nRF52 Dongle as sniffer

RE: nRF52 Dongle as sniffer

Vidar Berg — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 13:37:25 GMT

Thanks for the update. I have made a feature request to include the driver in future releases of the nRF sniffer.

RE: nRF52 Dongle as sniffer

Malcolm — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 13:30:20 GMT

My dongle is working well now.

RE: nRF52 Dongle as sniffer

Malcolm — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 17:55:51 GMT

The dongle is used by nRF Connect for several apps such as BlueTooth Low Energy, and so I was expecting the same signature for the driver would be used. Anyway it works so I can do debugging over the air. Although I could use the PCA10040, the dongle is far more convenient. I think many will be grateful for this release.

RE: nRF52 Dongle as sniffer

Vidar Berg — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 15:12:16 GMT

The nRF52 DK is interfaced via the J-link VCOM, not native USB as on the 52840 dongle, so it is not the same.

The INF file was not included for this release as it is being disitrbuted by Windows, except for on windows 7, which we don't officially support. But I'll ask the team if we can include it in future releases.

RE: nRF52 Dongle as sniffer

Malcolm — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 14:24:24 GMT

I cannot recall or confirm whether the dongle installed automatically in Win 7 when I started using the dongle with nRF Connect. However the INF file that is distributed with the SDK is missing the necessary line to install the dongle as sniffer.

When the sniffer is installed on PCA10040 the driver is installed automatically. The issue is that the PID is changed from the settings in the INF file. You need to check the INF file in WIN 10 or later versions of SDK has the correct line.

RE: nRF52 Dongle as sniffer

Vidar Berg — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 14:13:54 GMT

ok, thanks for confirming. That explains the issue, the driver installation is automatic on windows 10, but not on windows 7.

RE: nRF52 Dongle as sniffer

Malcolm — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 14:12:31 GMT

I continue with WIN 7 with classic theme. It is a better programmers UI (less screen lost, quicker to get to programs).

The INF file I updated comes from the SDK.

RE: nRF52 Dongle as sniffer

Vidar Berg — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 14:04:18 GMT

Thanks for sharing your solution here! I did not know you had to install the driver manually. Are you using Windows 10?

RE: nRF52 Dongle as sniffer

Malcolm — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 17:52:15 GMT

I have added the line

%nRF Sniffer for BlueTooth LE% =DriverInstall, USB\VID_1915&PID_522A&MI_00

and this is now working.

1. MBR must be present to ensure that the sniffer loads in the correct location

2. INF file needs to have correct line to match parameters of the dongle virtual COM port

RE: nRF52 Dongle as sniffer

Malcolm — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 17:22:25 GMT

I appear to be missing an INF file with USB\VID_1915&PID_522A&MI_00. The inf file in the SDK has

[DeviceList.NTx86]
%NORDIC_CDC_ACM_EXAMPLE%      =DriverInstall, USB\VID_1915&PID_520F&MI_00
%NORDIC_BLE_UART_EXAMPLE%     =DriverInstall, USB\VID_1915&PID_521A&MI_00
%NORDIC_USB_CDC_CONNECTIVITY% =DriverInstall, USB\VID_1915&PID_521B&MI_00
%NORDIC_SDFU_USB_EXAMPLE%     =DriverInstall, USB\VID_1915&PID_521F&MI_00

RE: nRF52 Dongle as sniffer

Malcolm — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 17:12:52 GMT

I was expecting the dongle to create a virtual com port on the PC but in device manager it appears as "Other device" - "nRF Sniffer for Bluetooth LE".

RE: nRF52 Dongle as sniffer

Vidar Berg — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 14:53:46 GMT

Yes, the sniffer FW is linked to start at address 0x1000 right above the MBR.

The dongle shouldn't require any additional driver installation. Please follow the installation instructions in the sniffer documentation to complete the setup.

RE: nRF52 Dongle as sniffer

Malcolm — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 13:38:18 GMT

I found a distribution file for MBR and loader, which I have programmed. I have used DFU to load the sniffer. This loads above the MBR. I note that if I use external programmer the code is loaded at 0x0 in flash. I assume this prevents correct initialisation and running.

I now have a new device in system "nRF sniffer for BLE". What driver do I use?

RE: nRF52 Dongle as sniffer

Malcolm — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 13:15:16 GMT

Apologies, I forgot to load soft device in my previous code. I loaded soft device and the application works correctly indicating the dongle is OK

RE: nRF52 Dongle as sniffer

Malcolm — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 13:02:31 GMT

Note I place the dongle in a rig to apply external voltage to ensure programmer works correctly (avoid 1.8V)

RE: nRF52 Dongle as sniffer

Malcolm — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 13:01:23 GMT

I am using external programmer is the dongle no longer has DFU installed. If there a distribution file I could load to reinstate factory default?

RE: nRF52 Dongle as sniffer

Vidar Berg — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 12:51:23 GMT

Are you programming the dongle with an external programmer, or are you doing DFU via the USB interface? Also, does the dongle enter DFU mode if you press the reset button (blinking red LED indicates dfu mode)?

RE: nRF52 Dongle as sniffer

Malcolm — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 12:35:54 GMT

This is the dongle I am using. I tried loading this particular dongle with software that I know is working and had an error of "stack alignment error pointing to 0xFFFFFFFF".

Is there any way to reload the dongle with the distribution software that is preloaded so I can take it back to known state, or use as low energy, etc?

RE: nRF52 Dongle as sniffer

Vidar Berg — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 12:14:33 GMT

Hello,

Are you using the nRF52840 Dongle (this)? If so, please make sure you loaded the hex named 'sniffer_nrf52840dongle_nrf52840_ed5e26c.hex'