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Jetson Nano problems - anyone sent one back?

Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2019 9:37 am
by G8PEF
Hi, all

Despite my many and varied attempts to get my Nano to play nicely (or, indeed, play at all) I have reluctantly come tho the conclusion that it's dead...

So, has anyone on here managed to get one successfully replaced under warranty? What sort of hoops did you have to jump through?
Unfortunately, I cant find the paperwork for mine, I "put it away somewhere safe" when I received the parcel, and I've since packed up most of my gear pending house moves - just wondering If I'll definitely need the ordr number or whatever to get a replacement...

If I can't get it replaced, is there anyone on here within a reasonable distance of Manchester/Bolton/Bury who has one that can do some tests on mine? If I can at least figure out whether the module or the motherboard is at fault, then that might mean I don't have to write off the whole shebang.

73
John G8PEF

Re: Jetson Nano problems - anyone sent one back?

Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2019 11:01 am
by g0mjw
Not yet but I will be up there over Christmas.

You have not explained the symptoms of your dead nano. It could be anything from the power supply jumper not being installed properly to a component failure. We don't know.

Mike

Re: Jetson Nano problems - anyone sent one back?

Posted: Sat Nov 30, 2019 1:00 pm
by G8PEF
Hi, Mike
Sorry, I should have mentioned that this was an ongoing problem, and that this was a second stab at getting my Nano going before accepting defeat - I did post briefly about it some time ago, but I couldn't find my original thread while using my phone to post....

So... When I first got the Nano, I managed to power it up ok via the barrel connector, and had it booted to the desktop stage, using HDMI into a Panasonic Viera ET5 series TV and at that stage I had the problem with the 'overscan' on my TV (left hand edge of desktop outside screen area) - turning overscan off in the TV settings didn't help.
Firing up a browser revealed the second problem: the colours were inverted (like looking at a colour negative) - I should have realised this at boot time when the NVidia splash screen came up in pink against a white background instead of green on black, but hey ho... A test with an LG TV resulted in no picture at all, although the TV sensed that something was connected.

Since then, I tried to install a M2 wifi adaptor, and after that I tried the nano on a DP monitor and an HDMI monitor to see if the colour inversion was down to my TV. No picture on either monitor.

Returning to the Panasonic resulted in no picture this time. Since I'd had the clever bit off the carrier board to try the wifi card, I thought that the problem might be that the module hadn't been re-seated properly, so a couple of attempts to re-seat it (with a blow out of the connector using a can of compressed air) were made... No change.
That's where we're at at the moment, and I've now come to the conclusion that it's (at least partially) dead. If I get time and I can flash a new appropriate SD card I will try to get it going in headless mode, and see if there's any activity at all. At the moment, all that happens on power-up is that the green LED comes on.

Anyway, if you are going to be up in Bolton around Christmas, Mike, and if you have any spare time that you are willing to donate to the cause of finding out whether it's dead, it'd be much appreciated.
In the meantime, if anyone has any bright ideas, all suggestions welcomed.

73
John G8PEF

Re: Jetson Nano problems - anyone sent one back?

Posted: Sat Nov 30, 2019 2:54 pm
by g0mjw
Hi John

To me this sounds like a problem with configuration and not a failure of the Nano. When you log in remotely via SSH you can do a command, dmesg, that will highlight any failures. The first thing I would do is start with a fresh SD card and use a proper monitor. It may well be that Linux configured it's graphics incorrectly based on the TV you connected and is not set to something neither will display. The inverted video and incorrect framing suggest the Nano was trying to use a mode your TV did not understand or there is a break in the cable or a connector.

Have you really taken it apart and put in a WiFi module? Odd thing to do with it not working. The seating needs to be OK - there is something about this on the support forum.

Finally, the Nano needs a very good 5V PSU. The majority of electronic equipment failures and miss-behaviours are related to the power supply. I am using a 10A SM supply running from 12V that works well. Ones that claim to be 3A don't give 5V at 3A.

