nRF52840 dongle as a BLE sniffer in Wireshark

[Mindu]

Hi,

I've been following the steps indicated by the "nRF_Sniffer_BLE_UG_v4.1.x" document in order to set up my nRF52840 dongle as a BLE sniffer for Wireshark. Unfortunately, I've not achieved my goal despite a great number of tries. Following some more information I'd like to share:

1) Wireshark version: 4.2.3 (v4.2.3-0-ga15d7331476c).

2) Python version: v3.10.9 as shown below.

3) nRF Programmer v4.3.0 to flash the "sniffer_nrf52840dongle_nrf52840_4.1.1.hex" firmware in my dongle. Suceed.

4) A picture of the output after the execution of: 

nrf_sniffer_ble.bat --extcap-interfaces

 

It seems everything is working as expected!

5) Regrettably, when I launch Wireshark, the nRF Sniffer is not included in the Capture list.

I'd like to remark that after executing what is pointed out in step 4, LED1 of the dongle starts blinking really fast in a no periodic way. if I pull the dongle out and reconnect it again to the USB connector, LED1 doesn't blink never again. It doesn't matter if I close Wireshark and restart it.

I don't know what the problem is. Any idea?

Thank you in advance.

[Mindu]

Hello Simon,

The Sniffer API is already included.

Best regards.

[Simonr]

Hi

It seems like you've done everything except step 4. Can you confirm you've also tried the following:

Enable the nRF Sniffer capture tool in Wireshark:

• Refresh the interfaces in Wireshark by selecting Capture > Refresh Interfaces or pressing F5.
  You should see that nRF Sniffer is displayed as one of the interfaces on the Wireshark capture screen.
• Select View > Interface Toolbars > nRF Sniffer for Bluetooth LE to enable the nRF Sniffer interface.

[Mindu]

Hello,

• Refresh the interfaces in Wireshark by selecting Capture > Refresh Interfaces or pressing F5.

  You should see that nRF Sniffer is displayed as one of the interfaces on the Wireshark capture screen.

I've tried refreshing the interfaces a million times but it never works.

• Select View > Interface Toolbars > nRF Sniffer for Bluetooth LE to enable the nRF Sniffer interface.

There's no "Interface Toolbars" option in the drop-down "View" menu of my Wireshark.

Kind regards.

[Simonr]

Okay, then I'm running low on suggestions I'm afraid. Have you also tried uninstalling Wireshark and the nRF Sniffer software entirely from your computer and then reinstall it all again from scratch, as something must have gone wrong during the installation process.

I have gone through similar cases from the past as well, and can't find a case where an issue like this was not fixed by at worst reinstalling Wireshark and the Sniffer software.

If you can provide the full log files from the installation and from adding the sniffer profile I can forward it to our devs so they can take a look as well.

Best regards,

Simon

[Mindu]

Hello,

Simonr said:

Okay, then I'm running low on suggestions I'm afraid. Have you also tried uninstalling Wireshark and the nRF Sniffer software entirely from your computer and then reinstall it all again from scratch, as something must have gone wrong during the installation process.

I've tried it. Still, it doesn't work.

As my Sniffer is not listed in the Wireshark interface, I've tried the following of the troubleshooting guide. I hope this could help.

1. 
2. The dongle is recognized by the Programmer SW as a nRF Sniffer for Bluetooth
3. Done. No success.
4. There's only one Python installation and the dependencies are installed:
5. Upon executing nrf_sniffer_ble.bat --extcap-interfaces the following print is shown and then the log.txt file shows:

Simonr said:

If you can provide the full log files from the installation and from adding the sniffer profile I can forward it to our devs so they can take a look as well.

I hope the information required is fully answered in the previous section. If something else is needed, please let me know. I'll be pleased to provide whatever could help to solve the issue.