ZED X not recognized by SDK - GMSLList empty, /dev/video7 hangs, ZED_Explorer "Cannot find a valid camera"

Okay so
My Platform / Environment

  • Jetson AGX Orin, JetPack 6.1 (L4T 36.4.7), kernel 5.15.148-tegra

  • ZED SDK 5.2.0

  • ZED Link Quad driver: stereolabs-zedlink-quad 1.4.0-SL-MAX96712-L4T36.4.0

  • DTB: kernel_tegra234-p3737-0000+p3701-0005-nv.dtb with overlay tegra234-p3737-camera-zedlink-quad-sl-overlay.dtbo

  • Dual ZED X camera setup left camera (S/N: 43779087) works normally; right camera (S/N: 47753729) is the affected unit

Problem Description

One of our two ZED X cameras (S/N: 47753729) is no longer recognized by the ZED SDK. ZED_Explorer reports “Cannot find a valid camera.” The camera does enumerate at the driver level two /dev/video* nodes appear but the SDK sees nothing.

Observed Behavior

Using v4l2-ctl:

  • /dev/video6 streams successfully

  • /dev/video7 hangs indefinitely, no frames returned

Both nodes report similar capabilities and EEPROM data via v4l2-ctl --all.

From the ZED Diagnostic Tool output:

  • GMSLList is empty

  • ZEDDetected, ZEDCount, ZEDs, Serial Number, and InternalDevicesCount (GMSL) are all empty

  • Camera Test > valid shows “Camera: ZED-X” (type identified, but no camera actually found)

  • CUDA Operations, ZED SDK, AI Models, and GMSL Driver all pass

Driver State

All relevant kernel modules are loaded:

sl_zedx 28672 2 sl_max9295 16384 3 sl_zedxhdr,sl_zedxone_uhd,sl_zedx sl_max96712 32768 4 sl_zedxhdr,sl_zedxone_uhd,sl_max9295,sl_zedx tegra_camera 217088 15 …sl_zedx videodev 249856 10 …sl_zedx

zed_x_daemon.service is active and running. GMSL driver package shows ii (fully installed) in dpkg.

Driver file status from diagnostic:

  • sl_max96712.ko → exists

  • sl_zedx.ko → exists

  • max96712.ko → not found (non-SL variant, expected)

  • sl_max9296.ko → not found (expected, Quad uses MAX96712 not MAX9296)

I2C Traces

The mux channels show activity on i2c-8 (addresses 0x12, 0x29, 0x70) consistent with the ZED Link Quad and one camera. No addresses corresponding to the second camera’s serializer appear on any mux sub-channel, which suggests the affected camera’s MAX9295 serializer is not being seen on the I2C bus.

Troubleshooting Already Performed

  • Replaced GMSL2 cable

  • Full power cycle (unplugged from wall, not just reboot)

  • Reseated camera connector

  • Verified all kernel modules load correctly

  • Verified zed_x_daemon is active and running

  • Confirmed the other ZED X (S/N: 43779087) works normally on the same ZED Link Quad and software stack

Question

Given that:

  1. The GMSL driver, SDK, and daemon are all healthy

  2. The working camera (S/N: 43779087) shares the same software stack with no issues

  3. The affected camera (S/N: 47753729) enumerates /dev/video* nodes but /dev/video7 hangs and the SDK sees an empty GMSLList

  4. I2C traces do not show the second camera’s serializer being addressed on any mux channel

Is the camera’s onboard GMSL serializer (MAX9295) likely damaged? Is this consistent with a hardware failure that would fall under warranty, or is there a further diagnostic step we should try before concluding it is a hardware fault?

Happy to run additional commands or capture more logs if helpful. Thank you.

Hi @Ryan-Simpson
Welcome to the Stereolabs community.

Please run sudo ZED_Diagnostic --dmesg and share the content of the dmesg.log file that it generates.

Hi @Myzhar

Thanks for the reply.

I ran sudo ZED_Diagnostic --dmesg. On SDK 5.2.0 it outputs a JSON file instead of dmesg.log. Relevant dmesg lines:

sl_max96712 9-0029: Camera connected to GMSL port 3
sl_max96712 9-0029: zedx camera connected to this port
sl_max9295 9-0062: Serializer for zedx detect success

zedx 9-0020: zedx_probe: Serial Number : 47753729
zedx 9-0020: zedx_probe: success
zedx 9-0028: zedx_probe: Serial Number : 47753729
zedx 9-0028: zedx_probe: success

The camera is present in V4L2:

/dev/video0
/dev/video1

But the SDK still shows:

GMSLList []

ZEDDetected []

ZED Explorer just stays on “waiting for camera”.

We tested multiple ZED X cameras on the same rig and setup. Other cameras work. This unit (S/N 47753729) is the only one that fails.

Does this match a known camera-side issue or should we try more diagnostics before RMA?

Happy to share the full JSON if needed.