TL;DR: I'm attempting to create a web app which communicates with a device from 2007. The problem is that WebUSB won't allow me to use it, because it implements a "protected interface class" (it's a HID device), but I can't use WebHID, because the device communicates over standard endpoints, instead of sending/receiving reports.
A bit of background: as it seems, our school is trying to migrate from using Windows 10 machines in classes to Chrome OS-based devices. Hooray! However, there is one place, where this move is not possible, and that is our physics lab, which to this day uses these old analog dual-channel data-loggers, which rely on some software from the Windows XP days, thus we still need the Windows 10 machines to run it. I (as a student) have offered to volunteer with reverse-engineering the communication protocol between those devices and the software and then perhaps creating a web app using WebUSB/WebHID. After a couple of weeks, I have now fully reverse-engineered the protocol (to the point that I have created a usable clone of the original device using a Raspberry Pi Pico – and yes, it works with the original software), and I set out to start working on the actual web app.
I originally wanted to use WebUSB, since that's what I'm familiar with, however, I hit a problem:
That's right. This device's only interface for whatever reason implements a HID class, instead of vendor-specific. So of course, after a bit of research, I discovered WebHID. However, that (as far as I am aware) can only communicate by sending/receiving reports. This device doesn't support that though! It only communicates over the standard endpoints.
So now I'm stuck. Is there a way to communicate over endpoints using WebHID, or is there some way of using the old WebUSB, or have I hit a dead end with this project?
Any help would be much appreciated.
For those that are interested, here's the lsusb listing of the mysterious device, with redacted vendor/product IDs/strings:
Bus 001 Device 024: ID REDACTED
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 1.10
bDeviceClass 0
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 0
bMaxPacketSize0 8
idVendor REDACTED
idProduct REDACTED
bcdDevice 1.00
iManufacturer 1 REDACTED
iProduct 2 REDACTED
iSerial 0
bNumConfigurations 1
Configuration Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 2
wTotalLength 0x0029
bNumInterfaces 1
bConfigurationValue 1
iConfiguration 0
bmAttributes 0x80
(Bus Powered)
MaxPower 100mA
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 2
bInterfaceClass 3 Human Interface Device
bInterfaceSubClass 0
bInterfaceProtocol 0
iInterface 0
HID Device Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 33
bcdHID 1.00
bCountryCode 0 Not supported
bNumDescriptors 1
bDescriptorType 34 Report
wDescriptorLength 52
Report Descriptors:
** UNAVAILABLE **
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
bmAttributes 3
Transfer Type Interrupt
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0040 1x 64 bytes
bInterval 1
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x01 EP 1 OUT
bmAttributes 3
Transfer Type Interrupt
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0008 1x 8 bytes
bInterval 1
Device Status: 0x0000
(Bus Powered)
prochazkaml
commented
3 years ago
TL;DR: I'm attempting to create a web app which communicates with a device from 2007. The problem is that WebUSB won't allow me to use it, because it implements a "protected interface class" (it's a HID device), but I can't use WebHID, because the device communicates over standard endpoints, instead of sending/receiving reports.
A bit of background: as it seems, our school is trying to migrate from using Windows 10 machines in classes to Chrome OS-based devices. Hooray! However, there is one place, where this move is not possible, and that is our physics lab, which to this day uses these old analog dual-channel data-loggers, which rely on some software from the Windows XP days, thus we still need the Windows 10 machines to run it. I (as a student) have offered to volunteer with reverse-engineering the communication protocol between those devices and the software and then perhaps creating a web app using WebUSB/WebHID. After a couple of weeks, I have now fully reverse-engineered the protocol (to the point that I have created a usable clone of the original device using a Raspberry Pi Pico – and yes, it works with the original software), and I set out to start working on the actual web app.
I originally wanted to use WebUSB, since that's what I'm familiar with, however, I hit a problem:
That's right. This device's only interface for whatever reason implements a HID class, instead of vendor-specific. So of course, after a bit of research, I discovered WebHID. However, that (as far as I am aware) can only communicate by sending/receiving reports. This device doesn't support that though! It only communicates over the standard endpoints.
So now I'm stuck. Is there a way to communicate over endpoints using WebHID, or is there some way of using the old WebUSB, or have I hit a dead end with this project?
Any help would be much appreciated.
For those that are interested, here's the
lsusblisting of the mysterious device, with redacted vendor/product IDs/strings: