Customize camera (CSI / MIPI / GMSL sensor bring-up)

Overview

Tegra264 (Thor) and Tegra234 (Orin) expose a single

tegra-capture-vi

controller fronted by NVCSI and a fixed set of CSI ports. Camera bring-up is:

Sensor selection — picked from the set NVIDIA ships in-tree
```
.dtsi
```
references for on the active platform.
Carrier + module support check — verified against the Camera Development Guide, Adaptation Guide §Camera, carrier schematic, Module TRM, and carrier pinmap.
Wiring — derived from the in-tree
```
tegra<soc>-camera-<sensor>*.dtsi
```
when one exists (the DTSI IS the wiring source of truth); captured per-sensor from the user when the sensor is custom.
Kernel-DT overlay — cpp-expand the in-tree DTSI, extract its
```
fragment@N
```
body, append into the composite custom overlay
```
.dts
```
for the active target (per
```
../../references/bsp-customization-kernel-dtb.md
```
), verify the composite with
```
fdtoverlay
```
.
```
/jetson-build-source
```
compiles the composite and owns the carrier conf's
```
OVERLAY_DTB_FILE+=
```
registration.

Agentic, not table-driven — sensor list is built at runtime by globbing in-tree per-sensor dtbos. No

_THOR_CAMERAS

dict, no

questions.json

, no Python renderer in the question path.

No ODMDATA edit — cameras don't consume UPHY lanes (CSI is a separate PHY pool). The skill emits only a kernel-DT overlay; the ODMDATA line in the carrier conf is untouched by this skill.

The output is one commit:

Camera
```
fragment@N
```
block (plus
```
jetson-header-name
```
on the composite root if not already present) appended to the composite custom overlay
```
.dts
```
per
```
../../references/bsp-customization-kernel-dtb.md
```
→ committed to the
```
bsp_sources/
```
hardware repo.
```
/jetson-build-source
```
compiles the composite to
```
.dtbo
```
and owns its Makefile + flash-conf registration.

When to invoke

The user says "enable camera", "configure CSI", "wire a Hawk / Owl / IMX sensor", "MIPI camera", "GMSL camera", or asks to bring up
```
tegra-capture-vi
```
/ NVCSI on a custom carrier.
Flash boots but
```
v4l2-ctl --list-devices
```
shows no
```
tegra-capture-vi
```
channels, OR sensor enumeration on a fresh daughter-card needs to be confirmed.
A sensor was previously enabled and the user wants to add another (multi-sensor bring-up).

Prerequisites:

Active profile with
```
reference_devkit:
```
+
```
custom_carrier:
```
blocks.

<source.root_path>/Linux_for_Tegra/.git

exists (

/jetson-init-source

```
/jetson-derive-carrier
```
has run — the carrier flash-conf fork is in the overlay tracker.

<source.root_path>/bsp_sources/hardware/nvidia/<chip-dir>/nv-public/overlay/

exists and contains the in-tree per-sensor

.dtsi

files (sourced by

/jetson-init-source

's Branch A archive extract).

```
<source.root_path>/bsp_sources/kernel/kernel-noble/include/dt-bindings/
```
contains the macro headers cpp needs (
```
source_sync.sh
```
may need to run if Branch B was used — see Step 5a.i below).
Source-of-truth docs registered or supplied at prompt: Camera Development Guide (in
```
bsp_developer_guide
```
mirror or separate path), Adaptation Guide §Camera, carrier schematic, SoC TRM, Module Design Guide.
```
dtc
```
,
```
cpp
```
,
```
fdtoverlay
```
on PATH.

Procedure

Detailed step-by-step procedure (Steps 1–7, with all tables, code blocks, and gates) lives in

references/procedure.md

. Summary:

Step 1 — Resolve active target + open source-of-truth docs.
Step 2 — Enumerate supported sensors by globbing in-tree per-platform camera dtbos; classify as DPHY-direct / GMSL / custom. Never invent sensors.
Step 3 / 3a — Cross-check carrier + module support against DTSI, Camera Development Guide, Adaptation Guide §Camera, SoC TRM, Module Design Guide, schematic, and carrier pinmap. Render the wiring table FIRST, then issue the confirm-or-customize gate.
Step 4 (custom path only) — Batched per-sensor wiring questions auto-filled from the carrier pinmap.
Step 5 — Append exactly ONE
```
/* custom-bsp: camera:<sensor> */
```
fragment to the composite custom overlay
```
.dts
```
(see
```
../../references/bsp-customization-kernel-dtb.md
```
). Clone path cpp-expands the in-tree DTSI; custom path splices Step-4 answers + mode tables in-place. Idempotently set
```
jetson-header-name
```
on the composite root. Verify with
```
dtc
```
+
```
fdtoverlay
```
(pre-compile single-fragment gate; post-compile deep-tree uniqueness gate). Commit via the workflow's commit-message preview gate.
Step 6 — Verify ancillary CAM pin SFIOs (
```
cam_i2c_*
```
,
```
extperiph<m>_clk
```
, reset/PWDN/PWR_EN GPIOs) via
```
pin_verifier.py
```
; route mismatches to
```
/jetson-customize-pinmux
```
.
Step 7 — Atomic-write run-state JSON sidecar at
```
<workspace>/target-platform/<profile-stem>.jetson-customize-camera.json
```
and emit the headline, then drive the downstream next-step chain via sequential
```
AskUserQuestion
```
prompts per
```
references/procedure.md
```
Step 7. The chain is a documented workflow gate, not a clarifying question — auto-mode does NOT exempt it. Never substitute a printed "Next step: …" line for the prompts.

