Flash JetPack OS to A603 Carrier Board

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A603 Carrier Board is a powerful extension board that supports Jetson Orin™ NX/Nano modules. It features 1 GbE port, M.2 Key M for SSD, M.2 Key E for WiFi/BlueTooth, CSI, and HDMI for high-quality video capture and display. It also contains 4x USB ports, fan, RTC, flexible 9-20V power supply. By the compact design, it can be flexible and easy to integrate into a variety of edge computing applications. In this wiki, we will show you how to flash Jetpack to an NVMe SSD and a USB Flash drive connected to the A603 Carrier Board.

Supported Module

• NVIDIA® Jetson Orin™ Nano Module 4GB
• NVIDIA® Jetson Orin™ Nano Module 8GB
• NVIDIA® Jetson Orin™ NX Module 8GB
• NVIDIA® Jetson Orin™ NX Module 16GB

Prerequisites

• Ubuntu Host PC
• A603 Carrier Board with Jetson Orin module
• Micro-USB data transmission cable

Enter Force Recovery Mode

note

Before we can move on to the installation steps, we need to make sure that the board is in force recovery mode.

step-by-step detailed tutorial

Step 1. Connect a USB cable between the micro-USB connector on the board and the Linux host PC

Step 2. Connect a jumper wire between pin3 and pin4 of the 14-pin header

Step 3. Connect power adapter to the DC JACK on the board to power on the board

Step 4. On the Linux host PC, open a Terminal window and enter the command lsusb. If the returned content has one of the following outputs according to the Jetson SoM you use, then the board is in force recovery mode.

• For Orin NX 16GB: 0955:7323 NVidia Corp
• For Orin NX 8GB: 0955:7423 NVidia Corp
• For Orin Nano 8GB: 0955:7523 NVidia Corp
• For Orin Nano 4GB: 0955:7623 NVidia Corp

The below image is for Orin NX 16GB.

Step 5. Remove the jumper wire.

Download the peripheral drivers

First of all, you need to install the peripheral drivers for this board. These are needed for some hardware peripherals to function on the board. Click the below links to download the drivers according to the Jetson module

Jetson Module	JetPack Version	L4T Version	Download Link
Jetson Orin NX 8GB/ 16GB	5.1	35.2.1	Download
	5.1.1	35.3.1	Download
Jetson Orin Nano 4GB/ 8GB	5.1.1	35.3.1	Download
Jetson Orin NX 8GB/ 16GB, Jetson Orin Nano 4GB/ 8GB	5.1.2	35.4.1	Download
Jetson Orin NX 8GB/ 16GB, Jetson Orin Nano 4GB/ 8GB	5.1.4	35.6.0	Download
Jetson Orin NX 8GB/ 16GB, Jetson Orin Nano 4GB/ 8GB	6.0	36.3	Download
Jetson Orin NX 8GB/ 16GB, Jetson Orin Nano 4GB/ 8GB	6.1	36.4	Download

Note: Currently we provide the above drivers. We will keep updating the drivers in the future with the release of new JetPack versions.

Flash to Jetson

note

Before moving onto flashing, it should be noted that Jetson Orin NX module only supports JetPack 5.1 and above, while Jetson Orin Nano module only supports JetPack 5.1.1 and above.

JP5.1.1 for Jetson Orin NX

Here we will install Jetpack 5.1.1 on the A603 Carrier Board with Jetson Orin NX module.

Step 1: Download the NVIDIA drivers on the host PC. The required drivers are shown below:

Step 2: Move the downloaded peripheral drivers from before into the same folder with NVIDIA drivers. Now you will see three compressed files in the same folder.

Step 3: Extract Jetson_Linux_R35.3.1_aarch64.tbz2 and Tegra_Linux_Sample-Root-Filesystem_R35.3.1_aarch64.tbz2 by navigating to the folder containing these files, apply the changes and install the necessary prerequisites

tar xf Jetson_Linux_R35.3.1_aarch64.tbz2
sudo tar xpf Tegra_Linux_Sample-Root-Filesystem_R35.3.1_aarch64.tbz2 -C Linux_for_Tegra/rootfs/
cd Linux_for_Tegra/
sudo ./apply_binaries.sh
sudo ./tools/l4t_flash_prerequisites.sh

Step 4: Extract A603-Orin-NX-JP5.1.1.zip. Here we additionally install the unzip package which is needed to decompress the .zip file

cd ..
sudo apt install unzip 
unzip A603-Orin-NX-JP5.1.1.zip

Here it will ask whether to replace the files. Type A and press ENTER to replace the necessary files

Step 5: Configure your username, password & hostname so that you do not need to enter the Ubuntu installation wizard after the device finishes booting.

