reComputer J2021 (Jetson Xavier NX) Initial Setup - Carleton-SRCL/SPOT GitHub Wiki

Introduction

In the lab we use the reComputer J2021, which is a Jetson Xavier NX-based development board designed by Seeed Studio. It boasts a six-core NVIDIA Carmel ARM® CPU, a 384-core NVIDIA Volta™ GPU, and 8GB of LPDDR4x memory. This guide will help you set up a new reComputer J2021 for the first time.

Prerequisites

Hardware Setup

  • Connect the power supply to the reComputer J2021 and plug it into a power outlet.
  • Connect the HDMI cable to the reComputer J2021 and monitor.
  • Connect the USB keyboard and mouse.
  • If using Ethernet, connect the Ethernet cable to the reComputer J2021.
  • If using Wi-Fi (recommended), connect the TP-LINK dongle. No additional setup is required if you use the exact model listed above.

Initial Boot

  • Once plugged in, the J2021 should boot up.
  • Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the initial setup, including selecting language, time zone, keyboard layout, and connecting to a Wi-Fi network if necessary.
  • You will need to provide a username and password for the device. If you do not want to modify any existing code (SPOT 4.0), you must always use either spot-red, spot-black, or spot-blue, and the password must be srcl2023.
  • If done correctly, you should see this screen:

image

Basic Packages

  • After first boot, you'll want to set the power mode (top right) to 20 W.
  • Next, you'll want to install some basic useful packages.

sudo apt install nano

Update System

  • Once the initial setup is complete and you are at the desktop, open a terminal.
  • Enter the following command to update the system to the latest packages:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

Enabling SSH

To enable SSH (which is critical to using the computer in the lab), follow these steps:

  • Open a terminal window on the device.

  • Type the following command to install the OpenSSH server:

sudo apt-get install openssh-server

  • Once the installation is complete, start the SSH service with the following command:

sudo service ssh start

  • To get the device to boot on startup:

sudo systemctl enable ssh

  • Finally, run the follow command and note the IP address of the device:

ifconfig

From the ground station, start 'Ubuntu for Windows' to open an instance of Ubuntu. Then, use the ssh command to connect to the device, using the IP address in the previous step:

ssh username@jetson_ip_address

Replace username with the username you created on first boot of the device, and jetson_ip_address with the IP address noted in the previous step.

Install Additional Software (Optional)

At this point, the Jetson is ready for use. You may want to install additional software or development tools depending on your project needs. To do so, use the sudo apt install <SOFTWARENAME> command.

Setting up an SSH Key

One last step, if this is a fresh computer being installed, is to ensure you generate an SSH key to allow users to transfer files between the computers without needing to enter a password. This is critical for the latest release of the SPOT software. See this guide for steps on how to accomplish this task.