Troubleshooting

nRF Sniffer for 802.15.4

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:
  1. Ensure that the development kit or dongle has been recognized as a USB device and that the drivers are loaded.
  2. Ensure that the firmware HEX file has been programmed.
  3. 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:
  1. Open a command window.

  2. Run the python command.

    This shows the Python version information and launches the Python interpreter, indicated by >>> in the command window.

  3. Run the import serial command.
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:
  1. Go to Wireshark download page.
  2. In the Old Stable Release section, click the release package name for your operating system version.
  3. 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:
    1. Stop the service by typing: sudo systemctl stop ModemManager.service
    2. 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:
    1. 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"
    2. Apply the new udev rules by typing: udevadm trigger.
    3. 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
    4. 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:
  1. Open the Device Manager and click Ports (COM & LPT).
  2. Right-click on your COM port and click Properties.
  3. In Properties, go to the Port Settings tab and click Advanced.
  4. 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).
  5. Click OK and accept the changes when asked whether you want to continue.