Depending on the case reported, additional information regarding the packets transferred between the GigE camera and the host PC are sometimes needed to diagnose and validate issues. One way to do this is to use a network protocol analyser tool like Wireshark.

The data collected by Wireshark can then be saved into a file which can be to FRAMOS for diagnosis and troubleshooting.

Preparation:

  • Install Wireshark on a dedicated PC (to download visit http://www.wireshark.org/ )
  • Connect the PC to a switch that supports port mirroring for capturing network traffic
  • Connect the D400e series camera to the same switch

Note: In cases where the camera is connected directly to the Host PC, please install Wireshark on same host PC.


Port Mirroring – Setup Example

In the example below, the switch is configured to mirror ports 1 and 2 to port 5:

  • Port 1: Host PC running an application that is communicating with the D400e camera, for example RealSense viewer.
  • Port 2: D400e camera is connected.
  • Port 5: Dedicated PC running Wireshark to capture the network traffic between the host PC and the D400e camera.


Note: Consult your switch’s user manual to setup and enable port mirroring feature.


Capturing packets with Wireshark (v3.2.7)

  • Start Wireshark on the dedicated PC that is monitoring the network traffic.

  • Click on the button to open the capture options:
    1. Select the "Enable promiscuous mode on all interfaces" box.


  • On the capture menu, select the connection that corresponds to the NIC setup to use for the communication between the camera and the PC (see picture above).
  • Click Start to begin the capture.

Note: By default, all traffic (control and stream) is captured. This can rapidly increase the size of the capture files – something in the range of Megabytes to Gigabytes. To control the size of this file, make sure to use “capture filters” options provided with Wireshark, for example “less 500”. More information on these filters can be found here: https://wiki.wireshark.org/CaptureFilters.

 

  • Once all the necessary activity has been captured to recreate the issue, click on the red button to complete the logging.
  • On the File menu, select the Save File option to save the data to a file in either “pcapng” or “pcap” format.