ARK Jetson Carrier Setup

These scripts build and flash an image for a Jetson Orin Nano or Orin NX on an ARK Jetson carrier.

Component	Version
JetPack	6.2.2
L4T (BSP)	R36.5.0
Kernel	Linux 5.15
Host OS	Ubuntu 22.04

Building on a host other than Ubuntu 22.04? setup.sh and build.sh run themselves inside a 22.04 docker image, and install docker through apt if it is missing. docs/build_host.md explains why the build is pinned to 22.04.

Products

Target	Carrier Board	Docs
PAB	ARK Jetson PAB Carrier	docs
JAJ	ARK Just a Jetson Carrier	docs
PAB_V3	ARK Jetson PAB V3 Carrier	docs

Note: PAB Rev3 is a hardware revision of the PAB and uses PAB. PAB_V3 is a separate product.

Flash a Prebuilt Image

If you only want the stock image, flash a prebuilt package. Each release has one for every carrier, with the same image that ARK's bundles ship with.

Connect the Jetson to a Debian or Ubuntu host over USB, and boot it into recovery by holding the Force Recovery button while you power it on. Then run:

curl -LO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ARK-Electronics/ark_jetson_kernel/main/packaging/flash_from_package.sh
chmod +x flash_from_package.sh
./flash_from_package.sh pab        # or jaj / pab-v3, or a specific tag like pab-6.2.2.4

The script flashes the QSPI bootloader and writes the rootfs to NVMe. One package covers every Orin Nano and NX module variant. packaging/README.md has the details.

To customize the image, build it from source as described below.

Build & Flash

1. Setup

Download the BSP, root filesystem and kernel source tarballs. You only need to do this once.

./setup.sh

2. Build

Build the image for your carrier:

./build.sh PAB

• The target is PAB, JAJ, PAB_V3 or all.
• By default a build stages staging/{TARGET}/ again from scratch and provisions the image, which preinstalls ARK-OS and tooling. To add your own packages to the image, edit provision.sh.
• --fast reuses the staged tree and only recompiles the kernel and device tree. Use it for quick changes after a full build.
• --no-provision builds a bare image without ARK-OS. --clean and --provision are still accepted, but they are the default now.

3. Add WiFi (optional)

You can put a WiFi profile into the image before you flash it:

./scripts/add_wifi_network.sh PAB YourNetworkName YourPassword

Or add the network later, over the USB connection:

ssh jetson@jetson.local
sudo nmcli dev wifi connect YourNetworkName password YourPassword

4. Flash

Connect the carrier's USB port to your PC, then power the Jetson on with the Force Recovery button held.

./flash.sh PAB

flash.sh writes to NVMe by default. For other storage, add a flag:

./flash.sh PAB --sdcard     # SD card (NVIDIA dev kit modules)
./flash.sh PAB --usb        # USB thumb drive

When the flash finishes, log in over Micro USB or WiFi:

ssh jetson@jetson.local

Tip: Run ssh-copy-id jetson@jetson.local once so you don't type the password on every connection.

Tip: Run ./scripts/add_ssh_config.sh once to add a jetson host to your ~/.ssh/config. Then ssh jetson works, and reflashing won't trip the "REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED" warning.

Cameras

Every carrier ships with an IMX219 overlay already selected, so IMX219 cameras work on the first boot. PAB has the quad overlay, and JAJ and PAB_V3 have the dual. To use a different camera, select its overlay with NVIDIA's jetson-io tool. First list what is available:

sudo /opt/nvidia/jetson-io/config-by-hardware.py -l

 Header 1 [default]: Jetson 40pin Header
   ...
 Header 2: Jetson 22pin CSI Connector
   Available hardware modules:
   1. Camera IMX219 Quad
   2. Camera IMX477 Quad
   3. Camera IMX708 Quad

Then apply one by name and reboot:

sudo /opt/nvidia/jetson-io/config-by-hardware.py -n 2="Camera IMX477 Quad"
sudo reboot

docs/cameras.md lists the supported sensors and shows how to test and stream a camera. docs/camera_overlays.md shows how to build, install or write your own camera overlay.

More documentation

Page	Covers
docs/cameras.md	Supported sensors, streaming, and known issues
docs/camera_overlays.md	Build, install, and author camera device-tree overlays
docs/hadron.md	FLIR Hadron EO camera: driver, overlays, capture, demo and frame sync
docs/argus_relaunch_regression.md	The JetPack 6.2.2 Argus regression and the camera stack pin that fixes it
docs/gpio.md	40-pin / I2S header GPIO and boot-time pad defaults
docs/i2c.md	I2C bus map and scanning
docs/servo_expander.md	PWM / servo output via the ARK Servo Expander (PCA9685) over I2C
docs/10gbe_ethernet.md	Auvidea M20E 10GbE adapter
docs/share_wifi.md	Share the host PC's WiFi with the Jetson over USB
docs/power.md	Power modes, clock speeds, and measured power draw
docs/kernel_development.md	Manual kernel builds and device tree changes
docs/device-tree.md	Where a device-tree change belongs, and how the build applies ARK's changes
docs/qspi_bootloader.md	Flashing only the QSPI bootloader
docs/build_host.md	Why the build pins to Ubuntu 22.04