raspberry, cannot write to USB-Serial converter - linux

Question

I'm working on a small Python script on a raspberry that interacts with an external device.
that external device has either RS232 and USB ports and I'm using it through the USB port.
lsusb shows:
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0665:5161 Cypress Semiconductor USB to Serial
So i guess that the USB port in the embedded device internally has a USB to Serial converter.
Till there everything is fine, except that when I open the device through PyUSB I can only get an IN endpoint (0x81) but not an OUT endpoint.
So I decided to inspect through lsusb -v:
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0665:5161 Cypress Semiconductor USB to Serial
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 1.10
bDeviceClass 0 (Defined at Interface level)
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 0
bMaxPacketSize0 8
idVendor 0x0665 Cypress Semiconductor
idProduct 0x5161 USB to Serial
bcdDevice 0.02
iManufacturer 3 (error)
iProduct 1 (error)
iSerial 0
bNumConfigurations 1
Configuration Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 2
wTotalLength 34
bNumInterfaces 1
bConfigurationValue 1
iConfiguration 0
bmAttributes 0xa0
(Bus Powered)
Remote Wakeup
MaxPower 100mA
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 1
bInterfaceClass 3 Human Interface Device
bInterfaceSubClass 0 No Subclass
bInterfaceProtocol 0 None
iInterface 0
HID Device Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 33
bcdHID 1.11
bCountryCode 0 Not supported
bNumDescriptors 1
bDescriptorType 34 Report
wDescriptorLength 27
Report Descriptor: (length is 27)
Item(Global): Usage Page, data= [ 0x00 0xff ] 65280
(null)
Item(Local ): Usage, data= [ 0x01 ] 1
(null)
Item(Main ): Collection, data= [ 0x01 ] 1
Application
Item(Local ): Usage, data= [ 0x02 ] 2
(null)
Item(Global): Logical Minimum, data= [ 0x00 ] 0
Item(Global): Logical Maximum, data= [ 0xff 0x00 ] 255
Item(Global): Report Size, data= [ 0x08 ] 8
Item(Global): Report Count, data= [ 0x08 ] 8
Item(Main ): Input, data= [ 0x82 ] 130
Data Variable Absolute No_Wrap Linear
Preferred_State No_Null_Position Volatile Bitfield
Item(Local ): Usage, data= [ 0x02 ] 2
(null)
Item(Global): Report Count, data= [ 0x08 ] 8
Item(Main ): Output, data= [ 0x82 ] 130
Data Variable Absolute No_Wrap Linear
Preferred_State No_Null_Position Volatile Bitfield
Item(Main ): End Collection, data=none
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
bmAttributes 3
Transfer Type Interrupt
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0008 1x 8 bytes
bInterval 12
Device Status: 0x0000
(Bus Powered)
There is only one configuration, one interface, one endpoint and that's marked as IN. Is that possible?
Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

This hint is:
bInterfaceClass 3 Human Interface Device
HID transports data to the PC (IN) via an interrupt endpoint. The reverse direction uses the default control endpoint (EP0).
So i guess that the USB port in the embedded device internally has a USB to Serial converter.
While this may be the case, it uses an unusual configuration. The HID protocol won't require (OEM) drivers on a PC, but has much lower limits on data rates- which is OK for devices like an UPS.
TL;DR Just access the device like any other HID device with pyUSB, and use control messages for the OUT (Pi=>device) direction.