Customize USB (per-port enable / disable / role)
Purpose
Enable, disable, or change the role of USB2 / USB3 SS ports on a Jetson Thor (Tegra264) or Orin (Tegra234) custom carrier. Captures per-port wiring (role, max speed, VBUS-EN / OC GPIOs, CC1/CC2 GPIOs for Type-C, USB3 SS UPHY lane), resolves the SS to USB2 companion graph from the in-tree DTB, then renders a self-contained kernel-DT overlay that flips every port action in three places in lockstep (lane status, port status, host xHCI phys + phy-names).
UPHY lane allocation belongs to jetson-customize-uphy. No ODMDATA edit. Output is one commit to the composite custom overlay .dts in the bsp_sources/ hardware repo.
Prerequisites
- Active profile with
reference_devkit:+custom_carrier:blocks. <source.root_path>/Linux_for_Tegra/.gitexists
(/jetson-init-source).
/jetson-derive-carrierhas run — carrier flash-conf fork in the
overlay tracker.
/jetson-customize-uphyhas run when any enabled USB3 SS port
needs a non-stock UPHY lane allocation. Its JSON sidecar at <workspace>/target-platform/<profile-stem>.jetson-customize-uphy.json is consulted for SS lane allocation.
- Source-of-truth docs: Adaptation Guide §"Port the Universal Serial
Bus", Module Design Guide §USB, SoC TRM (xusb block).
- **When
custom_carrier:is present, both
documents.custom_carrier_schematic AND documents.custom_carrier_pinmux_xls are REQUIRED.** Refuse the run if either is missing — per-port routing (VBUS-EN / OC / CC GPIOs, SS lane wiring, hub fan-out) on a custom carrier cannot be guessed. Reference-devkit-only profiles skip this check.
dtc,fdtoverlayon PATH.
Overview
USB on Tegra spans three IP surfaces: the xusb_padctl block (USB2 OTG + USB3 SS PHYs), the tegra-xusb xHCI host controller, and an optional tegra-xudc device controller attached to the single OTG-capable USB2 port (usb2-0).
A per-port flip MUST touch three kernel-DT places in lockstep. Anything less crashes the host xHCI probe and leaves lsusb empty on every port (collateral damage to stock-okay ports):
| # | Place | Path | What it controls | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lane (PHY provider) | `xusb_padctl/pads/usb<2\ | 3>/lanes/usb<2\ | 3>-N` | SS / OTG PHY hardware-binding. status="disabled" then lane stops providing a PHY. |
| 2 | Port (controller-binding) | `xusb_padctl/ports/usb<2\ | 3>-N` | Per-port mode (host/device/otg), companion link, VBUS / OC / CC pin refs. status="disabled" then port removed from user-facing topology. | |
| 3 | Host xHCI phys-list | bus@0/usb@<addr>.phys + .phy-names | Array of phandles + names the xHCI driver iterates. A ref to a disabled PHY returns -ENODEV and aborts the whole host probe. |
NVIDIA's stock-disabled usb3-3 in the Thor base DTB is the canonical pattern — all three places flipped in lockstep.
Two extra rules ride on top of the three-place pattern:
- Rule A — lane + port pairing. Lane (place 1) and matching port
(place 2) MUST flip together.
- Rule B — companion cascade.
xusb_padctl/ports/usb3-N.nvidia,usb2-companion references a USB2 port phandle. Disabling that USB2 without cascading to its SS companion then tegra-xusb: failed to enable PHYs: -19.
Agentic, not table-driven — every port, controller, lane, companion link, phandle, and __symbols__ lookup is resolved at runtime from docs + DTB + carrier pinmap + schematic.
When to invoke
- The user says "enable USB", "disable USB hub", "configure USB3 SS",
"set USB role", "wire VBUS-EN", "tegra-xusb / xudc / dr_mode", or asks to bring up / take down a USB controller on a custom carrier.
- A USB receptacle on the carrier doesn't enumerate after flash, OR
collateral USB damage (lsusb empty after a previous jetson-customize-usb attempt) needs to be fixed.
jetson-customize-uphyre-allocated UPHY lanes affecting USB3 SS
ports and per-port DT now needs to follow.
