2016 Model S - no sentry update

[arcus]

There's not exactly a "born on" date but in the upper left corner is 05/17 Guess that means born in May of 2017? Then that would mean no sentry mode? How sad :-(

if that can cheer you up, mine is March of 2017, so we're in the same boat.

 

[NCnergy]

if that can cheer you up, mine is March of 2017, so we're in the same boat.

So can you get the sentry mode red eye with no viewable pictures either?

 

[ucmndd]

There's not exactly a "born on" date but in the upper left corner is 05/17 Guess that means born in May of 2017? Then that would mean no sentry mode? How sad :-(

Yup, your interpretation of the sticker is correct.

That build date means you have AP 2.0, thus no dash cam and a neutered sentry that doesn’t actually do anything.

 

[arcus]

So can you get the sentry mode red eye with no viewable pictures either?

Correct - even if you would prepare your USB stick correctly with the TeslaCam folder, there will be just a bunch of short files (few hundred bytes) created. Search the forums on this very subject, it has been discussed to death

 

[NCnergy]

OUCH!

 

[LPEREZDANCER]

Instead of starting a new thread I figured it might be worthwhile to see if there were any updates/fixes for the Sentry issue on a 2016 Model S. My dashboard keeps telling me that there was a Sentry event but I can not view the event on the center screen. I have MCU1 and figure thats the reason... is it?

 

[yamanote]

Instead of starting a new thread I figured it might be worthwhile to see if there were any updates/fixes for the Sentry issue on a 2016 Model S. My dashboard keeps telling me that there was a Sentry event but I can not view the event on the center screen. I have MCU1 and figure thats the reason... is it?

If you have a late 2016 with AP2, the MCU2 upgrade includes HW3 in the cost (along with replacing both displays with versions that won't leak goo). This enables dashcam/Sentry.

 

[ucmndd]

I have MCU1 and figure thats the reason... is it?

Yes.

 

[Krash]

Can’t you record on Sentry on either MCU, as long as you have a properly formatted drive, but only view Sentry events on MCU2+? For MCU1 don’t you have to unplug the drive?

 

[ucmndd]

Can’t you record on Sentry on either MCU, as long as you have a properly formatted drive, but only view Sentry events on MCU2+? For MCU1 don’t you have to unplug the drive?

You need AP 2.5+ for recording. So yes you're right - it's not really the MCU, it's the AP computer.

 

[vcor]

Well, you can have AP3 and MCU1 and you will not get Sentry mode or the dashcam. You need MCU2 and AP3. For a very short time Tesla provided Sentry/Dashcam for MCU1 and AP3, limited to 3 cameras, and it was awful. MCU1 just didn't have the processing power to deal with it, and Tesla removed the feature in a later update.

I had one of the early AP3 upgrades with MCU1. Later I had the MCU2 retrofit installed, and sentry/dashcam worked perfectly in my 2016 S and supports recording 4 cameras.

 

[Krash]

…Tesla removed the feature in a later update…

Sentry still exists on MCU1 on 2022.8.10.11, but yeah, Dashcam was a mess.

 

[ucmndd]

Well, you can have AP3 and MCU1 and you will not get Sentry mode or the dashcam. You need MCU2 and AP3. For a very short time Tesla provided Sentry/Dashcam for MCU1 and AP3, limited to 3 cameras, and it was awful. MCU1 just didn't have the processing power to deal with it, and Tesla removed the feature in a later update.

Sentry recording is most definitely still available for MCU1 cars with at least AP 2.5 and has been since the initial release.

 

[LPEREZDANCER]

I feel stupid asking but, how do I find out which AP I have?

 

[yamanote]

Do you have cameras in the front fender?

 

[vcor]

@Krash & @ucmndd - Thanks! I wasn't aware MCU1 (with AP3) could still get Sentry mode.

​

 

[Krash]

@Krash & @ucmndd - Thanks! I wasn't aware MCU1 (with AP3) could still get Sentry mode.

Actually I wasn’t paying much attention…until my battery was running down more than expected and I noticed that the sentry icon was on the other day. Not sure how that happened.

I removed the USB for dashcam recording years ago in an earlier build at the service center request since everything kept crashing.

 

[LPEREZDANCER]

Do you have cameras in the front fender?

Yes, it is a 2017 with cameras in the B-pillars too

 

[yamanote]

Yes, it is a 2017 with cameras in the B-pillars too

Yup, you just need MCU2 ('infotainment upgrade') to get Sentry and dashcam.

 

[Krash]

Yup, you just need MCU2 ('infotainment upgrade') to get Sentry and dashcam.

To reclarify, latest MCU1 builds have Sentry.