Jetpack 4.6 - Headless Installation on Jetson Nano using USB cable

JetPack 4.6 was released on August 4th 2021. The simple features of Jetpack 4.6 are:

• L4T version: 32.6.1
• Support for Jetson AGX Xavier Industrial module.
• Support for new 20W mode on Jetson Xavier NX enabling better video encode and video decode performance and higher memory bandwidth. The included 10W and 15W nvpmodel configurations will perform exactly as did the 10W and 20W modes with previous JetPack releases. Any custom nvpmodel created with a previous release will require regeneration for use with JetPack 4.6. Please read L4T 32.6.1 release notes for details.
• Image based Over-The-Air update tools for developing end-to-end OTA solution for Jetson products in the field. Supported on Jetson TX2 series, Jetson Xavier NX and Jetson AGX Xavier series.
• A/B Root File System redundancy to flash, maintain and update redundant root file systems. Enhances fault tolerance during OTA by falling back to the working root file system slot in case of a failure. Supported on Jetson TX2 series, Jetson Xavier NX and Jetson AGX Xavier series.
• A new flashing tool to flash internal or external media connected to Jetson1. Supports Jetson TX2 series, Jetson Xavier NX and Jetson AGX Xavier. The new tool uses initial RAM disk for flashing and is up to1.5x faster when flashing compared to the previous method2.
• Secure boot is enhanced3 for Jetson TX2 series to extend encryption support to kernel, kernel-dtb and initrd.
• Disk encryption of external media4 supported to protect data at rest for Jetson AGX Xavier series, Jetson Xavier NX and Jetson TX2.
• NVMe driver added to CBoot for Jetson Xavier NX and Jetson AGX Xavier series. Enables loading kernel, kernel-dtb and initrd from the root file system on NVMe.
• Enhanced Jetson-IO tools to configure the camera header interface and dynamically add support for a camera using device tree overlays.
• Support for configuring for Raspberry-PI cameras line IMX219 or High Def IMX477 at run time using Jetson-IO tool on Jetson Nano 2GB, Jetson Nano and Jetson Xavier NX developer kits.

 Today I will install JetPack 4.6 the way I prefer. My preferred installation method is to connect the Jetson Nano to a PC with a USB cable. It uses some kind of serial communication.

This is the easiest way to do initial setup without having to connect a monitor, keyboard, and mouse to the Jetson Nano.

Installation process

First, burn the image to the SD card.

SD Card Burning

SD card should be at least 32GB. Personally, I recommend 64GB. To test Edge AI on Jetson Nano, you need to install packages such as OpenCV, Tensorflow, and Pytorch. In addition, there is not enough space with a 16GB SD card because it has to store various AI models, images, and videos.

• Download the JetPack 4.6 image from https://developer.nvidia.com/embedded/jetpack.
• Burn the downloaded image file to the SD card using a program such as Etcher. Etcher can be used immediately without unpacking the downloaded Jetpack 4.6 zip file.

Connect the Jetson Nano and Host Computer with USB cable

Now it's time to connect the PC and Jetson Nano.

• Insert the flashed sd card into the Jetson Nano.
• Connect an Ethernet cable with Internet access to the Jetson Nano.
• Connect the Jetson Nano and Windows PC(WIndows OS is OK) with USB cable(which data transfer possible).  

<USB connection on Jetson Nano>

• Power on the Jetson Nano, then wait for Windows to recognize Nano.
• Start a Windows DeviceManagerl and check the COM port of Jetson Nano. 

<Jetson Nano connected to COM3>

Initial setup screens

• Run putty and open the serial port. In my case "COM3".

• If successful, you can see the console screen of Jetson Nano. See the images below. 
• Next, follow the instructions on the screen like this.

<Initial welcome screen>

<License agreement screen>

<Language selection for installation screen>

<Country selection screen>

<Language selection screen>

<UTC selection screen>

<User fullname input screen>

<Username input screen>

<Password input screen>

<Confirm password screen>

If the partition size is the same as the number displayed on the screen, unless there is a special case, the entire capacity of the SD card is used.

<Pattition size input screen>

With the Ethernet cable connected, select eth0.

<Network configuration screen>

<Network configuration progress screen>

<Hostname input screen>

Select the power mode (NVP Model) to be used in Jetson Nano. More information about the NVP model can be found in Useful tips before using Jetson Series (Nano, TX2, Xavier NX, Xavier).

<Power mode selection> 

When the installation is complete, the connection is disconnected and Jetson Nano restarts. After a while, use Putty again to connect to the COM port.

<Serial connection lost screen>

Now you will be asked to enter your username and password.

<First Login screen>

Wrapping up

Using a USB cable, you can set up the initial image very easily on a PC without connecting a monitor or keyboard. This method is also my favorite method. After installation, ssh is usually used using the Ethernet IP address. However, this method can be used at any time. If it is difficult to check easily because the IP is changed while maintaining the Ethernet setting of the Jetson Nano as DHCP, you can use ssh as a serial connection using a USB cable as introduced in this article. This method can be applied not only to JetPack 4.6 but also to older Jetpack installations.

If you need useful settings for images after initial installation, refer to the next page. It explains useful tools and basic setup methods for Jetson series.

• Useful tips before using Jetson Series(Nano, TX2, Xavier NX, Xavier)