Jetson Customize Clocks
NVIDIAOfficialCreated by Jetson TeamDistributed by NVIDIA
- Skill
- Workflow
- Cloud and DevOps
- Apache-2.0
- Medium risk
AutoGineer summary
Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author
This skill provides a structured workflow for customizing clock behavior on Jetson platforms. It operates by modifying the BPMP Device Tree Blob (DTB) to set custom clock ceilings and adjusting the nvpower.sh script to control frequency governors and sysfs-based rate limits. These changes are applied during the pre-flash phase, ensuring they are integrated into the system image before deployment. The skill emphasizes a two-layer ceiling model where the BPMP DTB and nvpmodel settings interact to define the effective runtime frequency limits.
What it does
- Sets custom frequency ceilings for CPU, GPU, and EMC clocks via BPMP DTB.
- Toggles EMC and CPU DVFS (Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling) behavior.
- Configures cpufreq and devfreq governors through nvpower.sh.
- Provides a recipe for pinning all clocks to MAXN for performance stress testing.
- Ensures all modifications are tracked within an overlay repository for reproducible builds.
- Integrates with the broader Jetson BSP customization workflow for promotion and flashing.
When to use it
- When you need to lock or cap specific clock frequencies for consistent performance benchmarking.
- When you need to disable EMC DVFS to eliminate frequency scaling jitter during stress tests.
- When you need to change the default cpufreq or devfreq governors to optimize for specific workloads.
- When you need to lower a clock's hard ceiling to manage power or thermal constraints.
Advantages
- Provides a clean, version-controlled approach to hardware customization.
- Avoids destructive manual edits to the BSP image by using an overlay tracker.
- Allows for precise control over hardware behavior before the system boots.
- Supports complex configurations like multi-node GPU capping and SoC-specific EMC gate management.
Usage examples
- “Lock the GPU to its maximum frequency for a stress test.”
- The agent guides you to remove existing max-rate-custom values in the BPMP DTB and set the cpufreq/devfreq governors to performance in nvpower.sh.
- “Disable EMC DVFS on my Orin module.”
- The agent instructs you to set bwmgr.enabled and cactmon.enabled to 0 in the BPMP DTB and recompile the image.
Install
Download the skill as a ZIP:
https://autogineer.com/agent-skills/nvidia/jetson-customize-clocks/downloadUnzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:
mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip jetson-customize-clocks.zip -d .agents/skills
Documentation by Jetson Team
Customize Clocks
Purpose
Customize CPU, GPU, and EMC clock behavior on a Jetson target by editing files under Linux_for_Tegra/ before flashing the image. Two layers are in scope:
The BPMP DTB at
Linux_for_Tegra/bootloader/<BPFDTB_FILE>— per-clockmax-rate-customceilings, plus the EMC DVFS gate (bwmgr + cactmon on all SoCs; osp-controller on T26x only).nvpower.sh at
Linux_for_Tegra/rootfs/etc/systemd/nvpower.sh— cpufreq / devfreq governors and (optionally) per-device min / max / static rates written to sysfs at boot.
Common triggers: "lock CPU/GPU/EMC frequency", "pin GPU to Fmax", "pin EMC to MAXN", "disable/enable EMC DVFS", "disable/enable CPU DVFS", "set CPU/GPU max rate", "change cpufreq governor".
Out of scope: runtime clock tuning on a live target (no flash step), nvpmodel power-mode edits (use the sibling skill /jetson-customize-nvpmodel), and silicon-ceiling overrides (max-rate-maxn is read-only).
Prerequisites
Resolve the active profile per
../../context/target-platform-contract.md.
Refuse and route in these cases:
| Condition | Refuse with |
|---|---|
No active profile, or active: NA | Route to /jetson-set-target or /jetson-init-target. |
Profile lacks bsp_image: block | Route to /jetson-init-image. |
<bsp_image.root_path>/Linux_for_Tegra/ missing | Route to /jetson-init-image. |
<source.root_path>/Linux_for_Tegra/ missing or not a git repo | Route to /jetson-init-source. |
Resolve paths:
<bsp_image.root_path>frombsp_image.root_path:if present, else<workspace>/Image.<source.root_path>fromsource.root_path:if present, else<workspace>/Source.