Procedure (summary)
The full step-by-step procedure lives in references/procedure.md.
- Step 1 — resolve active target + open source-of-truth docs.
- Step 2 — build the USB topology + companion graph from the
in-tree DTB.
- Step 3 —
AskUserQuestionfor port(s) to enable / disable;
surface companion cascade + on-carrier hub fan-out explicitly.
- Step 4 — per-port verify (module + carrier + UPHY lane) and
capture wiring (VBUS-EN / OC / CC GPIOs via pin_verifier.py).
- Step 5 — render the kernel-DT overlay using the three-place
pattern, append fragments (usb:padctl, usb:xhci, optional usb:xudc) to the composite custom overlay .dts, run fdtoverlay + the three post-merge invariants, commit to bsp_sources/.
- Step 6 — write run-state JSON sidecar (shape in
references/run-state-sidecar.md), emit headline, then drive the downstream next-step chain via sequential AskUserQuestion prompts per references/procedure.md Step 6. Never substitute a printed "Next step: …" line for the prompts.
See references/gotchas.md for the load-bearing failure modes.
Limitations
- Owns kernel-DT overlay only. ODMDATA does not expose a per-port
USB status knob; do not edit it.
- Does NOT allocate UPHY lanes —
jetson-customize-uphyowns that.
Refuse to commit an SS-enable until uphy run-state shows the lane allocated.
- Does NOT directly patch the pinmux DTSI — routes SFIO mismatches
to /jetson-customize-pinmux set-pin.
- Does NOT compile the
.dtboor registerOVERLAY_DTB_FILE+=—
/jetson-build-source owns build + flash-conf registration.
- Tegra platform invariant: only
usb2-0is OTG-capable;xudc
attaches there only. All other USB2 ports and all USB3 SS ports are host-only.
Troubleshooting
- Empty
lsusbon every port, USB-eth at 192.168.55.1 still up:
host xHCI bailed; three-place lockstep was broken. Inspect merged DTB; verify post-merge invariants in references/procedure.md Step 5d.
tegra-xusb: failed to enable PHYs: -19: companion cascade
(Rule B) violated — a USB2 was disabled without its SS companion.
no port foundorRequested PHY is disabled: Rule A
violated — lane status and port status are mismatched.
FDT_ERR_NOTFOUNDfromfdtoverlay: a fragment used
target = <&label> for a node whose label is not in __symbols__ (typical for host xHCI / tegra-xudc). Switch to target-path = "/bus@0/usb@<addr>".
- dtc warning
phys_property: cell 0 is not a phandle reference:
benign; expected when using raw integer phandles in the host phys override.
- Port boots but VBUS never asserts:
vbus-supplyreferences a
regulator parent node that does not exist. Ensure the fixed regulator node is present before referencing it.
- xHCI binds the wrong port at boot: host
physelement order
was not preserved. Only elide disabled entries; never reorder kept ones.
References
references/procedure.md— full step-by-step procedure.references/gotchas.md— load-bearing failure modes.references/run-state-sidecar.md— run-state JSON shape.references/usb-architecture.md— Tegra USB IP architecture
notes (xusb_padctl, tegra-xusb, xudc).
references/usb-dt-bindings.md— USB DT binding cheatsheet
(lane / port / phys-list shapes).
../../scripts/pin_verifier.py— shared HSIO pin verifier.../../references/platform_template.yaml—documents:block
consumed by Step 1.
../../context/bsp-customization-workflow.md— overlay edit
protocol.
../../references/bsp-customization-kernel-dtb.md— composite
overlay append protocol.
../jetson-customize-uphy/SKILL.md— sibling skill that owns
UPHY lane allocation.
../jetson-customize-pinmux/SKILL.md— sibling skill for
VBUS-EN / OC / CC SFIO fixes.
../jetson-derive-carrier/SKILL.md— must run first.../jetson-init-source/SKILL.md— produces the overlay tracker
+ bsp_sources repo.







