I had exactly the same problem of getting 0x00 value from data register.
In my case the problem was that MISO line was set as floating input. It works after changing it to OType_PP. Here is my configuration code for STM32F429:
void SPI1_Config(void){
GPIO_InitTypeDef GPIO_InitStruct;
SPI_InitTypeDef SPI_InitStruct;
RCC_AHB1PeriphClockCmd(RCC_AHB1Periph_GPIOA, ENABLE);
RCC_AHB1PeriphClockCmd(RCC_AHB1Periph_GPIOE, ENABLE);
RCC_APB2PeriphClockCmd(RCC_APB2Periph_SPI1, ENABLE);
GPIO_InitStruct.GPIO_Pin = GPIO_Pin_7 | GPIO_Pin_6 | GPIO_Pin_5;
GPIO_InitStruct.GPIO_Mode = GPIO_Mode_AF;
GPIO_InitStruct.GPIO_OType = GPIO_OType_PP;
GPIO_InitStruct.GPIO_Speed = GPIO_Speed_100MHz;
GPIO_InitStruct.GPIO_PuPd = GPIO_PuPd_NOPULL;
GPIO_Init(GPIOA, &GPIO_InitStruct);
GPIO_PinAFConfig(GPIOA, GPIO_PinSource5, GPIO_AF_SPI1);
GPIO_PinAFConfig(GPIOA, GPIO_PinSource6, GPIO_AF_SPI1);
GPIO_PinAFConfig(GPIOA, GPIO_PinSource7, GPIO_AF_SPI1);
GPIO_InitStruct.GPIO_Pin = GPIO_Pin_7;
GPIO_InitStruct.GPIO_Mode = GPIO_Mode_OUT;
GPIO_InitStruct.GPIO_OType = GPIO_OType_PP;
GPIO_InitStruct.GPIO_Speed = GPIO_Speed_100MHz;
GPIO_InitStruct.GPIO_PuPd = GPIO_PuPd_UP;
GPIO_Init(GPIOE, &GPIO_InitStruct);
GPIOE->BSRRL |= GPIO_Pin_7;
SPI_InitStruct.SPI_Direction = SPI_Direction_2Lines_FullDuplex;
SPI_InitStruct.SPI_Mode = SPI_Mode_Master;
SPI_InitStruct.SPI_DataSize = SPI_DataSize_8b;
SPI_InitStruct.SPI_CPOL = SPI_CPOL_Low;
SPI_InitStruct.SPI_CPHA = SPI_CPHA_1Edge;
SPI_InitStruct.SPI_NSS = SPI_NSS_Soft | SPI_NSSInternalSoft_Set;
SPI_InitStruct.SPI_BaudRatePrescaler = SPI_BaudRatePrescaler_256;
SPI_InitStruct.SPI_FirstBit = SPI_FirstBit_MSB;
SPI_Init(SPI1, &SPI_InitStruct);
SPI_Cmd(SPI1, ENABLE);}
And sending function:
uint8_t SPI1_Send(uint8_t data){
while (SPI_I2S_GetFlagStatus(SPI1, SPI_I2S_FLAG_TXE) == RESET);
SPI_I2S_SendData(SPI1, data);
while (SPI_I2S_GetFlagStatus(SPI1, SPI_I2S_FLAG_RXNE) == RESET);
return SPI_I2S_ReceiveData(SPI1);}