<bsp_image.root_path> is read-only for this skill; every write
(Operation 1's BPMP DTB and Operation 2's nvpower.sh) lands under
<source.root_path> (the overlay tracker). This is the workflow
invariant in
../../context/bsp-customization-workflow.md#workflow-invariants —
hand-editing upstream silently destroys the diff trail and makes
/jetson-promote-image a noop.
Instructions
Resolve the prerequisites above (active profile, BSP image extracted, source overlay tracker initialized).
Pick the operation from the table below.
Follow the linked procedure section — Operation 1 (BPMP DTB), Operation 2 (
nvpower.sh), or the MAXN recipe for both.Commit the edit inside the overlay tracker per each Operation's commit convention.
Deploy with
/jetson-promote-image→/jetson-flash-image. The new BPMP DTB andnvpower.shtake effect on the next boot.
Supported operations
| Operation | Where the edit lives | Procedure section |
|---|---|---|
| Lock a CPU / GPU clock to a specific rate | BPMP DTB max-rate-custom on the clock node + nvpower.sh governor performance | "Content edit: max-rate-custom" + "Pick the edit" |
| Lock EMC at its init rate (disable EMC DVFS) | BPMP DTB: bwmgr.enabled = 0, cactmon.enabled = 0, plus /delete-node/ osp-controller on T26x only | "Content edit: EMC DVFS disable / enable" |
| Re-enable EMC DVFS | BPMP DTB: bwmgr.enabled = 1, cactmon.enabled = 1, restore osp-controller on T26x | "Content edit: EMC DVFS disable / enable" |
| Pin everything to MAXN for stress runs | Combine the above + nvpmodel MAXN as boot default | see Recipe |
| Lower a clock's hard ceiling without locking | BPMP DTB max-rate-custom only | "Content edit: max-rate-custom" |
| Bound a device's rate without pinning | nvpower.sh min/max via sysfs | "Pick the edit" |
Operation 1 — BPMP DTB edits
Follow the BPMP-DTB customization protocol in
../../references/bsp-customization-bpmp-dtb.md.
The protocol owns the mechanics — pristine import on first touch,
dtc decompile, recompile, sanity-check, commit. This skill
supplies only the clock-specific content (which nodes and
properties to edit during the protocol's "Edit the DTS" step).
The edited .dtb lands in the <source.root_path>/Linux_for_Tegra/
overlay tracker. /jetson-promote-image's channel A walks the
tracker and copies the file into bsp_image. Do not edit
<bsp_image.root_path>/Linux_for_Tegra/bootloader/<bpmp-dtb>
directly — that's the promote output, not an input.
Resolve the SKU-correct BPMP DTB
Per the protocol's "Resolving the active BPMP DTB" section, read
BPFDTB_FILE from the active flash conf. For the common Thor /
single-SKU conf shapes this is the static BPFDTB_FILE=... line
in the per-board .conf and the value is authoritative as-is.
For SKU-multiplexed conf shapes (Orin AGX devkit conf chain
that selects a different BPMP DTB per board_sku/board_FAB
via update_flash_args_common — see
../../context/bsp-customization-software-layers.md#per-board-conf-dispatch--update_flash_args_common),
walk the dispatch chain with board_sku=<module.sku> and
board_FAB=<module.revision or empty> from the active profile,
and read BPFDTB_FILE from the dispatch output — not from
the static line of the per-board .conf. Static and dispatched
values match for non-multiplexed confs; the dispatch is
mandatory only when the conf chain conditionally overrides
BPFDTB_FILE.
List effective max rates (inspection)
Inspect both layers of the runtime ceiling — see references/clock-control-model.md#effective-runtime-ceiling — before deciding on a max-rate-custom value.
Inspection cookbook (BPMP-side decompile + grep; nvpmodel-side awk over the boot default mode) is in references/bpmp-dtb-clock-edits.md#inspection-cookbook.
For the nvpmodel layer see /jetson-customize-nvpmodel.
This step does not mutate state — it's a precondition for sizing
the edit in the "Content edit: max-rate-custom on a named clock node" step.
Content edit: max-rate-custom on a named clock node
During the "Edit the DTS" step of the protocol, modify the property
inside the named clock node — never lateinit. max-rate-custom
must be strictly below the clock's hard cap (max-rate-maxn if
defined, otherwise the live max_rate from a running target of
the same chip / SKU).
