not knowing that you need to have a monitor and keyboard attached during the flash in order to complete the first boot account creation (after the flash the Xavier will reboot and wait for you to complete the first boot setup).

VGA monitors will usually fail since they lack automatic configuration. To be certain whether the system actually boots or not the best choice is to use a serial console.

A host flashing with a VM will often fail, and VMs are not supported. However, with some work VMs can often succeed.

So given that I am using the carrier board from the dev kit and that I had everything hooked up and attempted to flash in the same way that I did for the dev kit, this is likely a DOA Xavier. Nvidia tech support doesn’t seem to be up to supporting their own products since they referred me to this forum. Does anyone else have any ideas before I just return this module and get a different one?

Before attempting to setup your system to use the MIPI cameras with their customized device tree, I recommend trying to flash using NVIDIA SDK Manager tool. If you encounter the same error, then it is probably time to RMA the module for another one.

Flashing from the NVIDIA SDK manager worked so the issue is apparently with the software provided by our camera vendor. There is apparently some difference between this Xavier and the one from our dev kit that their software doesn’t like.