If you have problems installing or using the nRF Sniffer for 802.15.4, see the
following sections for troubleshooting information.
nRF Sniffer for 802.15.4 is not listed in the Wireshark interface
Check
that the hardware is set up correctly:
- Ensure that the development kit or dongle has been recognized as a USB device and that
the drivers are loaded.
- Ensure that the firmware HEX file has been programmed.
- Reset the hardware by unplugging the hardware, waiting 5 seconds, and plugging it back
in.
If these steps do not help, verify that you have installed the nRF Sniffer capture tool
correctly, including the
pySerial module, and that the files located in the extcap folder can be run as
described in the
capture tool verification step.
nRF Sniffer for 802.15.4 is not listed in the Wireshark interface on Linux despite
correct capture tool installation
Make sure you have sufficient permissions to access the serial device and that Wireshark is
available to all users, not only the root user, as described in Installing Wireshark on Ubuntu Linux.
nRF Sniffer for 802.15.4 is not listed in the Wireshark interface on Windows despite
correct capture tool installation
Make sure that the Python installation directory is added to the environment variables.
After you add the directory to the environment variables, verify that the configuration is
correct:
- Open a command window.
- Run the python command followed by import
serial. For
example:
# python
Python 3.7.7 (tags/v3.7.7:d7c567b08f, Mar 10 2020, 09:44:33) [MSC v.1900 32 bit (Intel)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import serial
If there are no errors, the configuration is correct.
nRF Sniffer for 802.15.4 capture stops when another Wireshark process is started on
Linux
Because Linux applications primarily use advisory locking, there is nothing stopping other
applications from opening and writing data to a serial port if you have other extcap plugins
installed. For instance, the nRF Sniffer for Bluetooth LE extcap plugin discovers
connected Bluetooth®
Low Energy sniffers at Wireshark startup by actively sending
data to all serial ports. This can cause unexpected behavior of the nRF Sniffer for
802.15.4.
To avoid this issue, make sure that the other extcap plugins do not send any data to serial
ports.
nRF Sniffer for 802.15.4 does not respond when starting
capturing in Wireshark on Windows
This is an issue affecting the latest releases of
Wireshark. Wait for around 15 seconds for the capture to start. Alternatively, you can try
installing an older version of Wireshark:
- Go to Wireshark download page.
- In the Old Stable Release section, click the release package name
for your operating system version.
- Download and install the tool.
You can also download one of the older release versions from the Go Spelunking section that contains links to
mirrors that store all previous versions of Wireshark.
nRF Sniffer for 802.15.4 does not receive packets in
Wireshark
Make sure you specified the correct channel for capturing packets. To do
so, click the gear icon next to the hardware interface name when
running nRF Sniffer
and specify the channel in the
Interface Options window. The channel
depends on the application configuration.
nRF Sniffer for 802.15.4 capture stops with ModemManager service enabled on
Linux
On some occasions, the ModemManager service may send AT commands to the nRF Sniffer for
802.15.4.
To prevent this situation from happening, use one of the following options:
- Disable the ModemManager service. To do so, complete the following steps:
- Stop the service by typing: sudo systemctl stop
ModemManager.service
- Disable the service by typing: sudo systemctl disable
ModemManager.service
- If the ModemManager service runs either on DEFAULT or
PARANOID policy, create an udev rule. To do
so:
- Create a new file 99-mm-blacklist.rules in the
/etc/udev/rules.d/ folder, with the following
configuration:
ACTION!="add", SUBSYSTEM!="usb_device", GOTO="mm_blacklist_rules_end"
ATTR{idProduct}=="154a", ATTR{idVendor}=="1915", ENV{ID_MM_DEVICE_IGNORE}="1"
LABEL="mm_blacklist_rules_end"
- Apply the new udev rules by typing: udevadm
trigger.
- Verify that the settings have been successfully applied by typing:
udevadm info -q property -n /dev/ttyACMx. The following
return values confirm that the settings are correctly
applied:
ID_MM_CANDIDATE=0
ID_MM_DEVICE_IGNORE=1
- Restart the ModemManager service by typing: sudo systemctl restart
ModemManager.
nRF Sniffer for 802.15.4 does not receive packets on
Windows
On Windows, COM port numbers higher than 199 are not supported. If the COM
port number is COM200 or higher, rename the COM port on Windows to a COM port number that is
COM199 or lower. To do so, complete the following steps:
- Open the Device Manager and click Ports (COM & LPT).
- Right-click on your COM port and click Properties.
- In Properties, go to the Port Settings tab and click
Advanced.
- Change the COM port number by clicking the COM port number drop-down and selecting a COM
port that is less than 200. Select a COM port number that is not in the list of devices
currently attached to your computer. These are listed in the Device Manager under
Ports (COM & LPT).
- Click OK and accept the changes when asked whether you want to
continue.