DTS edit form, semantics, and the nvpmodel ↔ BPMP clock-node
mapping live in references/bpmp-dtb-clock-edits.md.
Then hand control back to the protocol — its "Recompile", "Sanity-check
the recompiled blob", "Stage in the overlay tracker", and "Cleanup"
steps cover the rest.
Commit-message convention per the protocol:
<BPMP_BASENAME>: jetson-customize-clocks — <clock-node> max-rate-custom = <value>.
Content edit: EMC DVFS disable / enable
Default behavior (EMC DVFS on) requires no edit. Disabling EMC
DVFS is a multi-node edit applied inside the same "Edit the DTS" step of
the protocol, not a bwmgr toggle:
| # | Edit | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | bwmgr.enabled = <0x00> | All SoCs, mandatory |
| 2 | cactmon.enabled = <0x00> | All SoCs, mandatory |
| 3 | /delete-node/ osp-controller | T26x (Thor) mandatory — T23x (Orin) has no such node, skip |
Detection: dtc -I dtb -O dts <bpmp-dtb> | grep -c osp-controller
— zero hits ⇒ T23x path. Full DTS snippets, the surviving-paths
failure modes, and the re-enable procedure are in
references/emc-dvfs-disable.md.
Apply the protocol's "Recompile" through "Cleanup" steps once the multi-node edit is in
place. Commit-message convention:
<BPMP_BASENAME>: jetson-customize-clocks — EMC DVFS disable (bwmgr + cactmon[+ osp-controller]).
Disabling raises idle power; intended for stress / performance tests, not production rootfs.
Re-run + idempotency
Per the protocol's "Re-runnability" section, re-running this
skill with the same target value produces a no-op commit. Re-
running with a different value rewrites the same property — git log -- $BPMP_REL shows the per-run history. To return a clock
to its max-rate-maxn ceiling, edit the DTS to remove the
max-rate-custom line and recompile.
Operation 2 — nvpower.sh edits
Edits nvpower.sh, which runs at boot via nvpower.service to set
cpufreq / devfreq governors and rates.
The per-script file
The script this Operation edits has the relative path:
Linux_for_Tegra/rootfs/etc/systemd/nvpower.shIt lives in two roots; the Operation walks both:
| Role | Location | Skill writes? |
|---|---|---|
| Detection + pristine source | <bsp_image.root_path>/Linux_for_Tegra/rootfs/etc/systemd/ | no — read-only |
| Overlay edit target + git commit | <source.root_path>/Linux_for_Tegra/rootfs/etc/systemd/ | yes |
Subsequent sub-steps refer to the per-script file to mean the overlay
copy under <source.root_path>. The <bsp_image.root_path> copy is read
once during the pristine-import step below, then never touched again.
Overlay edit recipe (apply before editing nvpower.sh)
Follow the canonical
Off-skill edits recipe
in the workflow doc — pristine import + customization commit pair, both
gated by the preview gate. nvpower.sh is a single file with no
propagation set; one pristine commit + one customization commit covers
the entire change.
Concrete substitutions for this skill:
<rel>/<file>isrootfs/etc/systemd/nvpower.sh.Suggested pristine-import message:
import pristine: rootfs/etc/systemd/nvpower.sh, bodySource: <bsp_image.root_path>/Linux_for_Tegra/ (BSP <bsp_image.version>).Suggested customization-commit header:
jetson-customize-clocks: nvpower.sh <summary>, body lines likeset_cpufreq_governor: desired_cpufreq_gov "schedutil" -> "performance".
Pick the edit
Function locations (set_cpufreq_governor, set_devfreq_governor), common-edit recipes (pin to Fmax, static rate, min/max bounds), and the nvidia-l4t-init package-upgrade caveat live in references/nvpower-sh-edits.md.
