2021 Tesla Y USB Drive Formats. not Recognized

[JupiterJim]

I am running out of ideas how to get the USB drive recognized in my wife's 2021 Tesla Y.

About a year ago the originally purchased USB drive worked fine but recently when I drove it I noticed the little red X on the drive icon. (My wife never told me about this since this is her car and she does not pay attention to many things on the car. Therefore I do not know how long the USB drive has not been working.)

This Tesla Y is running 2022.44.30.10 software and has the USB drive slot in the center console under the phone charge location, not glove box.

We had originally used a Micro SD card with a USB 2.0 drive and this worked at least until last year when I viewed some footage on Sentry Mode. I tested it numerous times and Sentry Mode was working last year.

Last week I noticed the red X and started doing some research. My initial though is the original USB drive is rather cluncky and since my wife stores things in the storage location, I theorized it was knocking the drive slightly our of its drive slot.

So after reading numerous forums, I decided to purchase a 512gb Scandisk Ultra Fit. I figured this low profile would work better and not come loose.

The drive seems to format properly via the Tesla software on the Y. I confirmed this by viewing the drive on my Mac and it shows the drive name as "TESLADRIVE" and format as exFat which I believe are all correct. There are no drive partitions and the drive is empty even though I tried recording someone on it via honking the horn (option enabled) before viewing on Mac,

Yet the icon in the lower screen still has the red X. Clearly something is wrong.

I have tried a complete power down of the Y but this'd not fix the issues. I am open to suggestions on fixing the issue.

 

[howardnj]

^^^
Does it work in the glove box?

 

[JupiterJim]

This model does not have the glove box USB port.

 

[JupiterJim]

There was another softest update last night but no change i the red X. Note that we were at the airport for the weekend and we get the Sentry notifications but there is no way to view them.

 

[Keeta29]

I am running out of ideas how to get the USB drive recognized in my wife's 2021 Tesla Y.

About a year ago the originally purchased USB drive worked fine but recently when I drove it I noticed the little red X on the drive icon. (My wife never told me about this since this is her car and she does not pay attention to many things on the car. Therefore I do not know how long the USB drive has not been working.)

This Tesla Y is running 2022.44.30.10 software and has the USB drive slot in the center console under the phone charge location, not glove box.

We had originally used a Micro SD card with a USB 2.0 drive and this worked at least until last year when I viewed some footage on Sentry Mode. I tested it numerous times and Sentry Mode was working last year.

Last week I noticed the red X and started doing some research. My initial though is the original USB drive is rather cluncky and since my wife stores things in the storage location, I theorized it was knocking the drive slightly our of its drive slot.

So after reading numerous forums, I decided to purchase a 512gb Scandisk Ultra Fit. I figured this low profile would work better and not come loose.

The drive seems to format properly via the Tesla software on the Y. I confirmed this by viewing the drive on my Mac and it shows the drive name as "TESLADRIVE" and format as exFat which I believe are all correct. There are no drive partitions and the drive is empty even though I tried recording someone on it via honking the horn (option enabled) before viewing on Mac,

Yet the icon in the lower screen still has the red X. Clearly something is wrong.

I have tried a complete power down of the Y but this'd not fix the issues. I am open to suggestions on fixing the issue.

On a Mac you need to use MS-DOS (FAT 32).

 

[ATPMSD]

There are no drive partitions and the drive is empty

There must be a folder called TeslaCam in the root directory.

 

[ATPMSD]

On a Mac you need to use MS-DOS (FAT 32).

Pretty sure FAT32 will limit you to a 4 GB partition. exFat should work.

 

[Keeta29]

Pretty sure FAT32 will limit you to a 4 GB partition. exFat should work.

The OP said "This Tesla Y is running 2022.44.30.10 software and has the USB drive slot in the center console under the phone charge location, not glove box." I am not referring to any type of partition so you can use the same drive for both music and Sentry. If you are using a USB drive only for music and you are using it in the center console, then use FAT 32. I have been using Macs for 15+ years and this is what I have been using for USB for my Acura RDX, my Chevy Volt, and my M3. I personally would not combine Sentry and music on one drive when I have two perfectly good USB 3 drives in my center console.

 

[ATPMSD]

I am not referring to any type of partition so you can use the same drive for both music and Sentry

Not sure of the point here, to my knowledge you cannot use a single partition for both Sentry and Music, at least this is the case in my MS. You need one partition for Sentry and a second one for Music. So long as each partition is 4 GB or less you can use FAT32, otherwise you need exFat. There is no downside I am aware of in using exFat all of the time. Of course as long as FAT32 works, there is no issue with that solution either..

