Get Started with ZED X / GMSL2 Cameras

What’s included #

Congratulations on being the owner of a brand-new ZED X camera!

Let’s review the items you have received:

ZED X / ZED X MiniGMSL2 Capture card
  • One ZED X or ZED X Mini Stereo Camera
  • One GMSL2 Cable with FAKRA connector
  • One GMSL2 Capture card with a MAX96712 deserializer
  • One GMSL2 cable with 4 pin FAKRA connector

Download and install the ZED SDK #

Before proceeding, ensure that your Jetson device is prepared by installing the most recent version of the NVIDIA Jetpack SDK that is compatible with ZED X and the ZED SDK. You can find the updated list of compatible software on the ZED SDK download webpage.

The ZED SDK is accessible for Windows, Linux, and Nvidia Jetson platforms. It encompasses all the necessary libraries to operate your camera, as well as tools that allow you to test its functionalities and configure settings.

Connect your camera #

The ZED X and ZED X Mini use a GMSL2 connection for high-bandwidth, low-latency reliable transmission of uncompressed video and sensor data. These cameras are currently only compatible with NVIDIA Jetson platforms. They communicate with the host using a serialized connection, made possible by a hardware serializer in the camera, and a hardware deserializer added to the host machine.

If you have purchased a ZED Box Orin with the GMSL2 option, the hardware deserializer is already integrated into your system. If you own other Jetson hardware, you can get an external GMSL Capture Card from the Stereolabs store and install it on your device.

NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin and Xavier AGX devkits #

To install an external GMSL Capture Card, insert it in the ‘Camera Connector’ slot as seen on the diagram below:

On our store you can get a customized ecnclosure for Orin AGX devkit to securely integrate our GMSL2 Capture Card (sold separately) while keeping the electronics safe. It also allows to add Wifi antennas to boost your AGX Orin wireless transmissions.

NIVIDA Jetson Orin NX, Orin Nano and Xavier NX devkits #

The GMSL2 capture card must be connected to the devkit carrier board with ribbon cables and powered with an external power supply.

Required materials (not included in the box):

  • Xavier NX devkit: Ribbon Cable 15pin to 15pin 1mm pitch - CSI mode (not DSI)
  • Orin Nano devkit: Ribbon Cable 22 pin 0.5mm to 15pin 1mm pitch - CSI mode (not DSI)
  • Orin NX module on Orin Nano devkit: Ribbon Cable 22 pin 0.5mm to 15pin 1mm pitch - CSI mode (not DSI)
  • External 12V-19V power supply

ZED X Driver #

This hardware requires a specific driver. The driver performs the configuration of those devices and therefore depends on the hardware used, including the Jetson carrier board, the deserializer card, and other GMSL cameras configuration.

This driver describes the hardware configuration for ZED X devices, which depends on the following:

  • Jetson carrier board model
  • Deserializer card model
  • GMSL camera configuration

Available drivers can be found in the ZED SDK installation path (/usr/local/zed/drivers) or you can download the latest version from the ZED SDK download webpage.

Driver Installation #

Select the driver corresponding to your configuration and run:

sudo dpkg -i drivers/stereolabs-zedx-L4T35.1-vX.X.X_YYYYYYY.deb

For instance, for L4T 35.1 (JetPack 5.0) with the provided capture card:

sudo dpkg -i drivers/stereolabs-zedx-L4T35.1-v0.4.3_max96712.deb

You should then reboot the Jetson.

It is also important to note that the GMSL2 cameras are less flexible than the USB cameras. Any hardware configuration change as in: plugging/unplugging a camera, changing camera order,… requires either a Jetson reboot or restarting the installed daemon with the command:

sudo systemctl restart zed_x_daemon

Uninstall the driver #

If you want to upgrade the driver from a version older than v0.5.x it is required to uninstall the previous installed version:

sudo dpkg -r stereolabs-zedx-L4T35.1-vX.X.X_YYYYYYY

to retrieve the correct name of the package to remove you can use the command

sudo dpkg -l | grep stereolabs-zedx

Supported Configurations #

  • NVIDIA Jetson AGX Developer Kits (Orin/Xavier)
  • NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX Developer Kit (required driver version >= v0.5.2)
  • NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano devkit (required driver version >= v0.5.3)
  • NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX module on Orin Nano devkit carrier board (required driver version > v0.5.3)
  • ZED Box Orin NX
  • NVIDIA Jetpack > v5.0 (L4T 35.1)
  • Stereolabs GMSL capture card based on MAX96712 deserializer
  • Leopard Imaging GMSL capture card based on MAX96712 deserializer
  • Leopard Imaging GMSL capture card based on MAX9296 deserializer
  • Realtimes AI GMSL capture card based on MAX9296 deserializer (only AGX devkits)

You can find the current and upcoming supported configurations and their development status here.

Unsupported Configurations #

  • Other GMSL Cameras
  • Custom Jetson module carrier boards with not available compatible drivers (contact us for information at support@stereolabs.com)
  • Custom GMSL2 Deserializer
  • ZED Box TX2 NX
  • ZED Box Xavier NX

(Advanced) Configurations for other GMSL cameras #

  • The compiled driver (deb file) is provided with a DTS that enumerates ZED X camera on i2c30 and i2c31. It will override any other configuration for cameras in custom DTS.

To create a custom DTS, use the diff file provided by Stereolabs to merge both DTS together.

Contact us for information and support at support@stereolabs.com

Troubleshooting #

The following commands will help troubleshoot your GMSL connection:

sudo dmesg | grep zedx

Use the ZED Diagnostic tool dmesg option for quick debugging:

sudo ./ZED_Diagnostic --dmesg

A ZED X is made of 2 video sensors. Both must appear as “bound” in the dmesg log

Each ZED X is linked to an i2c bus with 0x10 and 0x18 sub addresses, therefore the first ZED X detected will be under the devices :

  • 30-0018 (left) and 30-0010 (right)

The second ZED X will be under :

  • 31-0018 (left) and 31-0010 (right)

If your ZED X camera does not appear correctly in these logs, please restart the ZED X daemon using:

sudo systemctl restart zed_x_daemon

Or reboot your device to be able to use your camera.

Docker #

In order to use the ZED X and the ZED X Mini in a Docker container bind mount the following folders to your container: /tmp/ and /var/nvidia/nvcam/settings/.

For example, to start an interactive docker run section:

docker run --runtime nvidia -it --privileged -e DISPLAY -v /tmp/:/tmp/ -v /var/nvidia/nvcam/settings/:/var/nvidia/nvcam/settings/ <docker_image>

Run ZED Explorer #

ZED Explorer is an application for ZED live preview and SVO recording. It lets you change video resolution, aspect ratio, and camera parameters, and capture high-resolution snapshots, and 3D video.

If the ZED is recognized by your computer, you will see the video from both sensors of your camera.

ZED Explorer is located in the following folder /usr/local/zed/tools/.

Run ZED Depth Viewer #

ZED Depth Viewer uses the SDK to capture and display the depth map and 3D point cloud. Run the ZED Depth Viewer to check that the depth map is displayed correctly. Try different Depth Modes to select the depth quality/performance ratio that suits you best.

ZED Depth Viewer is located in the following folder /usr/local/zed/tools/.

Play with the samples #

The ZED SDK includes several tutorials and samples to learn how to use video, depth, tracking and mapping information, along with many third-party integrations.

You can also check our GitHub organization page for the latest updates. Read the API documentation to learn more, and start experimenting with the samples!