{"id":134080,"date":"2026-09-30T07:24:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T07:24:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.seeedstudio.com\/blog\/?p=134080"},"modified":"2026-09-30T07:24:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T07:24:54","slug":"jetpack-l4t-ubuntu-kernel-uefi-whats-the-relationship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.seeedstudio.com\/blog\/2026\/09\/30\/jetpack-l4t-ubuntu-kernel-uefi-whats-the-relationship\/","title":{"rendered":"JetPack, L4T, Ubuntu, Kernel, UEFI: What’s the Relationship?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When you first start using Jetson, there’s one question almost everyone hits: how many “system versions” does a Jetson actually have?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You may have seen completely different numbers in different places:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JetPack 6.2.3\nL4T \/ Jetson Linux R36.5.2\nUbuntu 22.04\nLinux Kernel 5.15\nUEFI 36.5.2<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Looks like five systems. But actually, these are all different layers of the same Jetson software stack<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most important thing about these concepts isn’t memorizing definitions \u2014 it’s building this awareness:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jetson’s software isn’t just “Ubuntu + NVIDIA GPU drivers.” It’s a complete platform that spans boot firmware, the Linux kernel, the Ubuntu user space, all the way up to CUDA \/ TensorRT acceleration packages.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let’s start with one diagram showing how they include each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
JetPack\n|\n+-- Jetson Linux \/ L4T\n|   |\n|   +-- UEFI\n|   +-- Linux Kernel\n|   +-- NVIDIA Drivers\n|   +-- Ubuntu RootFS\n|\n+-- CUDA\n+-- TensorRT\n+-- cuDNN\n+-- VPI\n+-- ...<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
This diagram isn’t complete, but it captures the relationships between the terms in this article. A more comprehensive architecture diagram is at the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
JetPack<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
You can think of JetPack<\/strong> as the full software development environment NVIDIA provides for Jetson edge computing devices. It doesn’t just include OS-related components \u2014 it also bundles security packages and AI acceleration packages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when someone asks “what JetPack are you using?”, they’re really asking:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Which NVIDIA Jetson software platform are you currently running?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
JetPack is, in effect, the top-level “software collection.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you have a Jetson with a system already on it, you can query the JetPack version directly in the terminal:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
seeed@ubuntu:~$ dpkg -l | grep nvidia-jetpack\nii  nvidia-jetpack                                    6.2.1+b38                                   arm64        NVIDIA Jetpack Meta Package\nii  nvidia-jetpack-dev                                6.2.1+b38                                   arm64        NVIDIA Jetpack dev Meta Package\nii  nvidia-jetpack-runtime                            6.2.1+b38                                   arm64        NVIDIA Jetpack runtime Meta Package<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
The output shows the current device is running JetPack 6.2.1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jetson Linux \/ L4T<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
If JetPack is Jetson’s “complete software”, then Jetson Linux \/ L4T is the underlying system that Jetson actually needs to run.<\/strong> Let’s first clear up the relationship between Jetson Linux and L4T:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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L4T is the old\/technical name; Jetson Linux is the name NVIDIA now prefers. You can treat them as the same thing.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
For brevity, we’ll use L4T<\/strong> to mean Jetson Linux \/ L4T for the rest of this article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
L4T stands for: Linux for Tegra<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tegra is the SoC platform that NVIDIA Jetson uses, so L4T can be understood as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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A Linux BSP (Board Support Package) customized by NVIDIA specifically for Jetson hardware.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Here a new term appears: BSP, Board Support Package<\/strong>. Its job isn’t simply to provide a Linux desktop \u2014 it’s to connect Linux to the actual Jetson hardware<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can think of it as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
                Jetson Linux \/ L4T\n                        |\n        +---------------+---------------+\n        |               |               |\n        v               v               v\n      UEFI          Linux Kernel     Ubuntu RootFS\n        |               |               |\n     Boots the     Manages hardware   User space\n     system                             |\n                        |\n                   NVIDIA Drivers\n                        |\n                  Jetson Hardware<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
So L4T isn’t a single software component \u2014 it’s a whole underlying system environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It typically includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n