MAKCU and MAKCM setup, start to finish
Installing the CH343 driver, finding and lowering the COM port, matching the baud rate, flashing firmware, wiring passthrough, and reading the LEDs when the board will not connect.
Short answer
MAKCU is a mouse passthrough device built on the open MAKCM design: two ESP32-S3 microcontrollers and a CH343 USB-to-UART bridge. Install the CH343 driver, force its COM port below 10, match the cheat's baud rate, and connect the mouse and the game PC.
On this page10
- What the MAKCU is and which socket is which
- How to install the CH343 driver
- How to set the COM port below 10
- Why the baud rate must match
- How to flash or update the firmware
- Will your mouse work with MAKCU?
- How to connect the cheat to MAKCU
- What to do when MAKCU will not connect
- Common MAKCU questions
- Sources
What the MAKCU is and which socket is which
MAKCM is the open ESP32-S3 project, and MAKCU is the packaged board most people buy. Memorise the port map, because two of the three sockets look identical and mixing them up is the most common setup failure.
- Controllers
- Two ESP32-S3 microcontrollers, one facing the game PC and one facing your mouse, each with its own flash and PSRAM
- Serial bridge
- A WCH CH343 USB-to-UART chip, capable of multi-megabit rates
- USB 1
- To the GAME PC. This is the HID side — the socket that makes the box look like a mouse
- USB 2
- To the SECOND PC. This is the CH343 serial port the cheat opens
- USB 3
- Your physical mouse, or your wireless mouse's dongle
- Power
- Drawn from the USB connections. USB 1 and USB 2 both being connected is normally required for the board to come up properly
- Buttons
- Two, one per side. Used for entering flash mode and for cycling the baud rate
- LEDs
- One per side. Solid means that side has a link; slow blinking means it is waiting or warning
How to install the CH343 driver
The driver goes on the SECOND PC only. The game PC needs nothing installed, because from its side the box is a mouse and Windows uses its own inbox HID driver. If anyone tells you to install MAKCU drivers on the gaming machine, stop and ask why.
- Download the CH343 serial driver from the vendor, where it is usually distributed as CH343SER
- Run the installer on the second PC and let it finish before you plug anything in
- Connect USB 1 to the game PC and USB 2 to the second PC
- Open Device Manager on the second PC and expand Ports (COM and LPT)
- Confirm that a CH343-based serial device appears with no warning triangle
- If it appears as an unknown device instead, right-click it, choose Update driver, and point Windows to the CH343 driver folder manually
How to set the COM port below 10
Several cheats read the port name in a way that breaks on double-digit numbers, and the vendor's own guidance is to keep it under 10. Once you set it, you will not need to think about it again.
- In Device Manager, find the CH343 device under Ports (COM and LPT) and note its COM number
- Right-click it, choose Properties, then Port Settings, then Advanced
- Pick a COM number below 10. If Windows warns that the number is in use by another device, accept it as long as that device is not present
- Click OK, unplug the board, plug it back in, and confirm that the new number stayed
- Write the number down, because you will need it every time you point a new cheat at the box
Warning
Why the baud rate must match
This is the most reported MAKCU problem, and it never looks like what it is. The firmware supports rates from 115200 up into the megabits, and the cheat has to be set to the same value the board is currently running. The vendor's own tooling expects 115200, and a board booted at that rate flashes its baud indicator LED once at startup. If you need to change the rate, the documented method is four fast presses of the left button. A mismatch does not throw an error: the port opens cleanly, the cheat reports a connection, and the cursor never moves. So if you have a link but no movement, check the baud rate before anything else.
How to flash or update the firmware
Boards ship pre-flashed, so a first-time buyer can usually skip this. You will need it when a cheat requires a newer firmware version, or after you change something you should not have.
- Disconnect everything, because only one cable is attached at a time during flashing
- Decide which side you are flashing, the game-PC side or the mouse side, because the two sides are flashed separately
- Hold down the button nearest the side you intend to flash
- While holding the button, connect that side's USB cable to the PC running the flash tool
- Release the button once Windows plays the device-connected sound
- Open the vendor's device-control page or tool, select the firmware version, and start the flash
- Watch the log until it completes. On an unflashed board it is normal for the device to disconnect and reconnect repeatedly during the first flash
- If the release notes say both sides changed, repeat for the other side. Then reconnect USB 1 and USB 2 and check the baud rate again
Will your mouse work with MAKCU?
