28/9/21 18:14 How to Boot Jetson Nano From USB 3.0 (Natively) with Jetpack 4.

Natively) with Jetpack 4.5 – Rob Royce – Homepage

Rob Royce – Homepage

Sharing my knowledge of Embedded Computing, AI/ML, Data Science, Software Engineering, and
more!

How to Boot Jetson Nano From USB 3.0 (Natively)

with Jetpack 4.5

FEBRUARY 11, 2021MARCH 24, 2021 ~ ROB ROYCE

If you have a Jetson Nano booting from a microSD card, you stand to gain both increased speed and a
longer lifespan by switching out the microSD card for a USB 3.0 drive. In this guide, I’ll walk you
through the process of wiping, partitioning, and flashing a USB drive and booting a Jetson Nano from
it. Further, we won’t rely on hacks and workarounds like some other methods, since the ability to
boot from USB is now built-in to Jetpack 4.5 (https://developer.nvidia.com/embedded/jetpack) and
officially supported by Nvidia. The only issue is that Nvidia’s documentation is a bit verbose and
doesn’t do enough to help users through the process. I took the time to read through the
documentation and watch an Nvidia webinar so you don’t have to!

Quick Note: The original post overlooked a significant detail. In order for this process to work, you
must flash the Nano with Jetpack 4.5 on the microSD card before you attempt to boot from USB. This
is because the board will not allow boot from USB until the QSPI chip has been updated with new
instructions, but that can only happen if you update to Jetpack 4.5 or later. The easiest and quickest
way is to use Nvidia’s SDK Manager. You can follow this guide (https://docs.nvidia.com/sdk-
manager/install-with-sdkm-jetson/index.html) on Nvidia’s website to flash a microSD card with 4.5
using SDK Manager. The rest of this post depends on you having flashed a microSD with 4.5.

Requirements

I will assume you have the following components, all of which are necessary to complete the process:

A PC running Ubuntu 18.04 (16.xx and 20.xx were not tested, but they may still work)
A USB 3.0 flash drive (USB 2.0 is fine too, but you won’t be getting the best bang for your buck)
with at least 16GB of space, preferably larger (I will use a 128GB drive in this guide)
A Jetson Nano powered via barrel jack connector (this won’t work if you use the mini-USB port to
power the board, since we need to use the mini-USB for data transfer during the flashing process)
A jumper wire to put your Nano into recovery mode
You must flash a microSD card with Jetpack 4.5 or later and go through the system setup (user,
password, locality, etc) in order to update the QSPI chip which allows later booting from USB.

Note: this process has only been tested and verified on Nano’s with SD card slots and not on Nano’s
with built-in eMMC modules.

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Step 1: Install Host Machine Dependencies

Run the following commands on your host machine

1 sudo apt-get update

2 sudo apt-get install qemu-user-static

Step 2: Setup USB Drive

1. Run the following command twice, once before inserting the USB and once after inserting the
USB. We run it twice to be 100% sure that we are wiping and writing to the correct device. In this
example, the device we want to use is /dev/sdc, but it may be different on your host machine.

1 sudo lsblk -p -d | grep sd

2 >    /dev/sda       8:0    0 465.8G  0 disk
3 >    /dev/sdb       8:16   1    16M  1 disk

Insert the USB device…

1 sudo lsblk -p -d | grep sd

2 >    /dev/sda       8:0    0 465.8G  0 disk
3 >    /dev/sdb       8:16   1    16M  1 disk
4 >    /dev/sdc       8:32   1 114.6G  0 disk

2. Create environment variables to make the following snippets easier to copy/paste. Note that the
USB_SIZE variable below is not the full size of the disk. You can choose whatever size you want,
as long as it’s at least 16GB, but I left some space for an additional partition incase I need it later.
EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: make sure you change sdX to the correct value from above in the
following commands. YOU CAN DESTROY YOUR HOST SYSTEM IF YOU DO NOT DO
THIS CORRECTLY sdX must be changed to point to the USB drive you intend to install Jetpack
on. In the case above, we are using sdc and sdc1, but you may need to use sdb or something else
entirely.