Using cd Linux_for_Tegra first to ensure you are in the right directory.

sudo tools/l4t_create_default_user.sh -u {USERNAME} -p {PASSWORD} -a -n {HOSTNAME} --accept-license

For example (username:"nvidia", password:"nvidia", device-name:"nvidia-desktop"):

sudo tools/l4t_create_default_user.sh -u nvidia -p nvidia -a -n nvidia-desktop --accept-license

Step 6: Flash the system to either NVMe SSD or USB Flash drive

sudo ./tools/kernel_flash/l4t_initrd_flash.sh --external-device nvme0n1p1 \
  -c tools/kernel_flash/flash_l4t_external.xml -p "-c bootloader/t186ref/cfg/flash_t234_qspi.xml" \
  --showlogs --network usb0 p3509-a02+p3767-0000 internal

You will see the following output if the flashing process is successful

JP5.1.1 for Jetson Orin Nano

Here we will use NVIDIA L4T 35.3.1 to install Jetpack 5.1.1 on the A603 Carrier Board with Jetson Orin Nano module

Step 1: Download the NVIDIA drivers on the host PC. The required drivers are shown below:

Step 2: Move the downloaded peripheral drivers from before into the same folder with NVIDIA drivers. Now you will see three compressed files in the same folder.

Step 3: Extract Jetson_Linux_R35.3.1_aarch64.tbz2 and Tegra_Linux_Sample-Root-Filesystem_R35.3.1_aarch64.tbz2 by navigating to the folder containing these files, apply the changes and install the necessary prerequisites

tar xf Jetson_Linux_R35.3.1_aarch64.tbz2
sudo tar xpf Tegra_Linux_Sample-Root-Filesystem_R35.3.1_aarch64.tbz2 -C Linux_for_Tegra/rootfs/
cd Linux_for_Tegra/
sudo ./apply_binaries.sh
sudo ./tools/l4t_flash_prerequisites.sh

Step 4: Extract A603-Orin-NX-JP5.1.1.zip. Here we additionally install the unzip package which is needed to decompress the .zip file

cd ..
sudo apt install unzip 
unzip A603-Orin-NX-JP5.1.1.zip

Here it will ask whether to replace the files. Type A and press ENTER to replace the necessary files

Step 5: Configure your username, password & hostname so that you do not need to enter the Ubuntu installation wizard after the device finishes booting

sudo tools/l4t_create_default_user.sh -u {USERNAME} -p {PASSWORD} -a -n {HOSTNAME} --accept-license

For example (username:"nvidia", password:"nvidia", device-name:"nvidia-desktop"):

sudo tools/l4t_create_default_user.sh -u nvidia -p nvidia -a -n nvidia-desktop --accept-license

Step 6: Flash the system to either NVMe SSD or USB Flash drive

cd Linux_for_Tegra
sudo ./tools/kernel_flash/l4t_initrd_flash.sh --external-device nvme0n1p1 \
  -c tools/kernel_flash/flash_l4t_external.xml -p "-c bootloader/t186ref/cfg/flash_t234_qspi.xml" \
  --showlogs --network usb0 jetson-orin-nano-devkit internal

You will see the following output if the flashing process is successful.

JP5.1.2

Here we will install Jetpack 5.1.2 on the A603 Carrier Board with Jetson Orin module.

Step 1: Download the NVIDIA drivers on the host PC. The required drivers are shown below:

Step 2: Move the downloaded peripheral drivers from before into the same folder with NVIDIA drivers. Now you will see three compressed files in the same folder.

