Package Details: nrf-sniffer-ble 4.1.1-5

Git Clone URL: https://aur.archlinux.org/nrf-sniffer-ble.git (read-only, click to copy)
Package Base: nrf-sniffer-ble
Description: nRF Sniffer for Bluetooth LE - firmware, SnifferAPI and Wireshark plugin
Upstream URL: https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/Development-tools/nRF-Sniffer-for-Bluetooth-LE
Keywords: ble bluetooth nrf wireshark
Licenses: custom
Submitter: labuwx
Maintainer: labuwx
Last Packager: labuwx
Votes: 2
Popularity: 0.000000
First Submitted: 2021-11-19 00:27 (UTC)
Last Updated: 2025-10-13 15:50 (UTC)

Pinned Comments

labuwx commented on 2023-07-19 22:24 (UTC)

Thanks to mniestroj's patch, now it is possible to use the extcap plugin as a non-root user.

However the extcap plugin and the SnifferAPI are not written with unprivileged users in mind. If the capture device does not appear or packets do not show up, check again as root.

The user running the sniffer must * have write access to the serial port of the nRF chip * have write access to /tmp/logs/log.txt and /tmp/logs/capture.pcap

Latest Comments

labuwx commented on 2025-10-13 16:26 (UTC)

Fixed for wireshark >=4.6.0. The new extcap path breaks compatibility with earlier wireshark versions though.

xorly commented on 2025-10-13 13:24 (UTC)

Hi, wireshark 4.6 looks for extcap plugins only in /usr/libexec/wireshark/extcap so the plugin install has to be changed from

install -Dm755 nrf_sniffer_ble.sh -t "${pkgdir}/usr/lib/wireshark/extcap/"

to

install -Dm755 nrf_sniffer_ble.sh -t "${pkgdir}/usr/libexec/wireshark/extcap/"

I am not sure about backward compatibility, but nothing else is in usr/libwireshark/extcap/ but this nrf snigger plugin.

labuwx commented on 2025-09-07 19:31 (UTC) (edited on 2025-09-07 19:32 (UTC) by labuwx)

Good catch. Let's hope the new URL keeps working.

I have kept the pkgrel since this change does not affect the generated package. Your AUR helper of choice might require manual intervention to download the new PKGBUILD.

xorly commented on 2025-09-07 13:52 (UTC)

Hi, using makepkg the download from https://www.nordicsemi.com/-/media/Software-and-other-downloads/Desktop-software/nRF-Sniffer/sw/nrf_sniffer_for_bluetooth_le_4.1.1.zip fails. Trying it manually via browser works, so I guess they are doing some user agent filtering.

Anyway link for 4.1.1 on the nordic website points to https://nsscprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/prod/software-and-other-downloads/desktop-software/nrf-sniffer/sw/nrf_sniffer_for_bluetooth_le_4.1.1.zip

This link also works for makepkg, So I recommend changing to this one

labuwx commented on 2024-11-18 21:35 (UTC)

Thanks xorly. Fixed in 4.1.1-4.

xorly commented on 2024-11-18 15:18 (UTC)

Hi, can you patch the python 3.12 issue described here https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/107828/invalid-escape-sequence-s/487308 ?

labuwx commented on 2024-02-04 19:59 (UTC)

Thanks mags. Fixed that.

mags commented on 2024-02-02 02:35 (UTC)

This fails in a clean chroot (extra-x86)64-build) as is.

This line in the PKGBUILD needs to be changed:

patch -p1 -i ../0001-drop-Filelock-use.patch

to:

patch -p1 -i 0001-drop-Filelock-use.patch

labuwx commented on 2023-07-19 22:24 (UTC)

Thanks to mniestroj's patch, now it is possible to use the extcap plugin as a non-root user.

However the extcap plugin and the SnifferAPI are not written with unprivileged users in mind. If the capture device does not appear or packets do not show up, check again as root.

The user running the sniffer must * have write access to the serial port of the nRF chip * have write access to /tmp/logs/log.txt and /tmp/logs/capture.pcap

mniestroj commented on 2023-07-12 12:27 (UTC)

After installing this package, no devices (interfaces) are discovered when using as unpriviledged user. Everything works when running as root. The reason is that the implementation of extcap plugin relies on access to /var/lock/, which is 0755 root:root.

Please consider patching this package with https://github.com/mniestroj/aur-nrf-sniffer-ble/commit/556009ac7aa4cbcf45b9fc6ccb244eb07ea0b9a5, which solves described issue.