UEFI not detecting USB Sticks

Robotics & Edge Computing Jetson & Embedded Systems Jetson AGX Orin
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1

Hi,

We are using a bootable USB flash memory stick to run our Production Testing software from, so that the test software can be independent of the Application software that is tegra-flashed onto the eMMC of the Orin AGX 32GB.

We have seen an intermittent issue related to USB Flash Memory stick detection in the UEFI bootloader that has now become a major reliability problem in our production workflow.

This occurs with a variety of different brands, sizes, and types e.g. USB2.0 and 3.2

What is happening is that the UEFI is not detecting the USB stick at all so it will not then boot from the USB stick.

This happens with either a cold boot power on or warm boot where the Orin is reset but not power cycled.

If I interrupt the boot with the F11 key and enter the UEFI shell there is no USB stick detected.

When we allow the UEFI to boot our Linux Application software from the internal eMMC, we find that the USB stick is detected by Linux and that we can read and write from the USB stick without issue.

The USB is powered from our USB port, and we have confirmed that power is present at the USB at boot time.

We are using the USB0 interface on the Orin, Pins F12 and F13.

This is the version of UEFI we are running:

UEFI Interactive Shell v2.2
EDK II
UEFI v2.70 (EDK II, 0x00010000)

When things are operating correctly, I can view the USB stick as an fs device in the UEFI shell, and the units boot from the EFI partition on the bootable USB stick.

We have had no issues over 100’s of boots and 100’s of different Orin modules up until recently when device being tested in our Production fixture would no longer boot from USB.

Is there any debugging we can do in the UEFI shell to help understand what is happening?

Are there any conditions that must be met or limitations we should know about so that USB flash drive devices can be detected by the UEFI bootloader on the Orin AGX module?

2

Want to clarify that if you put the SOM into NV devkit instead of your custom board, do you still observe the same behavior?

3

*** Please note that this reply is generated by LLM automatically ***

The issue you’re experiencing with the UEFI bootloader not detecting the USB flash memory stick on the Jetson AGX Orin module is intermittent and has become a major reliability problem in your production workflow. To help you debug and understand what’s happening, I’ll provide some information and suggestions.

UEFI Bootloader and USB Detection

The UEFI bootloader is responsible for detecting and initializing the USB devices during the boot process. In your case, the UEFI bootloader is not detecting the USB stick, which prevents the system from booting from it.

Debugging in the UEFI Shell

You can use the UEFI shell to debug and gather more information about the issue. Here are some steps you can take:

  1. Interrupt the boot process by pressing the F11 key and enter the UEFI shell.
  2. Use the devices command to list all the devices detected by the UEFI bootloader. This will help you determine if the USB stick is being detected at all.
  3. Use the fs command to list the file systems available on the detected devices. This will help you determine if the USB stick’s file system is being recognized.
  4. Use the boot command to attempt to boot from the USB stick. This will help you determine if the issue is specific to the boot process or if it’s a general detection issue.

Conditions and Limitations

There are some conditions and limitations that you should be aware of when using USB flash drives with the UEFI bootloader on the Jetson AGX Orin module:

  1. USB Port: Make sure you’re using the correct USB port. In your case, you’re using the USB0 interface on the Orin Pins F12 and F13.
  2. Power: Ensure that the USB port is powered and that the power is present at the USB port during boot time. You’ve already confirmed this.
  3. USB Device Compatibility: The UEFI bootloader may not support all types of USB devices. Try using a different USB flash drive to see if the issue is specific to the device.
  4. UEFI Version: You’re running UEFI Interactive Shell v2.2, EDK II UEFI v2.70, EDK II 0x00010000. Ensure that you’re running the latest version of the UEFI firmware.
  5. Boot Order: Ensure that the USB stick is set as the first boot device in the UEFI settings.

Comparison with Linux

You’ve mentioned that the USB stick is detected by Linux and that you can read and write from it without issue. This suggests that the issue is specific to the UEFI bootloader and not a general hardware or software issue.

Additional Debugging Steps

To further debug the issue, you can try the following:

  1. Enable UEFI Debugging: Enable UEFI debugging by setting the Debug variable to 1 in the UEFI shell. This will provide more detailed information about the boot process and may help you identify the issue.
  2. Use a Different UEFI Bootloader: Try using a different UEFI bootloader, such as the one provided by the Linux distribution you’re using. This will help you determine if the issue is specific to the UEFI bootloader or if it’s a general issue with the Jetson AGX Orin module.
  3. Contact NVIDIA Support: If none of the above steps help, you may want to contact NVIDIA support for further assistance. They may be able to provide more detailed information about the issue and help you resolve it.

I hope this helps you debug and resolve the issue with the UEFI bootloader not detecting the USB flash memory stick on the Jetson AGX Orin module.

*** Please give the thumbs up if you get answers you like. Or provide feedback to help us improve the answer. ***

4

Hi Wayne,

Thanks for your swift reply - I need to check internally and let you know as soon as I get this information.

5

Unfortunately, there was a time overlap here; this query is a duplicate of another thread UEFI not detecting USB Sticks .

Therefore, this thread can be closed.