Is there up-to-date doc on nRF Sniffer 2.0? (using Wireshark and nRF51-DK)

[jtell466]

I have the nRF51-DK and have installed Python etc. and the nrf_sniffer_2.0.0-beta-1_51296aa.

3 .hex files are in that installer: sniffer_pca10028_51296aa.hex, sniffer_pca10031_51296aa.hex,

and sniffer_pca10040_51296aa.hex.  I have no idea which one to use.  None of the documentation

talks about this.  I tried the 3rd one and LED1 never blinks (as "user guide" says it should) even

though I've got plenty of BLE traffic  close by.  I don't know if there are any jumper settings

needed on the board, or not.

Please advise!

Thank you!

Jim

[Joakim Jakobsen]

Hi,

Did you take a look at the nRF Sniffer User Guide v.2.1?

All the information about how to set up and use the sniffer should be there.

Regarding the .hex files;
PCA10028 is the hardware code for the nRF51-DK
PCA10031 is the hardware code for the nRF51-Dongle
PCA10040 is the hardware code for the nRF52-DK

Best regards,
Joakim

[jtell466]

Joakim, thanks for clarifying the .hex naming.  I have gone back and uninstalled Python 3.x and replaced it with 2.7.  I then went through all the staps in the UG v.2.1, and reached the point where it appears the firmware is running on the nRF51-DK.   LED1=OFF, LED2=BLINKing irregularly, LED3,4=ON.  Wireshark 2.6.2 does NOT show a "View->Interface Toolbars" menu item.  I've tried to run the "nrf_sniffer.bat" in the ...wireshark\extcap folder, and get the following:

// C:\Program Files (x86)\Wireshark\extcap>python --version
// Python 2.7.15

C:\Program Files (x86)\Wireshark\extcap>nrf_sniffer.bat
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Wireshark\extcap\nrf_sniffer.py", line 60, in <module>
import serial
ImportError: No module named serial

I'm suspecting this has something to do with "pyserial", but have no idea.  In installing that, I do recall running "setup.py" with no apparent errors.

Any suggestions?

[jtell466]

UPDATE:  I found that pyserial was not installed (very poor documentation on all this! -- Python people!!).

Finally after getting that in place, Wireshark Interface Toolbars->nRF Sniffer shows up.  OK, now... the nRF51-DK (nRFSniffer) shows up in wireshark as COM3; after a couple restarts, nRFSniffer is showing LE LL traffic.

This install/setup process could be made FAR less painful with proper (FULL) procedural descriptions of necessary steps.  As a developer looking to use a product (tool), "out-of-the-box", I expect that installer/scripts will present something that "just works" without my having to become "expert" with the infrastructure requirements of said product.

[jtell466]

Well, I spoke too soon!  After seeing some BLE traffic in wireshark, tried to set filter so I'd just see the one BLE device of interest.  Doing that, then Capture->Start gives the following error (crash):

Error by extcap pipe: Exception in thread Thread-3:Error by extcap pipe: Exception in thread Thread-3:Traceback (most recent call last):  File "C:\Python27\lib\threading.py", line 801, in __bootstrap_inner    self.run()  File "C:\Python27\lib\threading.py", line 754, in run    self.__target(*self.__args, **self.__kwargs)  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Wireshark\extcap\SnifferAPI\UART.py", line 94, in _read_worker    data_read = self.ser.read()  File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\serial\serialwin32.py", line 283, in read    ctypes.byref(self._overlapped_read))TypeError: byref() argument must be a ctypes instance, not 'NoneType'
Exception in thread Thread-2 (most likely raised during interpreter shutdown):

Can anyone please help me understand what needs to be done to make this nRFSniffer work?

Am I dealing with a "known bug" here?  Is this some kind of setup issue?  I'm days into efforts trying to get this to work so I can debug My Own Project.  And it is Friday before a holiday.  Sigh.

[Joakim Jakobsen]

Sorry about the delay.

I'm not sure what the issue here might be.
It seems like this could be a setup issue.

So you are using;
Wireshark v2.6.2
Pyton v2.7.15

Which version of Pyserial and SEGGER Jlink are you using?
From what I can see you are on windows, but which version of windows are you using?

Regards,
Joakim