Deploy
The customization commit in the overlay tracker does not reach the device on its own. The Deploy chain:
/jetson-promote-image— copies every tracked file in the overlay into<bsp_image.root_path>/Linux_for_Tegra/. Diff-aware (skip byte-identical); usessudo cp -pforrootfs/*destinations./jetson-flash-image— flashes the updatedbsp_imageto the device.nvpower.serviceruns the new script on the next boot.(Alternate, no flash) Copy
<source.root_path>/Linux_for_Tegra/rootfs/etc/systemd/nvpower.shdirectly to the running target's/etc/systemd/nvpower.sh, thensudo systemctl restart nvpower.service(or reboot).
Editing <source.root_path>/... without committing — or editing
<bsp_image.root_path>/... directly — does nothing for /jetson-promote-image
and is silently lost on the next /jetson-init-image re-extract.
Recipe — pin everything to MAXN for stress / performance runs
Combines Operations 1 + 2. Operation 1's BPMP edits all flow
through one round of the protocol (a single decompile / multi-node
edit / recompile / commit cycle — don't round-trip the protocol
twice for the same .dtb):
BPMP DTB (the "Content edit:
max-rate-customon a named clock node" step content): leavemax-rate-customunset on every CPU / GPU / EMC clock; remove existingmax-rate-customlines that lower the ceiling.BPMP DTB (the "Content edit: EMC DVFS disable / enable" step content): pin EMC at its init rate —
bwmgr.enabled = 0,cactmon.enabled = 0, plus/delete-node/ osp-controlleron T26x (skip on T23x).Apply both content edits inside one protocol "Edit the DTS" invocation, then run the remaining protocol steps (recompile, sanity-check, single customization commit covering both content edits).
nvpower.sh (Operation 2): set
desired_cpufreq_gov="performance"anddesired_devfreq_gov="performance"unconditionally; remove the GPU/nvjpg skip inset_devfreq_governor. Applies via Operation 2's overlay edit recipe (the "Overlay edit recipe (apply before editing nvpower.sh)" step) — a separate overlay-tracker pristine + customization commit pair on the rootfs script, distinct from the BPMP-DTB protocol's commit.Set the boot-default nvpmodel mode to MAXN via
/jetson-customize-nvpmodel— the per-clock nvpmodel cap clamps belowmax-rate-maxnregardless of BPMP DTB content.
Deploy /jetson-promote-image → /jetson-flash-image picks up the new BPMP DTB (via the overlay tracker) and the edited nvpower.sh (via the same overlay tracker) on the next flash.
Limitations
Image-build-time only. All edits land under
<source.root_path>/Linux_for_Tegra/and reach the device only via/jetson-promote-image→/jetson-flash-image. Live-target tuning is out of scope.max-rate-customonly lowers the ceiling. It must be strictly belowmax-rate-maxn; raising the silicon cap is not supported.Effective ceiling is two-layer. The runtime ceiling is
min(BPMP cap, active-nvpmodel-mode cap). The nvpmodel cap is owned by/jetson-customize-nvpmodel; this skill does not edit it.SoC-conditional EMC DVFS gate. Disabling EMC DVFS requires editing different node sets on T23x (bwmgr + cactmon) vs T26x (bwmgr + cactmon + delete
osp-controller). Mis-detection produces undefined behavior.T23x GPU cap is multi-node. The GPU clock is split across
nafll_gpusysand everynafll_gpcX; the cap binds only when applied to all of them.nvpower.shis package-managed. It ships innvidia-l4t-init; package upgrades clobber in-place edits. Long-lived setups should prefer a systemd drop-in or sibling helper.ODMDATA wins. When an ODMDATA token covers a property, the token overrides direct BPMP DTS edits at flash time. Direct BPMP DTS edits are the fallback for properties no NVIDIA token reaches.
max-rate-maxnandlateinitare off-limits.max-rate-maxnis the silicon ceiling (read-only).lateinitis for boot-time clock init, not ceiling overrides — never touch either.BPMP DTB may be SKU-multiplexed. On compound / dispatched flash confs (Orin AGX devkit chain),
BPFDTB_FILEis selected byboard_sku/board_FABviaupdate_flash_args_common. Reading the staticBPFDTB_FILE=line is wrong when the chain conditionally overrides it; resolve via the dispatch instead.