Gotchas

Dual-fragment trap. Contribute exactly ONE camera-tagged
```
fragment@N
```
to the composite. A second one carrying status overrides triggers dtc deep-merge → duplicate sibling subtrees (e.g. two
```
tca9546@70
```
) → runtime first-match drops the dtsi- supplied deep tree → camera silently doesn't enumerate. Gate on this skill's marker only (Step 5c).
Composite root
compatible
is owned globally, not by this skill. Don't widen from any in-tree per-sensor dtbo's
```
compatible
```
(devkit-SKU-gated). Fix the composite root if needed.
jetson-header-name
from any in-tree per-sensor dtbo. Fixed, carrier-agnostic; read once, paste onto the metadata root.
DO NOT also append the in-tree per-sensor dtbo to
OVERLAY_DTB_FILE
. Registering both your rendered overlay AND the in-tree
```
tegra<soc>-p3971-camera-<sensor>-overlay.dtbo
```
produces a phantom subdev bind that bricks camera enumeration.
Stub overlay is a known footgun. Committing
```
tegra-capture-vi { status="okay"; num-channels=<N>; }
```
with no ports / sensor / nvcsi body bricks the camera (
```
all channel init failed
```
). Splice the FULL sensor body via cpp + dtc.
Sensor mode tables must be spliced, never hand-authored.
```
mode<N>
```
,
```
sensor_modes
```
,
```
pixel_phase
```
— copy verbatim from the closest in-tree DTSI.
camera_common_regulator_get (null) ERR: -EINVAL
= missing
```
avdd-reg
```
/
```
iovdd-reg
```
/
```
dvdd-reg
```
strings — splice the FULL sensor body; always-on rails fall back to dummy regulator.
External
&label
refs must exist in base DTB's
__symbols__
. Use
```
target-path = "/tegra-capture-vi"
```
when the label is absent;
```
fdtoverlay
```
exits non-zero with
```
FDT_ERR_NOTFOUND
```
otherwise.
cpp
failure on
dt-bindings/gpio/gpio.h: No such file
= L4T source tree isn't staged. Re-run
```
/jetson-init-source
```
(Branch B's
```
source_sync.sh
```
fetches the headers). Never fabricate the macro expansion.
No ODMDATA edit, no flash-conf edit. Camera doesn't consume UPHY lanes. The carrier conf's
```
ODMDATA="..."
```
is untouched.
```
OVERLAY_DTB_FILE+=
```
is owned by
```
/jetson-build-source
```
Step 5.0a — this skill never touches the carrier flash conf.
Don't touch the upstream BSP at
<bsp_image.root_path>
. All edits land in
```
<source.root_path>/Linux_for_Tegra/
```
(overlay tracker) and
```
<source.root_path>/bsp_sources/
```
(overlay
```
.dts
```
) under the pristine + customization commit pattern.

References

```
references/procedure.md
```
— full step-by-step Steps 1–7 procedure (extracted from this SKILL.md).
```
references/csi-dt-bindings.md
```
— CSI / nvcsi / vi DT binding reference notes.
```
references/overlay-template.md
```
— guidance on the metadata-root + clone-body overlay shape.

references/camera-overlay-templates/

— starter

.dts.tmpl

templates:

dphy-direct.dts.tmpl

gmsl-serdes.dts.tmpl

```
../../scripts/pin_verifier.py
```
— shared HSIO pin verifier (Step 6).

../../references/platform_template.yaml

—

documents:

block consumed by Step 1.

../../context/bsp-customization-workflow.md

— overlay edit protocol.

```
../jetson-customize-pinmux/SKILL.md
```
— sibling skill auto-invoked by Step 6 to fix HSIO pin SFIO mismatches (CAM I²C, MCLK, reset GPIOs).
```
../jetson-derive-carrier/SKILL.md
```
— must run first; produces the carrier base overlay (the
```
*-dynamic.dtbo
```
) this skill's composite stacks after.
```
../jetson-init-source/SKILL.md
```
— produces the overlay tracker +
```
bsp_sources
```
repo (with the
```
hardware/nvidia/<chip-dir>/
```
per-sensor DTSI tree) this skill reads and commits into.

jetson-customize-camera

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content