NRF-{BT,802154}-SNIFFER NRFUTIL nRF52840 DONGLE HEX TO DFU ZIP --SD-REQ

[CeDeROM]

Hello world :-)

I would like to use Bluetooth Low Energy Sniffer [1] and 802.15.4 Sniffer [2] on nRF52840 DONGLE using my FreeBSD workstation.  I did manage to build the`nrfutil` (no nRF Connect and other closed source utilities). DFU mode reuires ZIP package not HEX files that are provided with these project releases.

I have noticed that using `--debug-mode` allows me to skip the cryptography part which is not important here.

I have noticed that `--hw-version` should be `52` for the nRF52 family.

I am not sure what parameter should I use with `--sd-req`. Using `0` generates the DFU ZIP package and it gets flashed, but I can only work with 802.154 Sniffer (it shows as umodem device and I can talk to it over minicom serial terminal) while BLE Sniffer does not work (it shows as umodem device but I cannot talk to it over minicom serial terminal).

What is the in depth purpose of this `--sd-req` switch? Does it filter all available options for the hardware that DFU ZIP will be flashed in order to avoid flashing into incompatible hardware? Does it perform some soft of selection and/or glue of the provided HEX with selected SoftDevice and it really matters to provide valid numbers for 802.15.4 and different nubers for BLE?

My observstions:

* NRF-BT-SNIFFER Firmware 3.0.0 and 3.1.0 works with nRF52840DK + Wireshark, using DEBUG VCP not the nRF USB port.

* NRF-BT-SNIFFER Firmware 3.0.0 works with nRF52DK_nRF52832 + Wireshark.

* NRF-BT-SNIFFER Firmware 3.1.0 does NOT seem to work with nRF52DK_nRF52832, as above it sends something over DEBUG VCP as this device does not have its own USB port.. and although I can see and read from the umodem /dev/cuaU0 port the script does not recognise it and so it is not visible in Wireshark.

* NRF-BT-SNIFFER adds support for nRF52840 DONGLE in 3.1.0 Firmware version. After conversion from HEX to DFU ZIP this firmware flashes into DONGLE, it shows up as umodem, but it remains silent and no Wireshark/script finds it.

My questions:

* Are problems with NRF-BT-SNIFFER that common?

* Why there is no dedicated repository for NRF-BT-SNIFFER on GitHub while NRF-SNIFFER-802154 has its own repo?

* Why those Sniffers are not Open-Souce?

* Is this DONGLE problem related with NRFUTIL DFU ZIP conversion using invalid SD-REQ parameter or the Firmware itself?

Host OS: `FreeBSD 0xCFMX4 12.2-RELEASE FreeBSD 12.2-RELEASE r366954 GENERIC  amd64`

Any hints welcome :-)

Tomek

[1] www.nordicsemi.com/.../nRF-Sniffer-for-Bluetooth-LE

[2] github.com/.../nRF-Sniffer-for-802.15.4

[Simonr]

Hi

Edvin is out of office for the time being, so I have been assigned this case while he is away. I have not yet tested v3.1.0 of the BLE sniffer as I'm working from home today and don't have the necessary equipment, but I'll do so on Monday to see if I can reproduce this issue on the nRF52832 DK and/or the nRF52840 Dongle.

The Programming the nRF Sniffer firmware page was updated for v3.1.0 of the BLE sniffer, so please make sure you've followed all the steps necessary to run the device on the nRF52840 Dongle. 

The reason we don't have a public repository for our nRF Sniffer firmware is because our sniffer firmware is not open source, so a GitHub repository or source code for the nRF BLE Sniffer is not likely to be released I'm afraid.

As for your requests, I will forward them internally, but I can't guarantee that these updates will come right away:

Please check out the nRF Sniffer for 802.15.4 user guide here to see how to set up the 802.15.4 sniffer if that is interesting to you. 

The necessary SoftDevice should indeed be included in the provided .hex files.

As Edvin said, he got the v3.1.0 version of the BLE sniffer to work on both an nRF52832 DK and an nRF52840 Dongle, and I myself have not had any issues with any DKs and v3.0.0. Both version 3.0.0 and 3.1.0 should work for all the supported boards, except 3.0.0 with the nRF52840 Dongle, as support was not included for this specific board in v3.0.0, so I'm guessing the root cause for these problem is somewhere else.

Best regards,

Simon

[CeDeROM]

Thank you Simonr especially for tips on configuring Wireshark for 802.15.4 sniffing, I did not see that before, I did not get there yet :-)

The problem is I cannot even connect to the DONGLE from Wireshark as it is not on the device list neither BLE nor 802.15.4. A proof that BLE and 802.15.4 Sniffer works with DONGLE would be really helpful for me to know if my configuration fails. When you guys have a free moment such verification would be great to have, thank you in advance :-)

The programming of the Dongle seems to work the same way both using nRFConnect and NRFUTIL. This is a good conclusion of our discussion.

I consider this solution to be experimental not really production ready. Can you recommend a good

out-of-the-box solution for BLE and 802.15.4 sniffing preferably low-cost and open-source?

Best regards :-)

Tomek