Mike

Re: Jetson Nano problems - anyone sent one back?

Posted: Sat Nov 30, 2019 2:58 pm
by g0mjw
A link to said forums might help https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/board/371/

Mike

Re: Jetson Nano problems - anyone sent one back?

Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2019 7:44 pm
by G8PEF
Thanks for you further thoughts, Mike...
g0mjw wrote: To me this sounds like a problem with configuration and not a failure of the Nano. When you log in remotely via SSH you can do a command, dmesg, that will highlight any failures. The first thing I would do is start with a fresh SD card and use a proper monitor. It may well be that Linux configured it's graphics incorrectly based on the TV you connected and is not set to something neither will display. The inverted video and incorrect framing suggest the Nano was trying to use a mode your TV did not understand or there is a break in the cable or a connector.
This (the Jetson having self-configured to some obscure graphics settings) is an aspect I'd not considered, Mike - I will attempt to flash the 'headless' image I have as soon as I get a couple of days off work, and give dmesg a go; I don't currently have a 'proper' monitor with HDMI/DP ports, sadly, so I'm stuck with the telly or headless mode for now.
As far as cables/connectors go, it's a cable permanently connected to a spare input on the telly, which I use regularly for other devices, so I'm /reasonably/ happy that it's OK...
g0mjw wrote: Have you really taken it apart and put in a WiFi module? Odd thing to do with it not working. The seating needs to be OK - there is something about this on the support forum.

Finally, the Nano needs a very good 5V PSU. The majority of electronic equipment failures and miss-behaviours are related to the power supply. I am using a 10A SM supply running from 12V that works well. Ones that claim to be 3A don't give 5V at 3A.
To clarify, at the time I lifted the module off the carrier, the video output was still present (albeit inverted); although I hadn't at that stage twigged that it was inverted. Whilst the wifi module was installed, I realised that the video was inverted, and It was only after I'd had it apart again to take out the M2 wifi card that I 'progressed' to no video output at all.

I had wondered about the PSU - I purposely sought out one that claimed to be good for 4A, but they, of course, could well be Chinese Amps, and not up to it. Having said that, when it was working it seemed pretty stable for a fair period of time, and there didn't appear to be any booting problems.

Is the Nano picky in the same way as the RPi is (i.e. requiring 5.1-5.2V rather than 5V), or is it happy at 5.0V?

John

Re: Jetson Nano problems - anyone sent one back?

Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2019 9:19 pm
by G8PEF
Quick update:

Today I re-formatted 2 SD cards (64GB) and flashed the latest image (r23.3.2) from the NVidia website into them...
I connected a borrowed a Dell HDMI monitor, and powered up... Same result as previously - green LED, no picture (but monitor is aware that something is connected as the 'no signal' message disappears), and nothing else.

I'm wondering if it's getting/got upset by not having a mouse & a keyboard connected? I will try again tomorrow with a fresh card and with mouse/keyboard (although I'll be relegated to the Panasonic TV again as the monitor has had to go back to its owner).

Re: Jetson Nano problems - anyone sent one back?

Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2019 11:04 pm
by G7JTT
I had similar issues with a cheap (pound land) hdmi cable as soon as I replaced it with a proper lead all was good.

All best John G7JTT

Re: Jetson Nano problems - anyone sent one back?

Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2019 7:17 am
by G8PEF
G7JTT wrote:
Wed Dec 04, 2019 11:04 pm
I had similar issues with a cheap (pound land) hdmi cable as soon as I replaced it with a proper lead all was good.

All best John G7JTT
Thanks, John.
Although this one wasn't 'cheap' (about £25, some years ago), and I used the lead that came with the Dll monitor yesterday, I'm at the stage where I'll consider anything...
Having said that, when I tried a couple of weeks ago with different monitor using the DIsplay Port output, I still got no picture.

First step is to stick a new card in it, and boot it with a keyboard & mouse connected - see if it likes that configuration.