1 export SDX=sdX
2 export SDX_PART=sdX1
3 export USB_SIZE=96GB

3. We’re going to wipe the USB drive with the following commands. First, we need to make sure
there are no existing partitions on the USB. If there are, we need to unmount them before
proceeding.

1 sudo lsblk | grep sd

2  
3 sda           8:0    0 465.8G  0 disk
4 ├─sda1        8:1    0   512M  0 part /boot/efi
5 └─sda2        8:2    0 465.3G  0 part /
6 sdc           8:16   1 115.7G  0 disk
7 └─sdc1        8:17   1  89.4G  0 part /media/rob/0640288e...

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Note that, in my case, there is an entry under sdc called sdc1, and it is mounted at location
/media/rob/0640288e.... We need to unmount that partition before continuing.

1 # --------------------------------------------------------
2 # Only required if you have a mounted partition from above
3 # --------------------------------------------------------
4  
5 sudo umount <location>
6  
7 # --------------------------------------------------------
8 # Where <location> in my case is equal to /media/rob/0640288e...
9 # --------------------------------------------------------

Verify that the partition was successfully unmounted by running sudo lsblk | grep sd again.
Once that is done, run the following command to wipe the USB Drive.

1 sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/${SDX} bs=1M count=16000 status=progress

This command reads from a constant stream of zero’s located at /dev/zero and writes that to the
drive 1MB at a time. Note that we are only writing about 16GB of data to the drive. You can
choose a larger count, but it could take a very long time to complete. 16GB should be sufficient to
create a boot drive.

4. Create a new GUID Partition Table (GPT)

1 sudo parted /dev/${SDX} mklabel gpt

2  
3 > Warning: The existing disk label on /dev/sdc will be destroyed and all dat
4 Yes/No? yes

Note: If you get an error like the following…

1 > Error: Partition(s) 1 on /dev/sdc have been written, but we have been unab
2 > As a result, the old partition(s) will remain in use.  You should reboot n
3 Ignore/Cancel? cancel

Type cancel + Enter. This error means that the USB device is mounted and you must unmount it
before continuing. See steps above.

5. Create a new partition on the USB drive and mount it.

1 sudo parted /dev/${SDX} mkpart APP 0GB ${USB_SIZE}

2 sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/${SDX_PART}
3 sudo mount /dev/${SDX_PART} /mnt

The USB Drive should now be ready for writing. Next, we prepare the the files that will be written
to USB.

Step 3: Download and Prepare BSP and rootfs

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1 cd ~/
2 wget https://developer.nvidia.com/embedded/L4T/r32_Release_v5.0/T210/Tegra21
3 wget https://developer.nvidia.com/embedded/L4T/r32_Release_v5.0/T210/Tegra_L

Step 4: Setup Environment Variables

1 export L4T_RELEASE_PACKAGE=Tegra210_Linux_R32.5.0_aarch64.tbz2
2 export SAMPLE_FS_PACKAGE=Tegra_Linux_Sample-Root-Filesystem_R32.5.0_aarch64.
3 export BOARD=jetson-nano-devkit

Step 5: Extract and Apply

1 tar xf ${L4T_RELEASE_PACKAGE}
2 cd Linux_for_Tegra/rootfs/
3 sudo tar xpf ../../${SAMPLE_FS_PACKAGE}
4 cd ~/Linux_for_Tegra
5 sudo ./apply_binaries.sh

Note: The final line should say “Success!” is everything worked properly.