 

[Keeta29]

Not sure of the point here, to my knowledge you cannot use a single partition for both Sentry and Music, at least this is the case in my MS. You need one partition for Sentry and a second one for Music. So long as each partition is 4 GB or less you can use FAT32, otherwise you need exFat. There is no downside I am aware of in using exFat all of the time. Of course as long as FAT32 works, there is no issue with that solution either..

Actually I did not mean it in that way. You said that a FAT32 will limit you to a 4 GB partition. My point was that if you are using the USB stick just for music, then the OP will probably need to use FAT32 (formatting the USB stick on the Mac through Disk Utility). It seems like their setup is different from mine, as I have one USB in the glovebox (which I use for sentry) and two USB ports in the center console (which I use for music). I do not partition anything as three ports are more than enough for my needs. They said that they do not have a USB port in the glove box. I thought all Teslas had a USB in the glovebox.

 

[jsargevt]

Actually I did not mean it in that way. You said that a FAT32 will limit you to a 4 GB partition. My point was that if you are using the USB stick just for music, then the OP will probably need to use FAT32 (formatting the USB stick on the Mac through Disk Utility). It seems like their setup is different from mine, as I have one USB in the glovebox (which I use for sentry) and two USB ports in the center console (which I use for music). I do not partition anything as three ports are more than enough for my needs. They said that they do not have a USB port in the glove box. I thought all Teslas had a USB in the glovebox.

I think that the glovebox USB for data was introduced in 2022. I have a 2020 and the only USB ports I have are in my console.

I have the same issues as the OP. USB drive in glovebox worked for a while, no issues. Plugged it in, recognized and able to format and use without issue. Then, sometime around Oct 2022, my USB drive was not recogonized. I couldn't format it, couldn't view anything off it. I checked it with my laptop and it was fine. I tried a bunch of other USB drives, unformatted, formatted with FAT32, exFAT none worked. I even purchased the Tesla USB drive thinking that they were being very particular.

I opened a ticket with Tesla and they could not remotely troubleshoot and need me to bring my vehicle in to be checked to address this issue (which seems crazy). I live 2 hours away from the nearest Tesla Service center so I will just wait until I have a good reason to be in the area for them to check it out.

I sincerely think that either there is an issue with their code that prevents the vehicle from recognizing the USB drives in the console or there is something physically wrong. I am betting that there is code being generated that assumes every vehicle has a USB in the glovebox and that is causing the issue, but who knows. I am not a programmer.

 

[jcanoe]

2020 LRMY; there are 2 front USB ports beneath the wireless charging pad: USB-C, USB-A. Never had the Tesla/Samsung thumb drive; Since Day1 have been using Sandisk Multimate Reader and Samsung 128GB Pro Endurance micro SD card.

I recommend using only Samsung (Pro Endurance, up to 128GB) or Sandisk (High Endurance or Max Endurance, up to 256GB ), needs to be an Endurance type micro SD card for long life. (Note: 128GB is enough storage for ~17 hours of Dashcam/Sentry mode saved video clips.)

I use the Tesla Model Y menu option to format the drive. The Tesla Model Y will automatically create the required /Teslacam root folder.

Going on almost 3 years with no issues. (I do have a passive USB hub installed in the USB-A port so I can have a thumb drive for music and the Sandisk Multimate Reader w/micro SD card for Dashcam/Sentry mode recordings.)

 

[Keeta29]

I think that the glovebox USB for data was introduced in 2022. I have a 2020 and the only USB ports I have are in my console.

I have the same issues as the OP. USB drive in glovebox worked for a while, no issues. Plugged it in, recognized and able to format and use without issue. Then, sometime around Oct 2022, my USB drive was not recogonized. I couldn't format it, couldn't view anything off it. I checked it with my laptop and it was fine. I tried a bunch of other USB drives, unformatted, formatted with FAT32, exFAT none worked. I even purchased the Tesla USB drive thinking that they were being very particular.

I opened a ticket with Tesla and they could not remotely troubleshoot and need me to bring my vehicle in to be checked to address this issue (which seems crazy). I live 2 hours away from the nearest Tesla Service center so I will just wait until I have a good reason to be in the area for them to check it out.

I sincerely think that either there is an issue with their code that prevents the vehicle from recognizing the USB drives in the console or there is something physically wrong. I am betting that there is code being generated that assumes every vehicle has a USB in the glovebox and that is causing the issue, but who knows. I am not a programmer.

My M3 is a 2021, so maybe glovebox USB started then? Interesting that I ran over a large screw last weekend, and I called Tesla service to fix it. Once they completed the job, I get in the car, and the USB did not work after that. I reset the touchscreen and it started working again. I only listen to my USB drive plugged into the console - no streaming, no radio, and I have never had any issues with the USB inputs, until this past weekend.

