COM Port not detected by sniffer software

[Malcolm]

I am using sniffer v3.1.

I have installed the sniffer code on a nRF52840 dongle (PCA100059). When I insert this into the PC it appears as "nRF Sniffer for Bluetooth LE (COM10)" in device manager. However it is not detected by "nrf_sniffer_ble.bat --extcap-interfaces" although I see all the other lines of output, and likewise it is not detected in Wireshark.

This has been working but I cannot understand why it has now stopped.

[Karl Ylvisaker]

Hello Malcolm,

Thank you for your patience.

Malcolm said:

I went through the process of reprogramming the dongle device. I erased the device and programmed it with the MBR and bootloader using nRF Connect and J-Link programmer. I then programmed the sniffer hex file using the DFU.

Are you seeing any improvements after having done this? Is the device showing up in the wireshark application?
Could you also confirm for me that you have followed the steps I mentioned in my earlier comment, especially the part about extcap having the right path set?

Could you also tell me which wireshark and python version you are using?

Best regards,
Karl

[Karl Ylvisaker]

Hi adamalfath,

I am sorry to hear that you too are having issues with this.
Could you also confirm for me that you have followed the installation steps I detailed in my previous comment, particularly the one which shows how to set the extcap path?

Best regards,
Karl

[Malcolm]

After wiping and reprogramming the device it is working again. However the programming instructions are misleading - it appears you simple program the hex image with nRFProgrammer. However this does not work. Rather you must program the dongle with MBR and Bootloader, and then it is easier to program the sniffer hex file using the DFU bootloader to ensure it is programmed in the correct location in memory (above the MBR). If you use JLINK it can go at the bottom of memory and overwrite the MBR.

[Karl Ylvisaker]

Hello,

Malcolm said:

After wiping and reprogramming the device it is working again.

I am happy to hear that you were able to resolve your issue, Malcolm!

Malcolm said:

However the programming instructions are misleading - it appears you simple program the hex image with nRFProgrammer. However this does not work.

The Dongle ships with an MBR and bootloader that allows for easy programing of the dongle without a connected debugger (since the dongle does not have a onboard debugger).
Normally, all you need to do is therefore to program the device through nRF Programmer for this to work. It is however possible to erase the bootloader if you hold down the reset button on boot, before programming. Perhaps this is what happened to your device.

Malcolm said:

If you use JLINK it can go at the bottom of memory and overwrite the MBR.

Yes, with a JLink attached you are able to overwrite any part of the memory - including the MBR - but, if you have a JLink attached to the dongle, you might not need the default MBR in the first place - since it is added to make programming the device without debugger possible.

Best regards,
Karl 

[adamalfath]

Hi Karl,

Thanks for the respond. Yes I can confirm that I follow every step of the documentation.

Right now I have working sniffer extension on wireshark, the extcap-interfaces command and wireshark shows the sniffer interface. What I did is change the parameter write_data=True on UART.find_sniffer function in the python script.

The script comment says it's to toggle for intrusive search. I don't really know what that's mean but I haven't found any issue yet.