How can I connect to HFSQL C/S using python on Linux?

I am trying to connect to a legacy HFSQL (HyperFileSQL) Client/Server database using Python (pyodbc) on a Linux Ubuntu machine.

I have followed the official documentation to install the specific ODBC driver for Linux, but I keep getting an IM002 error indicating a disconnect between the Driver Manager and the configuration files.

System Setup:

• OS: Ubuntu 20.04 (approx)
• Driver: HFSQL ODBC Linux 64-bit (via install.sh)
• ODBC Manager: libiodbc2 libiodbc2-dev
• Python Package: pyodbc

Configuration Steps Taken:

• I installed the dependencies required by WinDev:

sudo apt-get install libiodbc2 libiodbc2-dev

• I installed the driver successfully. I verified the entry in /etc/odbcinst.ini:

[ODBC Drivers]
HFSQL = Installed
    
[HFSQL]
Description = HFSQL ODBC Driver
Driver = /home/datpandx/hfsql/wd250hfo64.so

• I configured a User DSN in ~/.odbc.ini:

[ODBC Data Sources]
HFSQL_FRUTAL = HFSQL
    
[HFSQL_FRUTAL]
Driver = HFSQL
Server Name = 26.***
Server Port = 4900
Database = ***
UID = ***
PWD = ***

Diagnostics: Running pyodbc.drivers() correctly lists 'HFSQL', which suggests Python can read the odbcinst.ini file. However, when inspecting the driver binary dependencies with ldd, I see it links to libiodbc, while pyodbc typically relies on unixODBC.

The Problem: When I try to connect using a DSN-less connection string (to rule out .ini file path issues), it fails immediately.

Code:

import pyodbc

print(f"Available Drivers: {pyodbc.drivers()}")
# Output: ['ODBC Drivers', 'HFSQL']

dsn='HFSQL_FRUTAL'
user = '***'
password = '***'

try:
    conn_str = (
        f"DSN={dsn};"
        f"UID={user};"
        f"PWD={password};"
    )

    print(f"Trying to connect to: {driver_name} ...")
    conn = pyodbc.connect(conn_str)
    print("¡CONNECTED!")
    conn.close()

except Exception as e:
    print("Fail")
    print(e)

The error:

(hfsql) datpandx@panda:~/hfsql$ python3 hfsql.py
Available Drivers: ['ODBC Drivers', 'HFSQL']
Trying to connect to: HFSQL_FRUTAL ...
Fail
('0000', '[0000] U (0) (SQLDriverConnect)')

(hfsql) datpandx@panda:~/hfsql$ odbcinst -q -s
[HFSQL_FRUTAL]

What I have tried:

• Verified file paths in /etc/odbcinst.ini are absolute and correct.
• Tried setting environment variables explicitly before running the script: export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/home/datpandx/hfsql
• Tried using the DSN approach (DSN=HFSQL_FRUTAL) with the same error
  result.

Is there a known solution between pyodbc and the HFSQL driver (which appears to depend on iODBC)? How can I bridge this gap on Linux?