Monday, February 15, 2021

Note to Self When Setting up 2GB NVIDIA Jetson Nano: Ditch the Network Connection During Setup

During this Presidents Day weekend, I received a 2GB NVIDIA Jetson Nano that I purchased online from Micro Center about a week ago.  At the time of purchase, it was on sale for $49, but as of this time of writing it has reverted to its list price of $59.  I needed a CUDA-capable GPU for a side project I'm working on, but due to the ongoing inflation in GPU prices due to the effects of COVID-19, I figured that purchasing a Jetson Nano would be my best option for now.  Besides, if I need more horsepower than what the Jetson Nano provides, I could always rent a GPU instance from Amazon.

NVIDIA Jetson Nano Equipment

I followed the installation instructions from NVIDIA's official guide.  However, after installation, I found that I couldn't boot my Jetson Nano after shutting it down.  I ended up having to re-image my SD card.  The next time around, however, I decided to leave the included WiFi adapter disconnected from the Jetson Nano instead of having it connected during my first installation.  By doing this, I was able to restart from a cold shutdown without any problems.  I later connected my WiFi adapter, and my Jetson Nano works properly, whether the WiFi adapter is connected at power-up or after power-up.

I believe the problem had to do with a system update that occurred the first time I set up my Jetson Nano.  By not having a network connection the second time I set up my Jetson Nano, it did not update the operating system; thus I did not run into the same startup problem as before.

So, the summary is this: when you initially set up your 2GB NVIDIA Jetson Nano, do not connect it to the network until after it is set up.

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Nice Interview of Professor Stephen Freund On Teaching Programming Languages at a Liberal Arts College

This is a nice interview of Professor Stephen Freund, who works at Williams College and specializes in programming languages.  I haven't had the experience studying at a liberal arts college, but I am familiar with undergraduate-focused universities; I earned my bachelor's degree at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and I recently taught a course on programming language paradigms and principles at San José State University.  It is always nice to read about others' experiences and to obtain advice.