 

[jsargevt]

2020 LRMY; there are 2 front USB ports beneath the wireless charging pad: USB-C, USB-A. Never had the Tesla/Samsung thumb drive; Since Day1 have been using Sandisk Multimate Reader and Samsung 128GB Pro Endurance micro SD card.

I recommend using only Samsung (Pro Endurance, up to 128GB) or Sandisk (High Endurance or Max Endurance, up to 256GB ), needs to be an Endurance type micro SD card for long life. (Note: 128GB is enough storage for ~17 hours of Dashcam/Sentry mode saved video clips.)

I use the Tesla Model Y menu option to format the drive. The Tesla Model Y will automatically create the required /Teslacam root folder.

Going on almost 3 years with no issues. (I do have a passive USB hub installed in the USB-A port so I can have a thumb drive for music and the Sandisk Multimate Reader w/micro SD card for Dashcam/Sentry mode recordings.)

I have the Pro Endurance card and it's just not recognized by the car. NO USB drives are recognized by the car. It's a little crazy that it stopped working. I have tried resetting the screen, hard resetting, etc, etc.

Consider yourself lucky that it has not just stopped working. Here is to hoping that it continues to work without issue.

 

[Ctuna]

So they deleted the part that does data to the to front console usb ports
making them power only. There is a company that will sell you a retrofit of
the original part deleted or the other solutions suggested here are.
By a bigger glove drive and partition it into two drives one labeled TeslaCam
and one for Music. There are a lot of people selling USB Hubs for the Glove if
you don't want to that . I wonder which ones work best ?

 

[BitJam]

I decided to purchase a 512gb Scandisk Ultra Fit. I figured this low profile would work better and not come loose.

Sorry I'm late to the party. SanDisk Ultra Fit 3.1 are utter crap! At least one person here has reported one failing in their Tesla due to it running too hot.

I spent 10 years designing a version of Linux that runs directly from usb sticks. Whenever people had strange errors we couldn't diagnose I'd ask if they were using a SanDisk Ultra Fit and most of the time the answer was "yes". They run way too hot. The motherboard on a new laptop of mine burned up at the usb port while one of these was plugged into it.

The large current surge when they first start can cause some Linux systems to lose track of them. AFAIK there is no fix for this other than to unplug and replug the device.

Samsung usb flash drives are not quite as small but they are very reliable.

 

[Ctuna]

Bought one of those USB Hubs off Amazon. Plugged it in worked right away and USB Icon showed up right away to.
I like the Hub idea better than a partitioned Drive. since you can pull out the drive if you need if you want to update
it for Music .

Klutchtech Tesla 2021 2022 2023 Model 3/Y Glove Box USB Hub, 4-in-1 USB Hub Glove Box Dash Cam Flash Drive Docking Station Compatible with Tesla Model Y Model 3 Accessories -Convex Was about 25 bucks on Amazon.​

I tried two sticks at time (3usba ports )to but couldn't get them to one to work at the same time might have something to do with labling the volume or drive .
anyway happy to have USB music working.
The chip replacement would the more elegent solution but I don't want to dig into a brand new car an this was easy.

















$25.99

 

[Ron J.]

For what it is worth, for my 2022 MY I'm using a 512GB Sandisk UltreFit in the glovebox USB port. Works great for the Tesla functions and also to store approx. 1 thousand MP3s.

 

[flai54]

My M3 is a 2021, so maybe glovebox USB started then? Interesting that I ran over a large screw last weekend, and I called Tesla service to fix it. Once they completed the job, I get in the car, and the USB did not work after that. I reset the touchscreen and it started working again. I only listen to my USB drive plugged into the console - no streaming, no radio, and I have never had any issues with the USB inputs, until this past weekend.

Seems like Tesla only started adding the glovebox USB when they decided to remove the data transmission part of the module for the 2 front center console USB ports. Obviously they know that they needed at least 1 USB port that allows data transmission in order to write the camera data for dashcam/sentry mode. I don't know anyone who has a 2021 or earlier M3/MY but I just assumed it was always there for the longest time but I guess not.

 

[jcanoe]

Seems like Tesla only started adding the glovebox USB when they decided to remove the data transmission part of the module for the 2 front center console USB ports. Obviously they know that they needed at least 1 USB port that allows data transmission in order to write the camera data for dashcam/sentry mode. I don't know anyone who has a 2021 or earlier M3/MY but I just assumed it was always there for the longest time but I guess not.

Tesla moved the USB data port for Dash cam and Sentry to the glove box for added security (the glove box can be locked with a PIN.) Tesla later removed data support for the front USB-C ports due to supply chain issues or other reasons known only to Tesla.