CC2540EMK-USB: SmartRF packet sniffer only captures advertising packets.

Tim Redfern

Expert 1360 points

Part Number: CC2540EMK-USB

I have a cc2540 USB dongle and I'm using SmartRF Packet Sniffer 2.18.1.0

I've compiled the project to only advertise on one channel (channel 37) and verified that this is the case.

The packet sniffer can see the advertising packets but no data packets.

I've also tried configuring "connect to initiator address".

(The manual says If this option is not selected, the capture device will start following the first data connection that appears on the current advertising channel - however I've never seen it capture a single packed other than ADV_IND, ADV_NON_CONN_IND and ADV_SCAN_RSP)

I've tried connecting many, many times. The packet sniffer simply isn't seeing anything except advertising packets.

The project doesn't use encryption by the way.

Has anyone managed to make this work?

over 8 years ago

0 YiKai Chen over 8 years ago

Guru 735625 points

Which BLE example do you try to sniff with sniffer?

0 Tim Redfern over 8 years ago in reply to YiKai Chen

Expert 1360 points

SimpleBLEPeripheral

Have you used the sniffer yourself?

0 YiKai Chen over 8 years ago in reply to Tim Redfern

Guru 735625 points

Yes, I had tried sniffer. Does you make SumpleBLEPeripheral connect to BLE central when you use sniffer to sniff packets?

0 Tim Redfern over 8 years ago in reply to YiKai Chen

Expert 1360 points

yes I'm using the lightblue app to connect to the target device. the sniffer doesn't see any of the handshaking or data packets.

0 YiKai Chen over 8 years ago in reply to Tim Redfern

Guru 735625 points

If you use TI SimpleLink Starter App to connect with your SimpleBLEPeripheral, can sniffer see packets other than advertising?

0 Tim Redfern over 8 years ago in reply to YiKai Chen

Expert 1360 points

I installed the simplink starter app and connected to the peripheral 10 times.

The sniffer only read advertising packets.

I haven't yet seen it pick up a single non-advertising packet, I've been trying to debug this issue for 3 days.

0 YiKai Chen over 8 years ago in reply to Tim Redfern

Guru 735625 points

This might be caused by sniffer doesn't follow the connection channel correctly. You can try to set scan channel to 38 or 39 and test again.

0 Tim Redfern over 8 years ago in reply to YiKai Chen

Expert 1360 points

so you think I have unfortuneately chosen channel 37 and the sniffer doesn't work properly with this channel?

when you saw the sniffer working what channel were you using?

to be clear, I have NEVER seen it pick up ANYTHING other than an advertising packet.

0 YiKai Chen over 8 years ago in reply to Tim Redfern

Guru 735625 points

I don't make any assumption. I just share my experiences with you and you can decide if you want to try it.

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CC2540EMK-USB: SmartRF packet sniffer only captures advertising packets.