Hello,
We are having an issue detecting a ZED X Mini connected via GMSL2 to a ZED Box Orin NX 8GB with a single GMSL2 port. We have already performed several hardware and software tests, but the camera is still not detected.
System configuration:
- Hardware: ZED Box Orin NX 8GB (single GMSL2 port)
- Camera: ZED X Mini
- JetPack: 7.2
- L4T: 39.2.1
- Ubuntu: 24.04
- Kernel: 6.8.12-1021-tegra
- CUDA: 13.2
- ZED SDK: 5.4.1
GMSL driver:
stereolabs-zedbox-mono
1.4.4-SL-MAX9296-ZEDBOX-L4T39.2.0
The ZED Box was freshly flashed with JetPack 7.2 using the Stereolabs ZED Box flashing procedure. We also applied the recommended kernel hold after installing the GMSL driver.
Current behavior:
The ZED SDK is installed correctly, but ZED Explorer remains on:
WAITING FOR CAMERA…
No /dev/video* devices are created.The Stereolabs modules are loaded, including:
- sl_max9296
- sl_max9295
- sl_zedx
- sl_zedxhdr
- sl_zedxone_uhd
- tegra_camera
zed_x_daemon is also active.The active boot configuration uses the Stereolabs mono overlay:
/boot/tegra234-p3768-camera-zedbox-mono-sl-overlay.dtbo
Kernel error:
During boot, the MAX9296 driver attempts to initialize the device at i2c-9 / 0x48, but the probe fails:
- sl_max9296 9-0048: Driver Version : v1.4.4
- sl_max9296 9-0048: write_reg_Dser: addr = 0x10, val = 0x80
- sl_max9296 9-0048: write_reg_Dser: addr = 0x10, val = 0x21
- sl_max9296: probe of 9-0048 failed with error -1
- bmi088 9-004b: removed
- bmi088: probe of 9-004b failed with error -5
I2C tests:
The I2C topology is:
i2c-9 → i2c-2-mux (chan_id 1)
i2c-10 → i2c-2-mux (chan_id 0)
Running: sudo i2cdetect -y 9, shows that 0x48 does not respond. The only responding address is 0x50.We also tested: sudo i2cdetect -y 10, and 0x48 does not respond there either.The Device Tree/sysfs configuration nevertheless declares:
9-0048
name: sl_max9296
of_node: …/cam_i2cmux/i2c@1/max9296_a@48
So the driver expects the MAX9296 at i2c-9 / 0x48, but communication with it fails.
Hardware tests already performed:
To rule out the external GMSL components, we tested two different ZED X Mini cameras and two different GMSL2 cables:
- ZED X Mini #1 + GMSL2 cable #1 → same failure
- ZED X Mini #2 + GMSL2 cable #1 → same failure
- ZED X Mini #2 + GMSL2 cable #2 → same failure
The ZED Box was completely powered off before reconnecting or changing the GMSL hardware.In all configurations, the result is identical:
- 0x48 does not respond on i2c-9
- sl_max9296 probe fails with error -1
- ZED Explorer remains WAITING FOR CAMERA
Therefore, changing both the ZED X Mini and the GMSL2 cable did not change the behavior.Unfortunately, we do not have another ZED Box available to perform a cross-test with the ZED Box itself.
Official Stereolabs diagnostic:
We also ran: sudo ZED_Diagnostic --dmesg
I am unable to attach the generated diagnostic report to this post because new forum users are not allowed to upload attachments, but I can provide it if required.The GMSL diagnostic reports:
Running GMSL DRIVER Diagnostic : Failed
The Capture card is not plugged or wrong driver installed.
The same MAX9296 probe failure described above is present in the diagnostic dmesg output.We have checked the installed packages and currently have:
stereolabs-zedbox-mono
1.4.4-SL-MAX9296-ZEDBOX-L4T39.2.0
We did not find another or older Stereolabs GMSL driver installed alongside it.
Additional checks performed:
- driver_zed_loader.service completes successfully with status=0/SUCCESS (it is a oneshot service).
- zed_x_daemon starts automatically and remains active.
- The Stereolabs ZED camera nodes are present in the active Device Tree.
- i2c-9 and i2c-10 are the two channels of the i2c-2 mux.
- MAX9296 at 0x48 is not detected on either channel.
- Address 0x50 responds on i2c-9, although no 9-0050 device is instantiated in sysfs.
- /dev/media0 is present, but no /dev/video* devices are created.
- zed_x_daemon.service reports: Unknown key name ‘sync_mode’ in section ‘Service’, ignoring. Please confirm whether this warning is expected/harmless.
The ZED Box was fully powered off before changing or reconnecting the camera and GMSL2 cables.
We have not manually modified the Device Tree, written I2C registers with i2cset, or forced/replaced kernel modules.
The Stereolabs kernel hold procedure was applied after installing the GMSL driver.
Questions:
Could you please confirm:
- Is stereolabs-zedbox-mono 1.4.4-SL-MAX9296-ZEDBOX-L4T39.2.0 the correct driver for a ZED Box Orin NX 8GB single GMSL2 + ZED X Mini running JetPack 7.2 / L4T 39.2.1?
- Is there any additional diagnostic, reset, or recovery procedure we can perform for the integrated ZED Link Mono / MAX9296 interface?
- Is the device responding at 0x50 expected in this configuration, and could it provide any useful information for diagnosing why the MAX9296 expected at 0x48 cannot be initialized?
- Given that we reproduced the exact same failure with two different ZED X Mini cameras and two different GMSL2 cables, could this indicate an issue with the GMSL interface of the ZED Box itself?
Thank you.