ArduCam B0279/B0179 on Jetson AGX Orin: kernel mismatch and dual camera setup?

Axel3846 · December 11, 2022, 12:15pm

Hi, I’m trying to get Arducam cameras working on my Jetson AGX Orin Developer Kit and I’m stuck right at the start.

When I run the auto installer from Releases · ArduCAM/MIPI_Camera · GitHub it immediately fails with a kernel version mismatch. Is it actually possible to run MIPI cameras like the B0279 (IMX477) and B0179 (IMX219) on the AGX Orin Developer Kit at all? If yes, what steps do I need? And can both cameras be connected at the same time to the camera connector?

Any pointers would help, I feel like I’m going in circles.

Dion · December 11, 2022, 2:29pm

Hi, happy to take a look. First I need a bit more detail about your setup so I can tell where the installer is bailing out.

Can you post:

the exact output you see from the installer (full log if you have it)
your L4T/JetPack version and kernel version
which camera(s) you have wired up right now and to which CSI connector

That mismatch message is usually about the platform detection, so the log should tell us pretty quickly.

Axel3846 · December 12, 2022, 12:00am

Sure, here’s everything I have.

Board: Jetson AGX Orin Developer Kit
Cameras: B0279 (IMX477) + Lens (LN049), and a B0179 (IMX219)

Installer output:

Kernel version:  5.10.65-tegra-34.1.1-20220516211757
Jetson type:  UNKNOWN

It stops right there with the kernel version mismatch and never goes any further. I haven’t written any code yet, just wanted to get the driver installed first. I tried a couple of the newer installer releases on that GitHub releases page and got the same result every time.

Dion · December 12, 2022, 6:00am

Thanks, that’s the useful part.

The Jetson type: UNKNOWN line is the interesting one. The installer detects the board and then tries to match it against a list of known platforms/kernel versions. If the board isn’t in that list, you get UNKNOWN and it aborts with the version mismatch, even though your kernel string looks like a normal R34.1.1 L4T build.

Can you do two things:

Confirm the L4T release:

head -1 /etc/nv_tegra_release
cat /proc/device-tree/model

Show what the installer is actually matching against:

grep -n -i "jetson\|UNKNOWN\|kernel version" <path_to_installer_script>/install.sh

That will tell us whether it’s a stale release of the installer or whether the board really isn’t in the supported list.

Axel3846 · December 12, 2022, 8:08am

OK ran those.

$ head -1 /etc/nv_tegra_release
# R34 (release), REVISION: 1.1, GCID: 31290581, BOARD: t186ref, EABI: aarch64, DATE: Mon May 16 21:06:57 UTC 2022

$ cat /proc/device-tree/model
NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin Developer Kit

And from the script:

$ grep -n -i "jetson\|UNKNOWN\|kernel version" ./install.sh
34:  JETSON_TYPE="UNKNOWN"
41:  if [[ $JETSON_TYPE == "UNKNOWN" ]]; then
42:    echo -e "Jetson type:  $JETSON_TYPE"
43:    echo "Kernel version mismatch..."

So it’s literally printing UNKNOWN and giving up. I don’t see an Orin entry anywhere in the case list it walks through.

Axel3846 · December 12, 2022, 9:43am

Also, in case it matters — I did try plugging in just the B0179 (IMX219) alone on one CSI port, and just the B0279 (IMX477) alone on another, in case it was a multi-camera problem. Exactly the same failure both times, so it doesn’t seem related to which camera is connected.

Dion · December 12, 2022, 11:16am

That confirms what I suspected — it’s failing before it ever gets to the camera, so the cabling/wiring isn’t the issue.

The installer’s platform table only contains the Jetson Nano and Jetson NX entries. Your board reports as an AGX Orin Dev Kit on L4T R34.1.1, which simply isn’t in that table, so the detection falls through to UNKNOWN and the script stops. That’s why you see the kernel version mismatch rather than a driver error.

I’ll check with the team on the current status of Orin support, but based on the release notes I can see, support is still in development. Give me a moment.

Dion · December 12, 2022, 11:59am

OK, here’s where things stand.

At the moment the MIPI camera drivers for the B0279 (IMX477) and B0179 (IMX219) only support the Jetson Nano and Jetson NX. The Jetson AGX Orin Developer Kit is not supported yet — that’s the actual cause of the Jetson type: UNKNOWN / kernel version mismatch you’re hitting. It’s not something you can work around with a different installer release or a different kernel argument, because the platform handling for the Orin isn’t in the driver package yet.

On your two other questions:

Running these cameras on the AGX Orin Dev Kit in general: not possible right now.
Connecting both cameras at the same time into the camera connector: also not something I can confirm on the Orin, since the platform support isn’t there. On the supported Nano/NX boards, each camera needs its own CSI connector and matching driver — but that’s moot until Orin support lands.

So the realistic answer for now is to wait for Orin compatibility. There’s no confirmed release date, and I don’t want to give you a number I can’t stand behind. Keep an eye on the GitHub releases page — when an Orin-compatible package shows up, the installer will stop reporting UNKNOWN and this same flow should work.

If you’d like, reply back here with your L4T version when you next check, and we can re-test once there’s news.