Flashing Instructions for the OKDO Jetson Nano C100#

Overview#

The instructions below have been tested with JP4.6.6 with the Duckiebot image v1.4.6. Following this guide, the root partition from the eMMC will now point to the SD card while all other partitions remain on the eMMC.

The reason for this modification is that the C100 uses the production version of the NVIDIA Jetson Nano module, which uses eMMC instead of an SD card interface. We need to make some small changes to use pre-built SD card images.

Prerequisites#

Host computer running Linux (Ubuntu 18.04 or newer recommended)
Docker installed on the host
Power supply for the Jetson Nano
USB cable (micro USB to connect to the C100)
Display, keyboard, mouse, and Ethernet cable for initial setup

Step A: Flash the C100 using Dockerized Jetson Flasher#

Instead of using NVIDIA SDK Manager, we’ll use the dockerized Jetson flasher for a more streamlined experience:

Clone the flasher repository:

git clone https://github.com/duckietown/dt-jetson-nano-flasher
cd dt-jetson-nano-flasher

Download the Linux4Tegra BSP and image:

mkdir -p ~/Nvidia && cd ~/Nvidia
wget https://developer.nvidia.com/downloads/embedded/l4t/r32_release_v7.6/t210/jetson-210_linux_r32.7.6_aarch64.tbz2
wget https://developer.nvidia.com/downloads/embedded/l4t/r32_release_v7.6/t210/tegra_linux_sample-root-filesystem_r32.7.6_aarch64.tbz2

Build the Docker image:

cd dt-jetson-nano-flasher
docker-compose build

Put the Jetson Nano into recovery mode:
- Power off the Jetson Nano
- Short the FC REC and GND pins with a jumper
- Power on the Jetson Nano
- Connect the micro USB cable from your host to the C100
- Verify the device is in recovery mode: lsusb | grep NVIDIA (should show “NVIDIA Corp. APX”)
Run the flashing container:
```
docker-compose run --rm ubuntu
```

Inside the container, prepare and flash:

# Extract the BSP
cd /Nvidia
tar xf jetson-210_linux_r32.7.6_aarch64.tbz2
cd Linux_for_Tegra/rootfs
tar xf /Nvidia/tegra_linux_sample-root-filesystem_r32.7.6_aarch64.tbz2
cd ..

# Apply binaries
sudo ./apply_binaries.sh

# Flash the device (use jetson-nano-emmc for production modules)
sudo ./flash.sh jetson-nano-emmc mmcblk0p1

The flashing process will take several minutes. Once complete, the Nano will reboot into Ubuntu.

Step B: Boot to Desktop#

Unplug the C100 from the host and connect a display, keyboard, mouse, and Ethernet cable. Make sure to remove the jumper shorting the FC REC and GND pins. Power up the device and follow the onscreen setup guide until you reach the desktop.

Step C: Configure SD Card Interface and Root Path#

Perform the following steps on the Jetson Nano C100 (all commands are executed in the shell). Total time: approximately 15 minutes.

Enable SD Card Interface#

First, we need to enable the SD card interface using the following commands:

Clone the device tree overlays repository:

git clone https://github.com/Seeed-Studio/seeed-linux-dtoverlays.git

Configure and build the overlay:

cd seeed-linux-dtoverlays
sed -i '17s#JETSON_COMPATIBLE#\"nvidia,p3449-0000-b00+p3448-0002-b00\"\,\"nvidia\,jetson-nano\"\, \"nvidia\,tegra210\"#' overlays/jetsonnano/jetson-sdmmc-overlay.dts
make overlays/jetsonnano/jetson-sdmmc-overlay.dtbo
sudo cp overlays/jetsonnano/jetson-sdmmc-overlay.dtbo /boot/

Configure the hardware module:
```
cd /boot/
sudo /opt/nvidia/jetson-io/config-by-hardware.py -l
```
This should display a list of hardware modules. Verify that reComputer sdmmc is present in the list.

Enable the SD card module:

sudo /opt/nvidia/jetson-io/config-by-hardware.py -n "reComputer sdmmc"

Reboot the system:
```
sudo reboot
```

Modify Root Path Configuration#

After rebooting, we need to modify the root path to point to the SD card:

Edit the extlinux configuration file:
```
sudo nano /boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf
```
Find all lines containing root=/dev/mmcblk0p1 and change them to root=/dev/mmcblk1p1.

Save the file and exit the editor.

Step D: Use SD Card with Duckiebot Image#

Now you can insert your SD card flashed with the Duckiebot image and use it normally.

For detailed instructions on setting up your Duckiebot, refer to the Duckiebot operation manual.

The Duckiebot Operation Manual - daffy

Flashing Instructions for the OKDO Jetson Nano C100

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