Install on Windows

pcu runs on 64-bit Windows 10 and 11. On In-CarPC machines it is already there: pcu ships preinstalled from August 2026 onwards. It is portable, so there is no installer, just a folder you run from. The one component that installs into the system is the PawnIO kernel driver, which pcu can set up for you on first run.

Requirements

• Windows 10 or Windows 11, 64-bit (x64).
• Administrator rights on the PC. pcu talks to the vehicle PC’s MCU over the system SMBus, which needs kernel-level access.
• No .NET runtime to install. pcu ships as self-contained executables.
• The PawnIO kernel driver. It is bundled with pcu and installed on first run (see below); you do not download it separately.

Tested configurations:

Platform	Windows build
In-CarPC CQ20	Windows 11 25H2 (x64)
In-CarPC CQ40 series	Windows 10 22H2 (x64)

Note

Need pcu tested on a different Windows version or build? Contact In-CarPC support and tell us what you are running. We can usually accommodate it.

Install pcu

Every In-CarPC machine built from August 2026 onwards ships with pcu already installed. You do not need to download or extract anything. It is in two places:

• A shortcut on the desktop.
• The program folder at C:\In-CarPC_Setup, which holds pcu.exe and pcu-cli.exe.

To start it:

1. Run pcu.exe from the desktop shortcut or from C:\In-CarPC_Setup.
2. Windows shows a User Account Control prompt. Accept it, because pcu needs Administrator rights for hardware access.
3. pcu detects the platform automatically (CQ20 or CQ40 series) and connects.

If pcu is not on your machine, for example on an older In-CarPC build or after a Windows reinstall, contact In-CarPC support and we will send you a copy.

Install the PawnIO driver

pcu reads and writes the MCU through the PawnIO kernel driver. The driver is bundled with pcu; you only need to install it once per PC.

The first time you run the GUI, the Home page reports whether PawnIO is present and offers an Install button if it is not. Click it and accept the elevation prompt.

You can also install the driver from a terminal. pcu-cli driver install works without an Administrator terminal, because the bundled installer requests elevation itself:

$ pcu-cli driver install
Install PawnIO driver v2.2.0? [y/N] y
PawnIO driver installed successfully.

Depending on the machine you may see one of these results instead:

• If the driver needs a restart to finish, you will see PawnIO driver installed. Reboot to complete installation. Reboot and you are done.
• If you dismiss the elevation prompt, the install is cancelled with Installation cancelled. UAC prompt was declined. Run the command again and accept the prompt.
• If the bundled installer cannot run, pcu points you at the public package: Installation failed. Try installing manually: winget install namazso.PawnIO.

You can check the driver at any time. This works without an Administrator terminal:

$ pcu-cli driver status
  PawnIO driver: v2.2.0 (2026-03-15)
  SmbusI801 module: 2025-05-05
  Status: Installed

Verify the installation

Open an Administrator command prompt (hardware commands need one) and run pcu-cli status. It prints the detected platform and live MCU readings, which confirms pcu is talking to the hardware:

$ pcu-cli status
pcu v1.0.0  - In-CarPC CQ20 Status
----------------------------------------
  Platform            : In-CarPC CQ20 (Intel Atom x6425E)
  MCU Identity        : CQ20 MCU
  Hardware Rev        : DTB-IGN-MCU VER:10
  Firmware            : 12

  MCU Firmware        : 12
  Ignition Mode       : On
  Anti-Crank Delay    : 6s           anti-crank filter before DC power
  Boot Delay          : 4s           DC rails stable before power button
  Shutdown Delay      : 5m           IGN off to ACPI shutdown command
  Force Off Timeout   : 2m           hard power cut if OS hangs

The exact fields depend on the detected platform; the example above is a CQ20.

Updating pcu

pcu is portable, so updating the app is a file copy:

1. Close pcu if it is running.
2. Download and extract the new release.
3. Replace the old pcu.exe and pcu-cli.exe with the new ones.

The PawnIO driver is separate from the app and stays in place across app updates, so you do not reinstall it each time. To remove it later, use the Driver page or run pcu-cli driver uninstall; a restart is always required to finish removal (PawnIO driver uninstalled. Reboot to complete removal.).

Tip

pcu-cli.exe sits in the same folder and does everything the GUI does from the command line, for scripting and remote sessions. See the Command Reference.