Step 3: Extract Jetson_Linux_R35.4.1_aarch64.tbz2 and Tegra_Linux_Sample-Root-Filesystem_R35.4.1_aarch64.tbz2 by navigating to the folder containing these files, apply the changes and install the necessary prerequisites.

tar xf Jetson_Linux_R35.4.1_aarch64.tbz2
sudo tar xpf Tegra_Linux_Sample-Root-Filesystem_R35.4.1_aarch64.tbz2 -C Linux_for_Tegra/rootfs/
cd Linux_for_Tegra/
sudo ./apply_binaries.sh
sudo ./tools/l4t_flash_prerequisites.sh

Step 4: Extract A603-JP5.1.2.zip. Here we additionally install the unzip package which is needed to decompress the .zip file.

cd ..
sudo apt install unzip 
unzip A603-JP5.1.2.zip

Step 5: Configure your username, password & hostname so that you do not need to enter the Ubuntu installation wizard after the device finishes booting.

sudo tools/l4t_create_default_user.sh -u {USERNAME} -p {PASSWORD} -a -n {HOSTNAME} --accept-license

For example (username:"nvidia", password:"nvidia", device-name:"nvidia-desktop"):

sudo tools/l4t_create_default_user.sh -u nvidia -p nvidia -a -n nvidia-desktop --accept-license

Step 6: Flash the system to NVMe SSD.

cd Linux_for_Tegra
sudo ./tools/kernel_flash/l4t_initrd_flash.sh --external-device nvme0n1p1 -c tools/kernel_flash/flash_l4t_external.xml -p "-c bootloader/t186ref/cfg/flash_t234_qspi.xml" --showlogs --network usb0 jetson-orin-nano-devkit internal

You will see the following output if the flashing process is successful.

JP5.1.4

Here we will install Jetpack 5.1.4 on the A603 Carrier Board with Jetson Orin module.

Step 1: Download the NVIDIA drivers on the host PC:

wget https://developer.nvidia.com/downloads/embedded/l4t/r35_release_v6.0/release/jetson_linux_r35.6.0_aarch64.tbz2
wget https://developer.nvidia.com/downloads/embedded/l4t/r35_release_v6.0/release/tegra_linux_sample-root-filesystem_r35.6.0_aarch64.tbz2

Step 2: Assemble the Flashing Package Execute the following commands in order:

tar xf jetson_linux_r35.6.0_aarch64.tbz2
sudo tar xpf tegra_linux_sample-root-filesystem_r35.6.0_aarch64.tbz2 -C Linux_for_Tegra/rootfs/
tar zxpf 603_jp514.tar.gz # Unzip the driver package
sudo cp -r 603_jp514/Linux_for_Tegra/* Linux_for_Tegra/ # Replace all files in the Linux_for_Tegra directory with the files from the driver package
cd Linux_for_Tegra/ # Navigate to the Linux_for_Tegra path to run the flashing commands
sudo ./apply_binaries.sh
sudo ./tools/l4t_flash_prerequisites.sh

Step 3: Put the Device in Recovery Mode. The device must be in recovery mode for flashing. Follow these steps to enter recovery mode:

1. Short-circuit the REC pin and GND pin on the carrier board.
2. Connect the carrier board to the PC using a Micro USB data cable.
3. Power on the device.
4. On the PC, run lsusb and check if the product ID is one of the following: 7323, 7423, 7523, or 7623. This indicates the device is in recovery mode:
   • 7323: Orin NX 16G
   • 7423: Orin NX 8G
   • 7523: Orin Nano 8G
   • 7623: Orin Nano 4G

Step 4: Flash the Device.

sudo ./tools/kernel_flash/l4t_initrd_flash.sh --external-device nvme0n1p1 -c tools/kernel_flash/flash_l4t_external.xml -p "-c bootloader/t186ref/cfg/flash_t234_qspi.xml" --showlogs --network usb0 jetson-orin-nano-devkit internal

Tips: Backup the System and Flash Using the Backup Image

1. If you flashed the system onto the SSD, run the following commands:
   • To backup the image (requires recovery mode):

     sudo ./tools/backup_restore/l4t_backup_restore.sh -e nvme0n1 -b jetson-orin-nano-devkit
   • To flash using the backup image (requires recovery mode):

     sudo ./tools/backup_restore/l4t_backup_restore.sh -e nvme0n1 -r jetson-orin-nano-devkit
     Once completed, the device can boot into the system.

JP6.0

Here we will install Jetpack 6.0 on the A603 Carrier Board with Jetson Orin module.

Step 1: Download the NVIDIA drivers on the host PC. The required drivers are shown below:

Step 2: Move the downloaded peripheral drivers from before into the same folder with NVIDIA drivers. Now you will see three compressed files in the same folder.