Step 6: Patch l4t-payload-updater

1 cd ~/Linux_for_Tegra/rootfs/usr/sbin
2 sudo rm l4t_payload_updater_t210
3 sudo wget https://developer.nvidia.com/l4t-payload-updater-t210 (https://dev
4 sudo chmod +x l4t_payload_updater_t210

Step 7: Recovery Mode and Connect

1. Power down the Nano

2. Put the Nano into “recovery” mode.
For revision B01, place a jumper wire across pins 9 and 10 of the button header (J50,
underneath the heatsink module)

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For revision A02, place a jumper wire across pins 3 and 4 of the button header (J40, near
camera header)
Correct configuration for revision B01 is shown in the image below.
3. Connect the mini-USB cable from the Nano to your host machine.
4. Apply power to turn the Nano on.
5. After 3 seconds, disconnect the jumper wires.
6. Verify that the Nano is in recovery mode by executing lsusb on your host. You should see
something like Bus 001 Device 011: ID 0955:7f21 NVidia Corp.

Step 8: Mount, Copy, Unmount

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Note: We are not changing sda1 to ${SDX_PART} in the following code. You must keep it as sda1.

1 cd ~/Linux_for_Tegra
2 sudo BOOTDEV=sda1 ./flash.sh --no-flash ${BOARD} sda1
3 sudo mkdir tmp_system
4 sudo mount bootloader/system.img.raw ./tmp_system/
5 sudo rsync -axHAWX --numeric-ids --info=progress2 --exclude=/proc ./tmp_syst
6 sudo umount /mnt
7 sudo umount ./tmp_system

Step 9: Jetson Nano Peripheral Setup

1) Power down the Jetson Nano. Make sure the jumper wires for recovery mode are removed.

2) Remove the USB Drive from your host machine.

3) Remove the SD Card (if any) from the Jetson Nano. This is an important step since, if an SD Card is
present, the Nano will always boot from SD rather than USB.

4) Remove the mini-USB connection between your host machine and the Jetson Nano.

5) Insert the USB Drive into the Jetson Nano.

6) Ensure that any USB accessories (mouse, keyboard) and HDMI are plugged in before turning the
power back on.

Step 10: Power On and Complete System Setup

After the SD Card has been removed and the USB + peripherals have been inserted, apply power
to the Jetson Nano. If everything worked correctly, you will briefly see some system dialog
followed by the typical system setup process. Complete this process and the device will reboot.
Next, we will want to install system libraries, SDK’s, and dependencies. I will be writing a guide
on how to easily install these components using Nvidia’s SDK Manager as soon as possible. Check
back soon!

POSTED IN COMPUTER SCIENCE, JETSON, NANO

7 thoughts on “How to Boot Jetson Nano From USB 3.0

(Natively) with Jetpack 4.5”

1. Michael Newham
SAYS:
FEBRUARY 26, 2021 AT 12:22 AM
Hi Rob, thanks for your efforts..

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My go was successful and your commands have allowed me to use an SSD with at least a 5x speed
increase over the old SD card

Now the issue is ‘dpkg’ errors on the usual apt update / upgrade command. I’ve posted the error
output below. My install is on a Jetson Nano 2Gb – with the following firmware >

—
NVIDIA Jetson Nano (Developer Kit Version)

L4T 32.5.1 [ JetPack UNKNOWN ]

Ubuntu 18.04.5 LTS

Kernel Version: 4.9.201-tegra

I’ll also post this on the Nvidia forums too – but you may have already encountered this. hence
my post here. Error output below…

Cheers, Michael.

_______

Setting up nvidia-l4t-bootloader (32.5.1-20210219084526) …

3448-300-0003–1–jetson-nano-devkit-sda1

Starting bootloader post-install procedure.

ERROR. Procedure for bootloader update FAILED.

Cannot install package. Exiting…

dpkg: error processing package nvidia-l4t-bootloader (–configure):

installed nvidia-l4t-bootloader package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit

status 1

Setting up nvidia-l4t-xusb-firmware (32.5.1-20210219084526) …

3448-300-0003–1–jetson-nano-devkit-sda1

Starting xusb firmware post-install procedure.

ERROR. Procedure for xusb firmware update FAILED.

