Set up Thrustmaster MFD Cougar panels on PC, bind both bezels, avoid TARGET conflicts, fix USB detection and add exported MFD displays.
To set up Thrustmaster MFD Cougar panels for a PC flight simulator, connect each bezel directly, confirm both appear as separate Windows game controllers, then bind their buttons in the simulator’s controls menu. Start with native bindings and use TARGET only for macros or keystrokes. The Cougar bezels do not contain displays.
What do Thrustmaster MFD Cougar panels actually do?
Cougar MFD panels are USB input devices and backlit instrument frames, not miniature monitors. Each bezel sends digital button presses from its option-select buttons and rocker switches; the empty centre requires a separate display if you want live avionics imagery.
Because the panels contain no analogue axes, they do not need joystick calibration. A lit bezel confirms that it has power, but not that Windows or the simulator is receiving its button inputs.
They are intended primarily for Windows PCs. Do not assume they will work directly with an Xbox or PlayStation flight simulator, where USB controls must be explicitly supported by the console and simulator.
Thrustmaster MFD Cougar setup steps
- Connect one panel at a time. Start with a direct PC USB port and leave TARGET closed. Once both panels work, a powered USB hub is normally acceptable, but direct connections remove the hub as a possible fault during setup.
- Test both panels in Windows. Run
joy.cpl, open each listed game controller’s properties and press every bezel button and both directions of each rocker. If the panels have similar names, identify them by their button response and label the physical left and right units. Our Windows USB and TARGET troubleshooting for Thrustmaster hardware covers the same detection checks in more depth. - Open the simulator’s control settings. Select the individual Cougar panel rather than the keyboard, yoke or HOTAS. Some simulators present separate device columns; others require you to choose the controller before searching for a command.
- Bind buttons by cockpit function. Assign the left bezel to the aircraft’s left display and the right bezel to its right display. Depending on the aircraft, these controls may be named MFD, MFCD, DDI, MPD or option-select buttons. Bind the rocker directions to brightness, contrast, gain or another available function only when the simulated aircraft exposes a matching command.
- Remove unwanted default assignments. Check both Cougar device columns for duplicated camera, view, trim or menu controls. A single button assigned on the physical panel and a virtual TARGET device can produce two commands from one press.
- Save an aircraft-specific profile. Test every control in a powered cockpit, then export or back up the profile if the simulator supports it. Airliners, military jets and glass-cockpit general-aviation aircraft rarely share compatible MFD command names.
Simulator-specific binding differences
| Simulator | Recommended method | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|
| DCS World | Bind each panel in the aircraft-specific Controls screen and inspect any supplied defaults before adding assignments. Follow our aircraft-specific DCS binding procedure for Cougar bezels for device columns, profiles and rocker mappings. | Bindings belong to the selected aircraft or module; similarly named variants may use separate profiles. |
| Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 or 2024 | Select each USB controller, scan for the pressed input and assign an available avionics command. | Some aircraft do not expose every bezel event through the standard control menu, even though Windows detects the panel. |
| X-Plane | Create an aircraft control profile and assign each button to the aircraft’s published commands. | Aircraft using their own systems may provide different command names from the default avionics. |
| FSX or Prepar3D | Use direct joystick-button assignments where the required simulator or gauge command exists. | Older gauges may accept only keyboard commands, making TARGET keystroke output useful. |
Should I use TARGET or native simulator bindings?
Use native simulator bindings unless you specifically need macros, shifted layers or keyboard emulation. Native assignments keep both panels visible as separate devices and make faults much easier to isolate.
TARGET becomes useful when an older simulator or gauge recognises a keyboard shortcut but offers no direct controller command. It can also create a common layout across aircraft, although that abstraction may hide which physical panel generated an input.
A mistake we see constantly is testing native and TARGET mappings at the same time. When a TARGET profile creates a virtual controller, clear equivalent bindings from either the virtual device or the physical Cougars; otherwise one press may activate a command twice.
How do I display MFD video behind the Cougar bezels?
You need a separate monitor and a simulator-supported instrument export or pop-out view to place live MFD imagery behind the bezels. The Cougar USB connection carries button input and power, not video.
Position the bezels over suitable areas of the display, arrange the monitor correctly in Windows, then configure the simulator’s viewport coordinates or instrument windows. Display scaling, monitor order and resolution changes can shift an export away from the physical opening, so establish the final desktop layout before measuring coordinates.
DCS users planning physical screens should also review our guidance on combining USB panels with exported displays in a DCS cockpit. If you only want physical buttons while viewing the virtual cockpit’s MFDs, no extra monitor is required.
Why are my Cougar panels not detected?
If a Cougar panel fails, first establish whether the fault is in Windows, the simulator or the control profile.
- Neither panel appears in
joy.cpl: close TARGET, reconnect one unit directly to another USB port and check Windows again. Install the supported Thrustmaster driver package if Windows does not enumerate the hardware correctly. - Only one panel appears: test each unit separately, then reconnect both. An underpowered hub, duplicate device identification or a failed USB connection can make the second panel disappear.
- The left panel operates the right display: reassign the controls using the device that responds in
joy.cpl. USB plug order is not a reliable substitute for identifying and labelling each unit. - One press produces two actions: remove duplicate simulator assignments and check whether a running TARGET profile is creating a second virtual input.
- Windows receives inputs but the simulator does not: confirm that you are editing the active aircraft’s profile and the correct controller column. The required cockpit event may not be exposed as a bindable command.
- The centre remains black: this is normal without a separate display and configured instrument export; the Cougar bezel itself cannot show an image.