nRF 52840 dongle loaded with BLE Sniffer 4.1.1 not showing traffic in wireshark

[Kat0]

Hi. 
I bought a nRF 52840 dongle, followed the steps to install nrfutil, python requirements, flashed the dongle with 4.1.1 zip file in the nrfutil share/firmware folder as per instructions. 

dongle can enter bootloader mode, can flash BLE Sniffer firmware, can be detected in MacBook Pro as /dev/cu.usbmodem101 and as COM3 in windows. 

However, after flashing, dongle’s LED remain unlit when i plug it into the computer. In wireshark for both MacBook Pro and windows, I can see the nRF BLE interface, double click to capture the interface but there is totally no traffic displayed in the wireshark window. 

Anyone encountered this and managed to solve this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.  

thank you!

[Benjamin]

Hi,
I will do some testing tomorrow. In the mean time, could you share the versions of the following software on your MacBook setup:

-Wireshark
-nrfutil ble-sniffer
-macOS
-J-Link

Also, does the sniffer show up as a toolbar in Wireshark?

Best regards,
Benjamin

[Kat0]

hi, 

thanks for the reply.

Wireshark: Version 4.6.6 (v4.6.6-0-g3a22c3ef473d)

nrfutil ble-sniffer: nrfutil-ble-sniffer 0.19.0 (5303908 2026-04-30)

macOS: 15.6.1 (24G90)

i'm using a nRF52840 Dongle. 

yes, it does show up as an interface in wireshark, i can double click into it, just that it opens an empty window with no traffic at all.

thanks.

[Benjamin]

Could you try to reflash the firmware and paste commands and output here?
Also, what is the version of your J-Link Software?

[Kat0]

Hi. 
reflashed the firmware using this

nrfutil device program --firmware sniffer_nrf52840dongle_nrf52840_4.1.1.zip --serial-number <serial>

how do I install the j-link software? I’m using the nRF dongle. Do I need the j-link software?

thank you. 

[Benjamin]

No, the dongle uses bootloader and USB, so J-Link is not involved in flashing the firmware. I'm trying to confirm that we're working in the same environment, since it's used extensively by nrfutil.

Are you certain there's BLE traffic available in your current location? Also, do you have access to a DK that you could try instead?

[Kat0]

Hi. Yes. I can see ble traffic on my phone with nRF Connect. 

I do not have access to DK. 

[Benjamin]

I see. Can you try to program a different BLE application to the dongle? For instance Bluetooth Mesh DFU Target.

Please follow this guide to see how you can build to and program to the dongle. You also need the nRF Mesh app to check if you can find the dongle.


EDIT: To make it simpler, I built the firmware for you, so you can program it to the dongle with:

nrfutil nrf5sdk-tools dfu usb-serial -pkg test.zip -p /dev/tty*

Remember to press reset on the dongle before programming.

I sendt you an email with the firmware.

Best regards,
Benjamin

[Kat0]

Thank you so much. I’ll try it out and reply again. Thanks!