Category: Jetson Xaiver NX

fixing the visual studio code problem on jetson xavier nx

whbeebe

tl;dr — Visual Studio Code versions beyond 1.59.x will not work on the Jetson Xavier NX software stack which includes Ubuntu 20.04 for Armv8/Arch64. If you want working Visual Studio Code then install version 1.59.1.

In the last post I was lamenting not having a working Visual Studio code. I knew it had worked before the update because I had used it and had written of my success in the past. As it turns out I’ve outfitted the NX with a Western Digital Black 250GB NVME M.2 SSD. That’s were I stash files I don’t want to use when I trash the boot drive, which like the Raspberry Pi, is on an micro SDXC card. Sure enough I found an old Visual Studio deb file, version 1.50. I installed that and Visual Studio worked. I did a bit of installation shuffle between old VSCode releases and discovered that any version for arm64 greater than or equal to 1.60 would not work. Thus I found and installed 1.59.1 and called it a day. I have no time to waste on trying to fix this, nor do I feel the need to finger point.

In order to keep VSCode from yelling about an update, go to File | Preferences | Settings and search for Update: Mode. On the drop down menu select none. Then restart VSCode.

To keep apt from updating it when it’s run, at a prompt type sudo apt-mark hold code and press return. The next time apt is run it’ll show an update for VSCode, but it won’t install it.

I’ve now decided to repurpose the NX to something more useful, such as an environmental monitor and house hold assistant. I don’t know what I’ll use in the future, but it won’t be nVidia. Reports are appearing that nVidia is pouring all its resources into its AI products, and they’re charging top dollar for everything. I checked to see what the official price for a Jetson Orin Nano Developer kit was, and it’s $500. Back when I purchased my Xavier NX, I also purchased the then-available Nano Developer kits, and they were $100 each. There’s a reason I’ve been following and using RISC-V based microcontrollers, and that because everyone is now working on versions that can do AI/ML workloads. I’ll keep working with what I’ve already got because it’s in hand and I don’t want to waste it and let it lie idle. But whether its their AI products or their graphic cards, nVidia is out to pull every dollar it can get away with out of folks wallets. I’m tired of the too-high prices, and I’m done with nVidia.

resurrecting my jetson xavier nx development kit

whbeebe
neofetch output

As I’ve been clearing out the collected detritus of a lifetime around my house, I’ve also been collecting and reorganizing all my various computers. One of those computers is the nVidia Jetson Xavier NX Developer kit.

I purchased it in May 2020 from Amazon for the $300 initial asking price. I figured that if I were going to be locked in due to the pandemic I’d spend my time doing something useful. The Xavier was advertised as an entrée into edge-of-the-network machine learning. I also purchased a third-party enclosure to wrap it up and protect it a little better than leaving the bare board exposed to the world. My first post about the kit was May 2020 (see below), while my last post was December 2021. Along the way I brought up various versions of Python, Emacs, and even got Visual Studio code to work. I also complained about the OS being based on Ubuntu 18.04. I didn’t do nearly as much as I had planned to do, what with all my time being sucked into a project that started in July of 2020.

When I powered the Xavier back up I re-acquainted myself with the state I’d left in in a year-and-a-half ago. All the hacks and patches, all the special Python 3.x builds, all of it. I noted that Ubuntu 18 look-and-feel. I then checked the nVidia on-line references and discovered that the Xavier had been end-of-lifed and a substitute, the Orin, was being sold in its place. I don’t know what’s special about the Orin, but whatever it is nVidia sells it for twice what they sold the Xavier. That puts the Orin squarely outside my discretionary budget.

I also discovered that the the latest version of JetPack, the software stack for the Xavier, had updated the Ubuntu portion to 20.04. I tried to upgrade the version of Ubuntu already on the Xavier from 18.04 to 20.04, but that ended in a hot mess. I downloaded a new image and started over again. You can see what I’m running via neofetch shown above.

So far things are better, I guess. What’s taken a hit is my enthusiasm for this device. That hit is due in part to the fact I can’t get official Visual Studio Code to run, and I don’t want to live inside of Emacs on this little device. VSCode really is needed on this tiny machine.

Time to wrap this post up.

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bringing up jetson xavier nx developer kit