Cannot install package. Exiting…

dpkg: error processing package nvidia-l4t-xusb-firmware (–configure):

installed nvidia-l4t-xusb-firmware package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit

status 1

dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of nvidia-l4t-initrd:

nvidia-l4t-initrd depends on nvidia-l4t-xusb-firmware (= 32.5.1-20210219084526); however:

Package nvidia-l4t-xusb-firmware is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package nvidia-l4t-initrd (–configure):

dependency problems – leaving unconfigured

Setting up nano (2.9.3-2) …

No apport report written because the error message indicates its a followup error from a previous
failure.

update-alternatives: using /bin/nano to provide /usr/bin/editor (editor) in auto mode

update-alternatives: warning: skip creation of /usr/share/man/man1/editor.1.gz because associated

file /usr/share/man/man1/nano.1.gz (of link group editor) doesn’t exist

update-alternatives: using /bin/nano to provide /usr/bin/pico (pico) in auto mode

update-alternatives: warning: skip creation of /usr/share/man/man1/pico.1.gz because associated

file /usr/share/man/man1/nano.1.gz (of link group pico) doesn’t exist

Processing triggers for man-db (2.8.3-2ubuntu0.1) …

Errors were encountered while processing:

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nvidia-l4t-bootloader

nvidia-l4t-xusb-firmware

nvidia-l4t-initrd

E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

Reply
1. Rob Royce
SAYS:
FEBRUARY 26, 2021 AT 1:07 AM
Hi Michael, happy to help! One thing I found with the Nano devices in general is that the
`sudo apt-get upgrade` command tends to break things, unfortunately.

I have indeed encountered this exact same issue and the only way I was able to fix it was by
purging `nvidia-l4t-bootloader`, `nvidia-l4t-xusb-firmware`, and `nvidia-l4t-initrd`. I didn’t
record my steps, unfortunately, but you should try `sudo apt-get purge nvidia-l4t-bootloader`,
and so on. After purging all three of the specified packages, do a `sudo apt-get autoremove`
and then reboot the device.

You will also find this issue discussed briefly on the Nvidia forum here:
https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/dist-uopgrade-fails-on-l4t-bootloader/121346, which
may or may not help you find a fix!

Reply
2. Yaroslav Stanko
SAYS:
MARCH 7, 2021 AT 8:15 PM
Hi Rob, thanx! I have a problem on my jetson nano 2gb. Exactly that
https://medium.com/@cpyang/quick-summary-on-using-usb-external-disk-for-jetson-nano-
301cc70616f1

USB 2 works, but USB 3 doesn’t work with my SSD.

Reply
3. DanDeng
SAYS:
MARCH 11, 2021 AT 4:23 PM
Thank you very much

successfully got job done exactly follow your papaer guide.

Dan

Reply
4. Neil Young
SAYS:
MARCH 12, 2021 AT 8:17 PM
Thanks for this blog post. I can’t wait for part 2 (regarding step 10).

I have two questions: 1) Is this reversible? I mean, will I be able to return to SD as root device? 2)
The purpose of read only systems or overlay systems is to protect the SD from being damaged on
sudden power loss during write cycles. Is there anything known about whether or not such a USB
stick is not the same way problematic as an SD?

Reply
5. Ravishankar
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SAYS:
MARCH 25, 2021 AT 6:02 AM
Thanks for this tutorial. I have a a jetson-nano B01 with JP 4.5.1 latest. So QSPI firmware has been
updated to boot from USB.

I just want to know how I can do it without a host Ubuntu PC because I dont have access to one.

It seems many of the steps can be done on Jetson Nano itself.

Reply
6. Pavel Rybar
SAYS:
APRIL 21, 2021 AT 4:33 PM
Hi, nice post. Is there any chance to use HDD bigger than 2TB. I’m trying this with 4TB and got
errors:

GUID Partition Table Header signature is wrong: 0x0 != 0x5452415020494645

find_valid_gpt: *** ERROR: Invalid Backup GPT ***

GPT: first_usable_lba incorrect: 22 > 0

find_valid_gpt: *** ERROR: Invalid GPT ***

GUID Partition Table Header signature is wrong: 0x0 != 0x5452415020494645

find_valid_gpt: *** ERROR: Invalid Backup GPT ***

** Invalid partition 1 *

I thing it’s because of big drive..

Reply

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