Troubleshooting
| Error | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
max-rate-custom set but clock still ramps to max-rate-maxn on T23x GPU | Only nafll_gpusys was capped; the nafll_gpcX partitions still run at max-rate-maxn and dominate the effective ceiling. | Apply the same max-rate-custom to nafll_gpusys and every nafll_gpcX node enumerated by grep -nE '^\s*nafll_gpc[0-9]+\s*:' <decompiled.dts>. |
| EMC DVFS disable appears to apply but EMC still scales on T26x | Only bwmgr.enabled = <0x00> was set; osp-controller survives and re-issues frequency changes via the QoS path. | Add edits #2 (cactmon.enabled = <0x00>) and #3 (/delete-node/ osp-controller) inside the same "Edit the DTS" step. Verify osp-controller via dtc -I dtb -O dts <bpmp-dtb> | grep -c osp-controller → expect 0. |
EMC DVFS disable rejected on T23x with "node not found" for osp-controller | T23x (Orin) BPMP DTBs do not contain osp-controller; edit #3 must be skipped on T23x. | Detect SoC family with the grep -c osp-controller step; only apply #3 when the count is ≥1. |
BPMP refuses to load DTB after edit: max-rate-custom >= max-rate-maxn | max-rate-custom was set to or above the silicon ceiling. | Lower max-rate-custom strictly below max-rate-maxn. If max-rate-maxn is absent from the node, query the live cap on a running target: cat /sys/kernel/debug/bpmp/debug/clk/<clock>/max_rate. |
osp-controller re-appears after status = "disabled" | status = "disabled" does not remove the node from the device tree; BPMP still walks it. | Replace with /delete-node/ osp-controller; — the node must not exist for BPMP to skip the path. |
Edits to nvpower.sh lost after apt upgrade | nvpower.sh is owned by the nvidia-l4t-init deb and gets overwritten on upgrade. | For long-lived test setups, package edits into a systemd drop-in or a sibling helper file referenced by nvpower.sh, rather than editing nvpower.sh in place. |
/jetson-promote-image is a no-op after editing the BPMP DTB | The edit was applied to <bsp_image.root_path>/Linux_for_Tegra/, which is /jetson-promote-image's output — not its input. | Move the edit to <source.root_path>/Linux_for_Tegra/bootloader/<BPFDTB_FILE> (the overlay tracker) and commit through the BPMP-DTB protocol. |
| Cap appears to apply on first boot then resets after a power-mode change | The active nvpmodel mode's per-clock cap clamps below max-rate-custom. | Inspect both layers; if nvpmodel is binding, raise (or remove) the nvpmodel cap via /jetson-customize-nvpmodel. The BPMP cap alone is not the runtime ceiling. |
References
../../references/bsp-customization-bpmp-dtb.md— canonical BPMP-DTB customization protocol (pristine import, decompile, edit, recompile, sanity-check, commit). Operation 1 of this skill is a content-only consumer; the protocol owns the mechanics.references/clock-control-model.md— layer stack, two-ceilings overview, effective-runtime-ceiling formula.references/bpmp-dtb-clock-edits.md— two-ceilings semantics, DTS edit form, nvpmodel ↔ BPMP clock-node mapping, inspection cookbook.references/emc-dvfs-disable.md— full SoC-conditional EMC DVFS disable procedure with DTS snippets, detection, re-enable.references/nvpower-sh-edits.md—nvpower.shfunction locations + common-edit recipes + package-upgrade caveat./jetson-customize-nvpmodel— sibling skill: nvpmodel power modes. The active mode's per-clock cap clamps below the BPMP DTB cap.
Files
- ATTRIBUTION.mdAdded by AutoGineer932 B
- BENCHMARK.md3.6 KiB
- LICENSELicence file added by AutoGineer11.2 KiB
- SKILL.md18.7 KiB
- evals/evals.json5.5 KiB
- references/bpmp-dtb-clock-edits.md4.2 KiB
- references/clock-control-model.md1.3 KiB
- references/emc-dvfs-disable.md3.2 KiB
- references/nvpower-sh-edits.md1.9 KiB
- skill-card.md3.7 KiB
- skill.oms.sig5.5 KiB
BENCHMARK.md
Evaluation Report
Evaluation of the jetson-customize-clocks skill before publication through NVSkills-Eval.
This benchmark summarizes 3-Tier Evaluation from NVSkills-Eval results for the skill. The goal is to document whether the skill is safe, discoverable, effective, and useful for agents before it is published for broader workflow use.
