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The Jetson Thor Compute Kit is the Advantech MIC-742-AT (Jetson T5000, 128GB) fitted with a GMSL2 frame grabber and Wi-Fi. This guide covers what’s in the box, wiring the Camera Kit to it, and putting the right OS image and camera driver on it before you install Axol.
Never flash the MIC-742 with NVIDIA’s stock JetPack image. JetPack BSPs are built per carrier board: the image NVIDIA publishes for its Thor developer kit does not match the MIC-742’s carrier. With it, the Stereolabs MIC-742 camera driver hangs nvidia_drm at boot. Always use Advantech’s MIC-742 image (see Flash the OS).

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What’s in the box

GMSL and Wi-Fi are factory options on the MIC-742. Advantech fits them before the unit ships, and installing them yourself voids the warranty. If a unit arrives without them, contact Almond rather than opening the chassis.

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Power

The MIC-742 takes DC through a 2-pin plug-in terminal block on the chassis. The mating plug ships with the system. For a spare, or to build your own harness (for example, to power the Thor from a Jelly base), the plug is Advantech 1652002202, which is Dinkle 5ESDVM-02P (DigiKey).
Abruptly cutting power to the Jetson can corrupt the OS. Shut it down from the OS first, then unplug its adapter.

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Wire the cameras

The Camera Kit’s GMSL cables end in standard FAKRA connectors, and the MIC-742 frame grabber takes Mini-FAKRA. The 1751000758-01 adapter cable converts between them, carrying up to 4 cameras per cable. The Camera Kit’s three cameras (two wrist, one head) fit on one adapter.
1

Mount the cameras on Axol

Follow Axol Cameras to fit the wrist and head cameras, and note which serial goes where.
2

Connect the adapter cable

Plug the adapter’s Mini-FAKRA end into the frame grabber’s GMSL2 port on the MIC-742.
3

Connect the cameras

Plug the head camera’s GMSL cable and the two GMSL cables from the wrist-camera ports on the back of the robot into the adapter’s FAKRA inputs.
4

Connect USB and power

Run the USB cable from the back of the robot to the MIC-742, then connect the MIC-742’s DC adapter.

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Flash the OS

Axol targets Advantech’s MIC-742 image for JetPack 7.2 (L4T 39.2). Units can arrive with an earlier JetPack 7 release, so reflash unless the unit already reports L4T 39.2 (see Verify).
Flashing erases the SSD. Copy off any datasets or calibration you want to keep first.
You need a separate x86_64 host PC running Ubuntu 24.04, a USB-A to Micro-USB cable, and an HDMI monitor for the MIC-742. Advantech’s notes for the host:
  • Use a physical machine, not a virtual machine. USB passthrough to VMs drops the connection mid-flash.
  • Plug the cable straight into the host, with no USB hub in between.
  • Run the commands as a normal user with sudo, not logged in as root.
  • Keep the HDMI monitor attached to the MIC-742 until the flash finishes and it boots to the desktop.
1

Download and check the image

On the host PC:
2

Extract it

This creates ~/Desktop/MIC-742_Thor_7.2_V1.0.0_SDK.
3

Install the flashing prerequisites

The host needs internet access for this step.
4

Put the MIC-742 in recovery mode

  1. Shut the MIC-742 down and unplug its power.
  2. Connect the Micro-USB port next to the REC and RST buttons to the host PC.
  3. Press and hold REC.
  4. Plug in power and press RST, keeping REC held. Release REC 5–10 seconds after pressing RST.
Confirm it from the host:
If nothing shows, repeat the button sequence.
5

Flash

6

Reboot

When the script reports success, press RST. The MIC-742 boots into the new image. Complete the Ubuntu first-boot setup on the HDMI monitor.

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Install the camera driver

Once the image boots, install the Stereolabs driver built for the MIC-742: stereolabs-advantech-mic742 release 1.4.3 for L4T 39.2.0. It is the only driver that pairs with Advantech’s image. Driver packages for the ZED Box, the ZED Link, or NVIDIA’s devkit will not work on this carrier. On the MIC-742:
Then install the ZED SDK release for JetPack 7.2 (L4T 39.2) from the Stereolabs download page.
Axol’s zed.driver step manages only the ZED Box and ZED Link driver packages (stereolabs-zed*). It leaves the MIC-742 driver alone, so the installer and self-updater never replace it. Upgrade it by hand, and only to a release built for the L4T version Advantech’s image runs.

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Verify

Check the L4T release and the driver before installing Axol:
If the first line doesn’t say R39 with revision 2, reflash with Advantech’s image. If the system hangs at boot after the driver install, the unit is running a non-Advantech image: reflash it from Flash the OS. The driver install alone can’t fix it.

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Install Axol

With the image and driver in place, run the one-command install. On the Thor it also applies the real-time tuning for the T5000 (jetson.setup): max power mode, the GPU’s performance governor, the CAN interrupt, and the camera daemon’s scheduling.

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Next steps

Installation

Install Axol on the Thor and open the web control panel.

Axol Cameras

Mount the Camera Kit’s wrist and head cameras.