Flash the Yocto image onto the NVIDIA Jetson device

Prepare a local Ubuntu host

The flashing process requires a physical Ubuntu machine running Ubuntu 22.04 or later, with USB access to the NVIDIA Jetson device.

Install the required packages:

    

        
        
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y dtc build-essential gdisk gptfdisk udisks2 bmap-tools libxml2-utils zstd tar usbutils

    

Install the Google Cloud CLI

You need the Google Cloud CLI to transfer the build artifact from the C4A instance to your local Ubuntu host.

To install the CLI on your host, follow the Google Cloud CLI installation instructions .

After installation, authenticate with your Google Cloud account:

    

        
        
gcloud auth login

    

Verify SSH access to the C4A instance

Before transferring files, confirm that you can reach the C4A instance from your Ubuntu host.

Note the following values from the Google Cloud Console:

• Your C4A instance name
• Your Google Cloud project name
• The zone where the C4A instance is running

Test SSH connectivity, replacing C4A_INSTANCE_NAME, GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT_NAME, and C4A_CURRENT_ZONE with your values:

    

        
        
gcloud compute ssh C4A_INSTANCE_NAME --project GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT_NAME --ssh-flag="-o ServerAliveInterval=60 -o ServerAliveCountMax=9999" --zone=C4A_CURRENT_ZONE

    

Transfer the build artifact to your local host

On the C4A instance, confirm the location of the bundled archive:

    

        
        
cd $HOME/jetpack-yocto-builder
ls -al *.tar.gz

    

The output shows one or more .tar.gz files. Note the filename.

On your local Ubuntu host, create a working directory and download the archive:

    

        
        
mkdir -p $HOME/flashing
cd $HOME/flashing
gcloud compute scp C4A_INSTANCE_NAME:~/jetpack-yocto-builder/demo*tar.gz ./yocto_image.tar.gz --project GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT_NAME --zone=C4A_CURRENT_ZONE

    

Verify that the size of the downloaded file is approximately 3 to 4 GB:

    

        
        
ls -lh $HOME/flashing/yocto_image.tar.gz

    

Extract the flashing image

Extract the outer archive and then the inner .zst archive to produce the flashing tools:

    

        
        
cd $HOME/flashing
tar xzpf yocto_image.tar.gz
mkdir -p $HOME/flashing/image
cd $HOME/flashing/image
tar xpf ../*.zst

    

Confirm the initrd_flash executable is present:

    

        
        
ls -l ./initrd_flash

    

The output is similar to:

    

        
        -rwxr-xr-x 1 user user 12345 Aug  1 12:00 ./initrd_flash

        
    

Keep this terminal session open for the flashing step.

Flash the NVIDIA Jetson device

The flashing procedure varies by NVIDIA Jetson model and involves three actions:

1. Placing the NVIDIA Jetson device into recovery mode using the hardware button sequence for your model.
2. Connecting the device to your Ubuntu host with the appropriate USB cable.
3. Running ./initrd_flash from the extracted image directory on your Ubuntu host.

Follow the OE4T flashing instructions starting from step 2. The extracted initrd_flash directory on your local host satisfies step 1.

After the flash completes, disconnect the USB cable. Connect a monitor, keyboard, and optional wired Ethernet connection to the NVIDIA Jetson device, then power it on.

What you’ve accomplished and what’s next

You’ve now transferred the Yocto build artifact to a local Ubuntu host, extracted the flashing tools, and flashed the custom Yocto image onto the NVIDIA Jetson device.

Next, boot the Jetson device and explore the running Yocto image.