Evaluation Summary
Skill:
jetson-customize-clocksEvaluation date: 2026-06-16
NVSkills-Eval profile:
externalEnvironment:
astra-sandboxDataset: 2 evaluation tasks
Attempts per task: 1
Pass threshold: 50%
Overall verdict: PASS
Agents Used
claude-codecodex
Metrics Used
Reported benchmark dimensions:
Security: checks whether skill-assisted execution avoids unsafe behavior such as secret leakage, destructive commands, or unauthorized access.
Correctness: checks whether the agent follows the expected workflow and produces the correct final output.
Discoverability: checks whether the agent loads the skill when relevant and avoids using it when irrelevant.
Effectiveness: checks whether the agent performs measurably better with the skill than without it.
Efficiency: checks whether the agent uses fewer tokens and avoids redundant work.
Underlying evaluation signals used in this run:
security(Security): checks for unsafe operations, secret leakage, and unauthorized access.skill_execution(Skill Execution): verifies that the agent loaded the expected skill and workflow.skill_efficiency(Efficiency): checks routing quality, decoy avoidance, and redundant tool usage.accuracy(Accuracy): grades final-answer correctness against the reference answer.goal_accuracy(Goal Accuracy): checks whether the overall user task completed successfully.behavior_check(Behavior Check): verifies expected behavior steps, including safety expectations.token_efficiency(Token Efficiency): compares token usage with and without the skill.
Test Tasks
The benchmark dataset contained 2 evaluation tasks:
Positive tasks: 2 tasks where the skill was expected to activate.
Negative tasks: 0 tasks where no skill was expected.
Unlabeled tasks: 0 tasks where positive/negative intent could not be inferred.
Task composition is derived from the evaluation dataset when possible. Entries with expected_skill set are treated as positive skill-activation cases, while entries with expected_skill: null are treated as negative activation cases.
Results
| Dimension | Num | claude-code | codex |
|---|---|---|---|
| Security | 2 | 100% (+0%) | 100% (+0%) |
| Correctness | 2 | 100% (+100%) | 94% (+60%) |
| Discoverability | 2 | 100% (+100%) | 97% (+42%) |
| Effectiveness | 2 | 74% (+70%) | 61% (+57%) |
| Efficiency | 2 | 94% (+67%) | 96% (+45%) |
Score values show skill-assisted performance. Values in parentheses show uplift versus the no-skill baseline when baseline data is available.
Tier 1: Static Validation Summary
Tier 1 validation passed with observations. NVSkills-Eval ran 1 checks and found 2 total findings.
Top findings:
MEDIUM SCHEMA/body_recommended_section: Missing recommended section: '## Examples' (
skills/jetson-customize-clocks/SKILL.md)LOW SCHEMA/author_format: Author must be of the form 'Name <email@host>' (
skills/jetson-customize-clocks/SKILL.md)
Tier 2: Deduplication Summary
This tier was not run or did not produce findings in this report.
Publication Recommendation
The skill is suitable to proceed toward NVSkills-Eval publication based on this benchmark. Skill owners should keep this file with the skill and refresh it when the evaluation dataset, skill behavior, or target agents materially change.
Requirements and compatibility
Works with: Claude Code, Claude apps, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, JetBrains Junie, Factory Droid, Devin (ex-Windsurf), Mistral Vibe, OpenHands, Letta
“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.
Needs: Needs Node.js
Security
What our scanner noticed· Medium risk
- Large base64-encoded blobs
A static scan is not a guarantee. Skills are third-party content: review a skill before you let an agent use it.
Attribution and licence
- Created by
- Jetson Team
- Publisher
- NVIDIA (Official)
- Distributed by
- NVIDIA
- Source
- NVIDIA/skills · skills/jetson-customize-clocks · commit fce3cca
- Licence
- Apache License 2.0 (redistribution allowed)
- LICENSE (added by AutoGineer from LICENSE-APACHE)
- ATTRIBUTION.md (written by AutoGineer)
- Synced
AutoGineer is not affiliated with or endorsed by Jetson Team or NVIDIA.
Download ZIP
The ZIP holds the skill’s files, its licence files and an ATTRIBUTION.md. Download jetson-customize-clocks.zip