Wayland GNOME Support Missing on Nvidia Jetson Orin Nano Dev Board

Issue Overview

Users of the Nvidia Jetson Orin Nano Dev board are experiencing difficulties with Wayland GNOME support. The primary issue is that the GPU is unable to run the GNOME desktop environment due to missing required files. This problem occurs during the setup process, even when following the official instructions provided by Nvidia.

The specific error message encountered is:

libGL error: MESA-LOADER: failed to open nvidia-drm: /usr/lib/dri/nvidia-drm_dri.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory (search paths /usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/dri:${ORIGIN}/dri:/usr/lib/dri, suffix _dri)
libGL error: failed to load driver: nvidia-drm

This error indicates that the system is unable to locate the necessary driver files for proper GPU functionality within the GNOME desktop environment using Wayland.

Possible Causes

1. Missing Driver Files: The L4T (Linux for Tegra) driver stack does not include the required nvidia-drm_dri.so file, which is essential for proper GPU functionality in the Wayland GNOME environment.

2. Incomplete Software Package: The official Nvidia software package for the Jetson Orin Nano Dev board may not include all necessary components for full Wayland GNOME support.

3. Compatibility Issues: There might be compatibility problems between the current version of the L4T driver stack and the Wayland GNOME implementation.

4. Incorrect Search Paths: The system may be configured with incorrect search paths for locating the required driver files.

Troubleshooting Steps, Solutions & Fixes

1. Verify Installation:

   • Ensure that you have followed the official Nvidia instructions for setting up the Jetson Orin Nano Dev board correctly.
   • Double-check that all required software packages are installed and up to date.

2. Search for Missing Files:

   • Use the following command to search for the missing nvidia-drm_dri.so file:

     sudo find / -name "nvidia-drm_dri.so"
     

   • If the file is found in an unexpected location, create a symbolic link to the correct directory:

     sudo ln -s /path/to/found/nvidia-drm_dri.so /usr/lib/dri/nvidia-drm_dri.so
     

3. Update L4T Driver Stack:

   • Check for any available updates to the L4T driver stack on the Nvidia Developer website.
   • Download and install the latest version compatible with your Jetson Orin Nano Dev board.

4. Modify Search Paths:

   • Edit the ld.so.conf file to include additional search paths:

     sudo nano /etc/ld.so.conf
     

   • Add the following lines if they’re not already present:

     /usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/dri
     /usr/lib/dri
     

   • Save the file and run:

     sudo ldconfig
     

5. Use Alternative Desktop Environment:

   • As a temporary workaround, consider using an alternative desktop environment that doesn’t rely on Wayland, such as GNOME on Xorg.
   • To switch to Xorg, log out of your current session, click on the gear icon in the login screen, and select "GNOME on Xorg" before logging back in.

6. Report the Issue:

   • Submit a detailed bug report to Nvidia’s developer forums or support channels, including:
     • Your Jetson Orin Nano Dev board model and software version
     • The exact error message you’re encountering
     • Steps you’ve taken to troubleshoot the issue
   • This will help Nvidia’s development team address the problem in future releases.

7. Monitor for Updates:

   • Keep an eye on Nvidia’s official channels for announcements regarding Wayland GNOME support for the Jetson Orin Nano Dev board.
   • Nvidia has acknowledged the issue and indicated that they will check if there are plans to support it in a future release.

8. Community Solutions:

   • Engage with the Jetson developer community through forums and discussion boards to see if other users have found temporary workarounds or solutions.

Remember that this issue is currently unresolved, and Nvidia is aware of the problem. The best long-term solution will likely come from an official update to the L4T driver stack or the Jetson software package.