How to install node-hid for electron - node.js

Question

I'm trying to get a simple electron application running that interacts with an HID device.
I am running into a lot of difficulty, I am able to install and run node-hid, just not within electron.
My package.json looks like this:
{
"name": "test-proj",
"version": "1.0.0",
"description": "",
"main": "main.js",
"scripts": {
"start": "electron .",
"rebuild": "electron-rebuild --force",
"postinstall": "electron-rebuild"
},
"author": "me",
"license": "ISC",
"devDependencies": {
"electron": "^9.2.0",
"electron-rebuild": "^1.11.0"
},
"dependencies": {
"node-hid": "^1.3.0"
}
}
My main.js has the standard electron demo boilerplate code plus some HID calls:
const {app, BrowserWindow, ipcMain} = require('electron');
var HID = require('node-hid');
var device = new HID.HID(5824, 1500);
// Standard electron app window stuff
When trying to run the app I immediately get an error on new HID.HID():
Error: Module did not self-register: '\\?\C:\Users\Nathan\Desktop\carriage_return_app\node_modules\node-hid\build\Release\HID.node'.
at process.func [as dlopen] (electron/js2c/asar.js:140:31)
at Object.Module._extensions..node (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:1034:18)
at Object.func [as .node] (electron/js2c/asar.js:140:31)
at Module.load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:815:32)
at Module._load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:727:14)
at Function.Module._load (electron/js2c/asar.js:769:28)
at Module.require (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:852:19)
at require (internal/modules/cjs/helpers.js:74:18)
at bindings (C:\Users\Nathan\Desktop\carriage_return_app\node_modules\bindings\bindings.js:112:48)
at loadBinding (C:\Users\Nathan\Desktop\carriage_return_app\node_modules\node-hid\nodehid.js:25:42)
Looking around I have seen a few examples of how to install node-hid and use it in electron, but none have helped me.
I have followed the electron-rebuild instructions here: https://www.electronjs.org/docs/tutorial/using-native-node-modules
I have also followed the instructions and copied the examples from here: https://github.com/node-hid/node-hid#electron-projects-using-node-hid
No luck. I get module did not self-register every time. node-hid is supposed to support electron and I don't see other people complaining.
Anyone come across this or have ideas to fix the issue?

Answer 1

The problem has been solved, so I will mark this as answered. I think I would still like more information on WHY though.
The hint came from building the two example projects:
https://github.com/todbot/electron-hid-toy
https://github.com/todbot/electron-hid-test
Running the first item, electron-hid-test worked off the bat. Adding electron-builder as a dependency and adding "postinstall": "electron-builder install-app-deps" as a script solved the issue in my project, I don't want electron-builder yet but at least it indicated that node-hid can work with electron given a specific setup.
The second item also worked, but not with:
npm install
npm rebuild
npm start
Instead it was specifically required to add the run command to the rebuild command:
npm install
npm run rebuild
npm start
After that, it works.
Any insights as to why this behaves differently?