People often ask whether their mouse is on a compatible list, but current MAKCM firmware has no meaningful list. The firmware parses the connected mouse's HID report descriptor automatically instead of shipping hard-coded profiles for named models. When you plug a mouse in, its report format is read and reproduced. That is a real design advantage over firmware that needs a profile written for each model. Problems still appear at the edges, with dongles that present extra vendor interfaces and with mice whose onboard software expects a proprietary configuration channel. The common factor is a device that does more than a plain mouse, and such devices may pass basic movement through while losing their extra features.
Tip
How to connect the cheat to MAKCU
In the input or aim section of the cheat, select MAKCU as the device type and enter the COM port number you set below 10. Set the baud rate to the value the board is running, then save and open the connection. Before you trust anything, run a sanity check: most cheats have a test that sends a fixed relative movement, and any vendor test tool does the same. Run it and watch the cursor on the game PC. If the cursor moves, the whole chain from the second PC to the game PC is proven, and any later problem is configuration rather than wiring.
What to do when MAKCU will not connect
The LEDs tell you which half of the box has the problem, which is the fastest way to narrow down the search. Read them before you start unplugging things.
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Both LEDs off | No power, or only one USB cable connected | Connect both USB 1 and USB 2, because the board normally needs both for power and a correct start-up |
| LED on the mouse side blinking slowly and never going solid | The mouse is not being enumerated on the host side | Wait ten seconds, then power-cycle and try a plain wired mouse. Some dongles and hubs will not enumerate on this port |
| Solid green on both sides but the cheat cannot connect | COM port number too high, wrong port selected, or the CH343 driver is not installed | Install CH343, set the COM number below 10, and confirm the number in Device Manager matches what the cheat is set to |
| Cheat connects, cursor never moves | Baud rate mismatch between the board and the cheat | Set both to 115200, or press the left button four times quickly to cycle the board's rate until it matches |
| No COM port in Device Manager at all | Driver missing, USB 2 in a dead port, or a charge-only cable | Try a different rear USB port and a known data cable, then reinstall CH343 and reboot the second PC |
| Your own mouse stops working when the box is connected | The mouse is plugged into the wrong socket, or passthrough firmware is not running on the mouse side | Confirm the mouse is in USB 3 and the game PC in USB 1, then reflash the mouse side with current firmware |
| Board disconnects repeatedly while flashing | Expected on an unflashed or partially flashed board | Hold the side button, reconnect that cable, and restart the flash. Once the log starts writing, do not interrupt it |
Common MAKCU questions
What is the difference between MAKCU and MAKCM?
MAKCM is the open-source ESP32-S3 project, and MAKCU is the packaged product built on it, sold pre-flashed and pre-tested. Functionally both run the same firmware lineage, and the difference is who assembled and flashed the board.
Is my mouse compatible?
Almost certainly, because current firmware reads the connected mouse's HID report descriptor instead of relying on a list of supported models. Plain wired mice are the safest choice, while dongles and mice with proprietary configuration channels may pass movement through but lose onboard features.
Does MAKCU hide the fact that I am cheating?
No, and you should treat any claim that it does as a sales pitch. It removes the software footprint on the gaming machine by delivering input as real USB traffic, but it does not remove the device's own presence on the USB bus. It also does nothing about how your aim looks in a recording.
Why must the COM port be below 10?
Because some cheat implementations build the port path in a way that only handles a single digit correctly. It is a software limitation rather than a hardware one, and setting a low number in Device Manager costs nothing.
Can I run a higher baud rate than 115200?
The firmware supports much higher rates and the CH343 has the headroom for them, but the cheat has to support the same rate and the vendor's own tooling expects 115200. Change it only when the software you run documents a specific higher value.
Do I install anything on the game PC?
No. The game PC sees a USB mouse and loads its own inbox driver, so everything you install goes on the second PC.
Sources
The CH343 driver steps, the COM port and baud rate fixes and the LED readings are bench work from setting these boards up.
- 01MAKCM firmware, GPL-3.0
the open esp32-s3 passthrough firmware and its automatic hid report descriptor parsing
github.com
- 02Community MAKCU fork
that the firmware is open and carries community forks of the example firmware
github.com
Read next
- KMBox Net, KMBox B+, MAKCU, Teensy or Arduino: which input device to buy
- USB descriptors, VID/PID and what descriptor cloning means
- The cursor will not move: how to fix the input layer
- The full signal chain, from your hand to the game
- Teensy 4.1 as a DMA input device
- KMBox Net or KMBox B+: which one and why
Still stuck? Open a ticket on Discord
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