Step 3: Extract Jetson_Linux_R36.3.0_aarch64.tbz2 and Tegra_Linux_Sample-Root-Filesystem_R36.3.0_aarch64.tbz2 by navigating to the folder containing these files.

sudo tar xf Jetson_Linux_R36.3.0_aarch64.tbz2
sudo tar xpf Tegra_Linux_Sample-Root-Filesystem_R36.3.0_aarch64.tbz2 -C Linux_for_Tegra/rootfs/

Step 4: Extract A603-JP6.0.zip. Here we additionally install the unzip package which is needed to decompress the .zip file.

cd ..
sudo apt install unzip 
sudo unzip A603-JP6.0.zip

Then, copy the three folders (bootloader, kernel, rootfs in A603-JP6.0.zip) to Linux_for_Tegra folder.

Step 5: Apply the changes and install the necessary prerequisites

cd Linux_for_Tegra/
sudo ./apply_binaries.sh
sudo ./tools/l4t_flash_prerequisites.sh

Step 6: Configure your username, password & hostname so that you do not need to enter the Ubuntu installation wizard after the device finishes booting.

sudo tools/l4t_create_default_user.sh -u {USERNAME} -p {PASSWORD} -a -n {HOSTNAME} --accept-license

For example (username:"nvidia", password:"nvidia", device-name:"nvidia-desktop"):

sudo tools/l4t_create_default_user.sh -u nvidia -p nvidia -a -n nvidia-desktop --accept-license

Step 7: Flash the system to NVMe SSD.

cd Linux_for_Tegra
sudo ./tools/kernel_flash/l4t_initrd_flash.sh --external-device nvme0n1p1 -c tools/kernel_flash/flash_l4t_t234_nvme.xml -p "-c bootloader/generic/cfg/flash_t234_qspi.xml" --showlogs --network usb0 jetson-orin-nano-devkit internal

You will see the following output if the flashing process is successful.

JP6.1

Here we will install Jetpack 6.1 on the A603 Carrier Board with Jetson Orin module.

Step 1: Download the NVIDIA drivers on the host PC:

wget https://developer.nvidia.com/downloads/embedded/l4t/r36_release_v3.0/release/jetson_linux_r36.3.0_aarch64.tbz2
wget https://developer.nvidia.com/downloads/embedded/l4t/r36_release_v3.0/release/tegra_linux_sample-root-filesystem_r36.3.0_aarch64.tbz2

Step 2: Assemble the Flashing Package Execute the following commands in order:

tar xf jetson_linux_r36.3.0_aarch64.tbz2
sudo tar xpf tegra_linux_sample-root-filesystem_r36.3.0_aarch64.tbz2 -C Linux_for_Tegra/rootfs/
unzip 603_jp60.zip # Unzip the driver package
sudo cp -r 603_jp60/Linux_for_Tegra/* Linux_for_Tegra/ # Replace all files in the Linux_for_Tegra directory with the files from the driver package
cd Linux_for_Tegra/ # Navigate to the Linux_for_Tegra path to run the flashing commands
sudo ./apply_binaries.sh
sudo ./tools/l4t_flash_prerequisites.sh

Step 3: Put the Device in Recovery Mode. The device must be in recovery mode for flashing. Follow these steps to enter recovery mode:

1. Short-circuit the REC pin and GND pin on the carrier board.
2. Connect the carrier board to the PC using a Micro USB data cable.
3. Power on the device.
4. On the PC, run lsusb and check if the product ID is one of the following: 7323, 7423, 7523, or 7623. This indicates the device is in recovery mode:
   • 7323: Orin NX 16G
   • 7423: Orin NX 8G
   • 7523: Orin Nano 8G
   • 7623: Orin Nano 4G

Step 4: Flash the Device.

sudo ./tools/kernel_flash/l4t_initrd_flash.sh --external-device nvme0n1p1 -c tools/kernel_flash/flash_l4t_t234_nvme.xml -p "-c bootloader/generic/cfg/flash_t234_qspi.xml"  --showlogs --network usb0 jetson-orin-nano-devkit internal

Tips: Backup the System and Flash Using the Backup Image

1. If you flashed the system onto the SSD, run the following commands:
   • To backup the image (requires recovery mode):

     sudo ./tools/backup_restore/l4t_backup_restore.sh -e nvme0n1  -b jetson-orin-nano-devkit
   • To flash using the backup image (requires recovery mode):

     sudo ./tools/backup_restore/l4t_backup_restore.sh -e nvme0n1 -r jetson-orin-nano-devkit
     Once completed, the device can boot into the system.

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