Unable to Use nvcc or nvidia-smi Commands on Nvidia Jetson Orin Nano Dev Board

Issue Overview

Users of the Nvidia Jetson Orin Nano Dev Board are experiencing issues where the nvcc and nvidia-smi commands are not recognized, resulting in "command not found" errors despite having CUDA installed in /usr/local/cuda-11.4. This problem typically occurs after the initial setup of the device. The issue is consistent among users, indicating a common problem related to environment configuration rather than hardware failure. Users have reported that while CUDA appears to be installed, the necessary command-line tools are not accessible, significantly impacting their ability to utilize GPU capabilities effectively.

Possible Causes

1. PATH Configuration:

   • The nvcc command is not included in the user’s $PATH environment variable by default, which prevents it from being recognized.

2. nvidia-smi Not Supported:

   • The nvidia-smi command is not supported on Jetson devices, as confirmed by multiple users in the forum discussion.

3. Installation Errors:

   • There could be errors during the installation of CUDA that prevent proper linking of command-line tools.

4. User Misconfiguration:

   • Users may not have set up their environment variables correctly, leading to these commands being unrecognized.

5. Driver Issues:

   • Incompatibilities or issues with the installed drivers could affect command availability.

Troubleshooting Steps, Solutions & Fixes

1. Verify CUDA Installation:

   • Check if CUDA is installed correctly by running:

     ls /usr/local/cuda-11.4/bin/
     

   • This should list nvcc among other binaries.

2. Add nvcc to PATH:

   • Temporarily add nvcc to your PATH with the following commands:

     export PATH=/usr/local/cuda-11.4/bin${PATH:+:${PATH}}
     export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/cuda-11.4/lib64${LD_LIBRARY_PATH:+:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}}
     

   • To make this change permanent, add the above lines to your ~/.bashrc file and restart your terminal.

3. Use Alternative Monitoring Tools:

   • Since nvidia-smi is not available on Jetson devices, use tegrastats or jtop for monitoring GPU usage and system performance.

     sudo tegrastats
     

   • Alternatively, install jtop for a graphical representation of system stats.

4. Check for Driver Updates:

   • Ensure that you have the latest drivers installed. Check Nvidia’s official documentation for any updates relevant to your version of JetPack.

5. Reinstall CUDA:

   • If issues persist, consider reinstalling CUDA using the SDK Manager to ensure all components are correctly set up.

6. Consult Documentation:

   • Refer to Nvidia’s official documentation on setting up CUDA and troubleshooting common issues for additional guidance.

7. Seek Community Support:

   • If problems remain unresolved, consider posting detailed information about your setup and errors on forums like Nvidia Developer Forums or Reddit’s r/JetsonNano for community assistance.

8. Unresolved Issues:

   • Users may still face challenges with specific configurations or third-party hardware compatibility that require further investigation or support from Nvidia or community forums.

By following these steps, users should be able to resolve issues related to accessing nvcc and understand the limitations regarding nvidia-smi on their Nvidia Jetson Orin Nano Dev Board.