Jetson Nano Micro-USB Login (A02, B01)

mitch

This article covers how to connect and login to an NVIDIA Jetson Nano using a Micro-USB cable.

Instructions for connecting with a serial cable can be found here: Jetson Nano USB Login (A02, B01).

This article assumes you have already setup a username and password on your Jetson Nano. If you would like to start from scratch with a headless setup, see my article: Jetson Nano Headless WiFi Setup.

These instructions were tested using the Jetson Nano Developer Kit SD Card Image JetPack 4.4 dated 2020/04/21

Step 1. Verify you have all the required parts

To login to a Jetson Nano over Micro-USB you will need the following:

  • 5V 4A (barrel) power supply
  • Micro-USB to USB cable (found on Android phones and Raspberry Pi power adapters)
  • Jetson Nano
  • Computer or laptop

Step 2. Set the power jumper

  • Disconnect the Jetson Nano from any power supply.

Before you can connect a 5V 4A power supply to the barrel jack on the Jetson Nano, you will need to put a jumper on J48.

  • For an A02 carrier board (pre-2020) J48 is the solo header next to the camera port.
  • For a B01 carrier board (2020+, has two camera ports) J48 is a solo header behind the barrel jack and the HDMI port.

Hopefully your Jetson Nano came with a header jumper. By default it may be there, but sitting only on one post. You have to remove it and place it again across both posts.

If there is no header jumper, you can buy a pack of them using my affililate link:

Step 3. Plug in the Micro-USB cable

  • Plug one end of the Micro-USB cable into the Jetson Nano
  • Plug the other end into a USB port on your computer or laptop

Step 4. Plug in the 5V 4A barrel power supply

  • Plug one end of the barrel jack power supply into the Jetson Nano
  • Plug the other end of the barrel jack supply into the wall or an adapter

Step 5: Look for the new device

For a Mac, wait for a drive to appear on your desktop. It may be labeled LT4-README.

  • In a terminal window type the following:
ls -ls /dev/cu.*
  • You should see a device like this (it may take a minute or two to show up):
/dev/cu.usbserial-1410

If you see multiple devices that start with /dev/cu.usbserial, unplug the Micro-USB cable from the Nano so you can figure out which one it is.

Step 6. Connect over USB

If you have only one device you can connect to the Jetson Nano from the terminal using this command (If you have multiple devices, replace the wildcard with the full name):

screen /dev/cu.usbserial* 115200 -L
  • Press Enter to connect
  • Login to the Nano using your username and password

Step 7. Shutdown the Nano

When you are done using the Nano you should do a clean shutdown and not just unplug it. This makes sure that no files are left open, locked, etc. It also reduces the chance of corrupting the SD card.

To shutdown the Jetson Nano, run this from the command line:

sudo shutdown -h now

Step 8. Close the screen

After properly shutting down the Nano, you can exit the screen by doing the following:

  • Press Ctrl-A
  • Press Ctrl-K
  • Select Y (for Yes)

Conclusion

In this article you learned how to:

  • connect a Jetson Nano to your computer
  • login to a Jetson Nano over USB
  • use basic commands in the screen utility
  • properly shutdown a Jetson Nano to reduce SD card corruption

Related Articles

Here is a list of additional articles that I've written up for the Jetson Nano:

  • Jetson Nano Power Supply (Barrel vs MicroUSB) - When you get a Jetson Nano Developer Kit, the first thing you need to figure out is how to power it. Should you use the Micro USB port with the same 5V 2.5A power supply you use on a Raspberry Pi? Or should you invest in a 5V 4A barrel jack power supply? In this article I answer that question.
  • Jetson Nano USB Headless WiFi Setup (Edimax-EW-7811UN) - The easiest way to setup a Jetson Nano for headless WiFi is to use a USB adapter. The EdiMax EW-7811Un is popular for use with the Raspberry Pi. It can also be used with a Nano, but requires a command line setting to get it to act reliably. In this article I show you how to set it up
  • How to add a dual WiFi Bluetooth card to a Jetson Nano (Intel 8265) - In this post I show advanced users how to upgrade to an Intel Dual Band Wireless card that will also provide Bluetooth functionality
  • My frequently updated Jetson Nano Resource Guide - check it out if you need things like a wireless keyboard and trackpad that fits in your pocket

References

  • screen utility manual for OSX [1]