Subject: KW41Z Dongle.
Background: I'm trying to get a KW41Z dongle working on a Windows 7 system which happens to be a Dell T3500. I'd like the dongle to support WireShark, which it does, but I'd also like it to work in promiscuous mode. I'm having trouble getting the KW41Z to be seen by my Dell. In the Devices and Printers screen for instance, all I get when I plug the dongle in is an "Unspecified" device described as a "Virtual Com Port (COM7). I believe this is due to my system not having the correct drivers even though I downloaded and installed both the "KW41Z Connectivity Software" for developers and the "Kinetis Protocol/Analyzer Adapter" software.
Question 1: I've been told that, to do what I'd like to do, I must have a later version of Windows, preferably either Windows 8 or Windows 10. Is this correct?
Question 2: Given the two download/installs mentioned above, shouldn't I have the correct drivers for the KW41Z? If not, how can I get them?
Question 3: In a separate community discussion, see link below, it appears that the KW41Z w NXP software will NOT support BLE in promiscuous mode. Is that correct?
KW41Z sniffer dongle questionKW41Z sniffer dongle questionhttps://community.nxp.com/thread/444778
KW41Z sniffer dongle questionCheers,
Bob Garrow
JC,
Thanks for the response.
Re. Question 1: Got it. Thx.
Re. Question 3: Got it. Thx.
Re. Question 2: I tried your suggestion in item 2 but the right click did not lead me to an option to "update the driver". I did take the path that you also suggested and found the directory that is cc'd below. What I find puzzling about the contents of that file is that the comments about the two sections that deal with drivers DON'T refer to System 7 or 10. The comments refer to much older O/S...
A. Windows 2000/XP/Vista-32bit Sections and... B. Vista-64bit Sections QUESTION: How can I find the correct drivers or how can I get the correct drivers on to my system?
DIRECTORY:
Name | Size | Last Modified | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 KB | 8/13/2014 | 9:31:08 AM | |
| 4 KB | 8/13/2014 | 8:57:00 AM |
FILE "cdc.cat" CONTENTS:
[Version] Signature="$Windows NT$" Class=Ports ClassGuid={4D36E978-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} Provider=%MFGNAME% LayoutFile=layout.inf CatalogFile=%MFGFILENAME%.cat DriverVer=02/16/2011,1.0 [Manufacturer] %MFGNAME%=DeviceList, NTamd64 [DestinationDirs] DefaultDestDir=12 ;------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ; Windows 2000/XP/Vista-32bit Sections ;------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [DriverInstall.nt] include=mdmcpq.inf CopyFiles=DriverCopyFiles.nt AddReg=DriverInstall.nt.AddReg [DriverCopyFiles.nt] usbser.sys,,,0x20 [DriverInstall.nt.AddReg] HKR,,DevLoader,,*ntkern HKR,,NTMPDriver,,%DRIVERFILENAME%.sys HKR,,EnumPropPages32,,"MsPorts.dll,SerialPortPropPageProvider" [DriverInstall.nt.Services] AddService=usbser, 0x00000002, DriverService.nt [DriverService.nt] DisplayName=%SERVICE% ServiceType=1 StartType=3 ErrorControl=1 ServiceBinary=%12%\%DRIVERFILENAME%.sys ;------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ; Vista-64bit Sections ;------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [DriverInstall.NTamd64] include=mdmcpq.inf CopyFiles=DriverCopyFiles.NTamd64 AddReg=DriverInstall.NTamd64.AddReg [DriverCopyFiles.NTamd64] %DRIVERFILENAME%.sys,,,0x20 [DriverInstall.NTamd64.AddReg] HKR,,DevLoader,,*ntkern HKR,,NTMPDriver,,%DRIVERFILENAME%.sys HKR,,EnumPropPages32,,"MsPorts.dll,SerialPortPropPageProvider" [DriverInstall.NTamd64.Services] AddService=usbser, 0x00000002, DriverService.NTamd64 [DriverService.NTamd64] DisplayName=%SERVICE% ServiceType=1 StartType=3 ErrorControl=1 ServiceBinary=%12%\%DRIVERFILENAME%.sys ;------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ; Vendor and Product ID Definitions ;------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ; When developing your USB device, the VID and PID used in the PC side ; application program and the firmware on the microcontroller must match. ; Modify the below line to use your VID and PID. Use the format as shown below. ; Note: One INF file can be used for multiple devices with different VID and PIDs. ; For each supported device, append ",USB\VID_xxxx&PID_yyyy" to the end of the line. ;------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [SourceDisksFiles] [SourceDisksNames] [DeviceList] %DESCRIPTION%=DriverInstall, USB\VID_15A2&PID_0300 [DeviceList.NTamd64] %DESCRIPTION% = DriverInstall, USB\VID_15A2&PID_0300 ;------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ; String Definitions ;------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ;Modify these strings to customize your device ;------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Strings] MFGFILENAME="CDC" DRIVERFILENAME ="usbser" MFGNAME="Freescale" INSTDISK="Freescale CDC Driver Installer" DESCRIPTION="Virtual Com Port" SERVICE="FSL Virtual COM Driver"
Hello Bob,
The driver is the fsl_ucwnt.inf, it does contain those records but the file system remains the same so it will work for both Win7 and win10.
