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

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

Joakim Jakobsen — Tue, 11 Sep 2018 14:51:47 GMT

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

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

jtell466 — Fri, 31 Aug 2018 16:53:54 GMT

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.

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

jtell466 — Fri, 31 Aug 2018 16:35:44 GMT

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.

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

jtell466 — Thu, 30 Aug 2018 19:01:51 GMT

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?

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

Joakim Jakobsen — Thu, 30 Aug 2018 09:12:10 GMT

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