Nordic BLE Sniffer Corrupted

[Dave_couling]

It seems after my last round of Window 8.1 updates the Nordic Sniffer no longer functions properly. When I run the Sniffer software, it only can scan for about 1 second before timing out. If I press 'l' to re-scan it cannot perform the operation. If I click 'w' to connect to Wireshark, the Nordic Sniffer software cannot seem to transfer over to Wireshark. No advertisement appear on Wireshark. I've tried several fresh installs of several different versions of Wireshark, but to no luck. I'm worry it is a compatibility issue with the Nordic Sniffer software. Is this a known issue?

-DC

p.s. I've also tested on several PCA10000 dongles and re-flashed to be certain.

[David Edwin]

Suggested fixes:

• Use Wireshark in the 1.10.x series only , starting from 1.10.1. See this post for details.

• Do not use nRFgo Studio for flashing the sniffer firmware.

• Do not run nRFgo Studio when using the sniffer.

(I know the sniffer user guide asks you to use the nRFgo studio to flash the sniffer firmware but the nRFgo studio does impact the COM port access in some ways I do not understand yet)

• Flash the sniffer firmware using jlink commander.

• Use the correct jlink segger versions for the different boards

nRF51-DK(PCA10028) or nRF51-Dongle(PCA10031) You need to use 5.10n as linked in this blog post and follow the troubleshooting guide to downgrade all your boards to 5.10n. Verify that you have downgraded by using jlink configurator (jlinkconfig.exe) in the 5.10n version of segger jlink. The version for the "host firmware" and "emulator firmware" should be identical.

For PCA10000 and PCA10001 you need to use Segger jlink version 4.98c and follow the same instructions as above.

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Flash the nRF Sniffer Firmware on to the PCA10001 board (Windows) using jlink commander on Windows. Ensure that there is only one jlink board attached to the computer.

Windows Start -> type "commander" in the text box Click on jlink commander to run it.

Set the Serial interface to SWD (this will work if there is only one jlink board connected)

jlink> si 1

jlink> device nRF51822_XXAA

jlink> connect

Specify target interface speed [kHz]. : 4000 kHz

Speed>4000

J-Link>erase

Erasing device (nRF51822_xxAA)... J-Link: Flash download: Total time needed: 5.530s (Prepare: 0.087s, Compare: 0.0 00s, Erase: 5.436s, Program: 0.000s, Verify: 0.000s, Restore: 0.005s) Erasing done.

J-Link>loadFile "ble-sniffer_nRF51822_1.0.1_1111_Sniffer.hex"

Downloading file [C:\Users\ded.NVLSI.000\Documents\SnifferBLE\ble-sniffer_win_1. 0.1\Sniffer\Firmware\ble-sniffer_nRF51822_1.0.1_1111_Sniffer.hex]... J-Link: Flash download: Flash programming performed for 1 range (13312 bytes) J-Link: Flash download: Total time needed: 0.293s (Prepare: 0.100s, Compare: 0.0 05s, Erase: 0.000s, Program: 0.164s, Verify: 0.000s, Restore: 0.021s) O.K.

['r' will reset the MCU']

J-Link>r

Reset delay: 0 ms Reset type NORMAL: Resets core & peripherals via SYSRESETREQ & VECTRESET bit.

['g' runs the MCU]

J-Link>g

nRF Sniffer firmware should now be operational

Let me know if this works. If it still does not work I will add further troubleshooting steps.

[Paolo D]

I am having the exact same problem. In the sniffer command line interface it sees a few advertisements then stops, and nothing shows up in Wireshark. I am in a noisy BLE environment with a lot of devices advertising nearby, maybe it's getting overloaded? I am using:

• J-Link v5.12g, as installed by nRF command line tools 9.0.0
• PCA10000 dongle v2.2.0
• Windows 7 64-bit
• Wireshark 1.10.14
• Nordic BLE Sniffer 1.0.1

I tried reflashing with J-Link Commander instead of nRFGo Studio and that didn't make any difference.

[Paolo D]

It looks like the problem is related to the firmware on the dongle's J-Link. I was able to find a workaround: I uninstalled the nRF5x command line tools package and installed the old nRFTools v7.5.2 package, which installs the J-Link driver version v498c. I ran the J-Link Commander tool (JLink.exe) from this version of the J-Link driver and let it downgrade the dongle's J-Link firmware to "J-Link OB-SAM3U128 V1". After downgrading it, the sniffer started working again and I uninstalled the old nRFTools and reinstalled the latest tools.

[David Edwin]

Yes, the PCA10000 and PCA10001 boards work only with 4.98c or 5.10d, This question fell through the cracks for me but I have verified this. I have not yet verified any of the jlinks in v6.xx

[mwest]

David, please provide a link for the nRFTools v7.5.2 package. I am having the same problem as above. Hoping this will fix the issue.