If the "update driver" is not listed directly, please right click on the VirtualCOM record, go to driver tab and select "update driver". Or please provide an screenshot to get a better understanding of your issue
-JC
JC,
After a couple of hours of fiddling this afternoon, I finally got some capture data via the KW41Z Dongle. I never got any Bluetooth data so I fired up a Wink Controller because I knew that it would emit ZigBee signals. I captured the Wink ZigBee broadcast signals below but, as you can see, I got NO RSSI power data which is the sole reason I'm trying to used the KW41Z in conjunction with Wireshark. I had added the RSSI column properly as far as I know. I even added the "TX rate" column to see if the KW41Z would generate that data. No luck!!
QUESTION: What am I missing? What should I check for at this point?
Cheers,
Bob G.
Hi Bob,
Did you select the BLE Channels?
You can add address filter an look for your specific device.
Then you will see the advertisement information and if you look into the Kinetis Adapter Information, you will find the RSSI value.
Hope it helps.
Best Regards,
Mario
Mario,
Thanks for the comments.
Re. Selection of BLE Channels: I did select all three channels. My "Protocol Analyzer Adapter" screen looked just like the one you attached.
Note: As a test of BLE capture, with the Adapter set up as you suggest, I used my Verizon LG Cell Phone in "Discovery Mode" to generate Bluetooth packets but none were captured. I have no idea what channels those packets were on. If they are not on either 37,38, or 39, the Adapter would not see them. QUESTION: Is that possible??? I actually don't know how many Bluetooth channels there are. Notably, my NXP Adapter did capture a single stray BLE packet that was "mal-formed" so I have one data point suggesting that my NXP Adapter does work with BLE.
Re. Address Filter: That would be a help if the Adapter ever captures some Bluetooth packets. I added the RSSI column to my Wireshark screen so that I could see every RSSI value that the Adapter picked up. Re. your screenshot. I don't see an RSSI value anywhere on the screenshot that you attached. Pls tell me where to look for it.
FYI...Thus far, I've not been able to capture any RSSI values even for a ZigBee capture that managed to make work.. I was able to get the Adapter working for ZigBee using a Wink controller to emit the ZigBee packets but that does not include the RSSI data which I did not get even though I had the RSSI column correctly added. That RSSI data is the whole point of my testing effort so, once I solve the problem of receiving packets, I'll have to solve the RSSI column problem as well.
Cheers,
Bob G.
Hi Bob,
You can't see the RSSI value and the TX power. As you can see the Wireshark is not be able to show that values for BLE or 802.15.4. The Wireshark is showing the RSSI value for the 802.11.
The PC is assigning a virtual COM for the KW41Z Dongle, so the PC create an interface and the wireshark is detecting the dongle as an Ethernet connection.
The NXP Test Tool can show the LQI value instead the RSSI, so the Wireshark can't display the values that you are looking for.
But if you are looking a sniffer with the RSSI values, you can use the SW Ubiqua Protocl Analyser
Hope it helps.
Regards,
Mario
Mario,
Ubiqua worked pretty well for Zigbee and I was able to capture good RSSI data. Thanks again!
Do you know of an protocol analyzer that would allow me to capture NXP KW41Z Dongle's RSSI data for Bluetooth?
Cheers,
Bob Garrow
Mario,
I've got Ubiqua capturing Zigbee packets!! I can see the RSSI value for one packet at a time. QUESTION: Is it possible with Ubiqua to add an RSSI colume to the Traffic View?
THANKS again :smileyhappy:
Cheers,
Bob G
Mario,
Thanks for your input. It really makes sense...
Re. RSSI...you've confirmed suspicions I've had ever since I noticed that the the only RSSI selection on the drop down menu from Wireshark was for 802.11. Logically, I needed to see a BLE selection or an 802.15.4 selection but I thought I was missing something. Apparently not.
Re. Virtual COM...I had figured that one out.
Re. Ubiqua Protocol Analyzer. THANKS for that tip. Will it work for both BLE and 802.15.4??? I hope so.
Cheers,
Bob G.
Additional details on how the Kinetis Protocol Analyzer makes use of a virtual network interface:
What's the windows network interface driver "Freescale Kinetis-W Network Interface?"
Hello Bob,
I hope you are doing well. Some feedback:
Q1: Windows 7 or later should work fine.
Q2: The driver for the Protocol Analyzer dongle can be found under "C:\NXP\Kinetis Protocol Analyzer Adapter\USB-KW Dongle Drivers". If your device doesn't recognize the board, you can try going to the device manager, right click on the VirtualCOM port, select to update the driver from a local driver and select the path mentioned above.
Q3: That's correct, the promiscuous mode feature is available for the 802.15.4 Link Layer.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
JC