Jetson Orin Nano NVMe flash using WSL2 and SDKManager

(Up to date as of 12/20/2023)

• This process sucked, horribly. If possible, use an existing (non VM) installation of Ubuntu 20.04. It should be easier.
• To install using WSL, you will have to do many tedious things, of which include:
  • Building the WSL2 kernel from source (eww).
  • Installing Nvidia's SDKManager.
  • Waiting several eternities for things to happen.
• For this installation, I will be selecting Jetpack 5.1.2, because Jetpack 6.0 was uncooperative and only led to a black screen on boot.
• The newest version of Ubuntu that supports Jetpack 5.1.2 is Ubuntu-20.04. Make sure you are using that version to run commands.

Step 1

• Lets get the most tedious step out of the way first, building the WSL kernel from source.
• Ensure you have all required dependencies installed:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt install build-essential flex bison dwarves libssl-dev libelf-dev bc

• Next, clone the WSL2 kernel found on GitHub (source):

git clone https://github.com/microsoft/WSL2-Linux-Kernel

• Make sure that you clone this onto a filesystem that supports files of the same name but with different capitalizations coexisting. Basically, just clone this on your home directory in Ubuntu.
• Next, download copy this custom config and extract it (source). It can be downloaded via this link.
• Copy the config file found in the extracted folder into the root of the WSL kernel repository that was just cloned.

cp ./config ~/WSL2-Linux-Kernel

• Start building the kernel, this will take a while.

make KCONFIG_CONFIG=config

or, for multithreaded building (with 8 threads as an example):

make KCONFIG_CONFIG=config -j 8

• You may have to run the single threaded build command once the multithreaded command finishes to produce the resulting vmlinux binary.
• Now, copy vmlinux to somewhere outside of your WSL drive. I've copied mine to C:\temp\vmlinux\wsl-kernel:

mkdir -p /mnt/c/temp/wsl-kernel/
cp vmlinux /mnt/c/temp/wsl-kernel/vmlinux

• To use this kernel with WSL, we have to edit (or create and edit) the file C:\Users\[user]\.wslconfig and add:

[wsl2]
kernel=C:\\temp\\wsl-kernel\\vmlinux

Step 2

• Install NVMe drive and SD card into the Jetson (both required)
• Bridge the two adjacent pins: FC REC and GND on the Jetson. This can be done with tweezers if you don't have a jumper.
• Plug in the Jetson Orin Nano using the usb C port. Plug the other end into your host PC.
• Download and install usbipd.exe from here

Step 3

• Install the prerequisites for SDKManager:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install iputils-ping iproute2 netcat iptables dnsutils network-manager usbutils net-tools python3-yaml dosfstools libgetopt-complete-perl openssh-client binutils xxd cpio udev dmidecode -y
sudo apt install linux-tools-virtual hwdata -y
sudo apt install libgbm1 libgtk-3-0 libatk-bridge2.0-0 libgconf-2-4 -y

• Download the SDKManager .deb file from Nvidia's website, here and install it

sudo apt install ./sdkmanager_[version]-[build#]_amd64.deb

• Install qemu-user-static and ensure the required binary formats are imported:

sudo apt-get install qemu-user-static
sudo update-binfmts --import qemu-aarch64
sudo update-binfmts --import qemu-arm
sudo update-binfmts --import qemu-armeb

• Enable systemd by appending into your wsl.conf:

[boot]
systemd=true

• Shutdown, then reopen wsl to ensure everything is working properly:

wsl --shutdown

Step 4

• Power on the Jetson while the FC REC and GND pins are bridged. This will boot the Jetson into forced recovery mode. This allows us to connect via USB.
• Using powershell, run usbipd.exe list and confirm that a device with a VID starting with 0955 is present.
  • Take note of the BUSID.
• Share the Jetsons USB with WSL using the command (replace BUSID with your BUSID) (run as administrator):

usbipd.exe bind -b <BUSID> --force

• To make sure the USB stays connected during the flashing process, run this command to auto-reconnect it when it disconnects (once again, replace BUSID):

usbipd.exe attach --wsl -b <BUSID> --auto-attach

• In WSL, open sdkmanager via the commandline (X11 must work on your installation of WSL):

sdkmanager

• Login to your Nvidia account.
• The Jetson should be automatically detected as long as usbipd is running. Select the "Developer Kit" version when presented with the option.
• Select "JetPack 5.1.2" as your SDK Version.
• Unselect the "Host Machine" option from System Configuration.
• Proceed to next step.
• Accept the Nvidia License Agreement at the bottom and Continue to the next step.
• Wait for all components to download.
• Once all components have downloaded, flashing will begin.
• A popup will show up to connect to the jetson for flashing. Select NVMe as the storage device. Select Pre-Configured as the configuration, along with a username and password.
• Make sure to watch the terminal tab closely for errors. If you notice the error Unknown device "/sys/class/net/bonding_masters": No such device, do the following:
  • Quickly close the powershell instance running usbipd.exe.
  • Reopen it again, still in administrator mode.
  • Try to run

usbipd.exe bind -b <BUSID> --force

until it succeeds, and then run

usbipd.exe attach --wsl -b <BUSID> --auto-attach

• This must be done before the flashing times out.
• Once flashing has finished, the jetson will reboot. Make sure you have a monitor + peripherals to set it up.
• Another popup will show up on the SDKManager to install additional components. On the Jetson, find the ip of it using ifconfig. Add this information into the popup along with the username and password.
  • This step is really optional. If you don't need the extra components, you're done.
• The SDKManager will now connect with SSH and install the rest of the components.
• You're done! You can now remove the jumper from FC REC and GND and restart your Jetson.