2023 Model 3 RWD Dashcam Unavailable permanently.

[Rubabul Karim]

Hi all,

I’ve purchased my Model 3 RWD in June, and since last September the dashcam has been unavailable every other trip. It usually worked if I rebooted, but having to reboot 5+ times a day is not a good sign.

Furthermore in December I’ve opted for an SSD (Samsung T7 1 TB) and have proceeded to use Disk Utility to format and partition it to exFAT, but my Tesla never once recognized this brand new SSD. It still gives me the same plain error ‘Dashcam Unavailable: Check USB Drive’. I’ve ordered Samsung Pro SD card and SanDISK USB mate to further this hamster wheel of an experiment.

Please note that the Tesla USB also barely works, and has not worked once over the last few days.

P.S - I have an appointment with them on December 27th.

Tesla Software version - v11.1 (2023.44-14828-fca66ffc98)

When I plug in the SSD the blue light goes away, maybe after failing to intialize. Worked perfectly on my MacBook Pro.

 

[Rubabul Karim]

This is what I’ve been getting for months

 

[Adam3]

Format the drive from the car screen

 

[Rubabul Karim]

Format the drive from the car screen

Both the buttons on my controls menu under Safety is greyed out, cannot be pressed for either my Tesla USB nor my SSD

 

[Adam3]

Both the buttons on my controls menu under Safety is greyed out, cannot be pressed for either my Tesla USB nor my SSD

Does the following seem similar?

TLDW; think they just rebooted car WITHOUT flash drives plugged in.

 

[Rubabul Karim]

Does the following seem similar?

TLDW; think they just rebooted car WITHOUT flash drives plugged in.

This looks like a previous gen Tesla, mine is the subtle interior changes they made away from their black plastic, June 2023 Tesla Model 3 RWD, therefore I only have USB-C in the center console which only charges and is not data transfer. Though I tried plugging in there too since the T7 comes with a USB-C to USB-C cable.

I get no ‘Format USB’ capability, it’s all greyed out as if nothing is plugged in.

 

[EVRider-FL]

Both the buttons on my controls menu under Safety is greyed out, cannot be pressed for either my Tesla USB nor my SSD

The format feature is disabled when you use more than one drive. Remove one of them to format the other.

Did you remember to create a TeslaCam folder when you formatted the SSD?

 

[Rubabul Karim]

The format feature is disabled when you use more than one drive. Remove one of them to format the other.

Did you remember to create a TeslaCam folder when you formatted the SSD?

My 2023 Tesla Model 3 RWD only has one USB-A port for Dashcam, which is in the glovebox. The center console ports are different and only for charging, so I can plug in either my USB or SSD one at a time.

Furthermore, yes after formatting and partitioning to exFAT I named the drive, TESLADRIVE and created a folder TeslaCam with the exact same capitalization. But it still doesn’t work.

 

[cbdream99]

Have you tried with a simple USB thumb drive with lesser capacity? If it works, then there may be a problem with you bigger drive or not enough juice to run it.

 

[Rubabul Karim]

Have you tried with a simple USB thumb drive with lesser capacity?

No I have not tried anything that’s less than the OEM factory 128 GB Tesla USB, but since that itself does not work I upgraded.

Next, after this SSD I’m going to try out the Samsung Endurance SD card with SanDisk USB mate. Hopefully I can finally use the Dashcam app, cause this is absurd.

 

[Demented_Y]

I'm having the same issue! Unfortunately my car is out of warranty.

 

[PhoKingPanda]

Same issue with our 2020 MY. I've tried multiple microsd cards and now using a Samsung T7 500gb. It's still buggy but I think I found a pattern...

• Sentry Mode is off when we're home since the car is in the garage.
  • If the car is parked for a few hours and starts without warming it up first, the usb drive is not recognized. We'll have to reboot the car to get it to work.
  • If I precondition the car, sentry mode/dashcam works.
• Once the car recognizes the usb drive, it will continue to work as intended as long as sentry mode stays on while we're shopping, at work, etc.
• After we get home and car goes to sleep, car won't recognize the usb drive without preconditioning again.

 

[NorthBethesda]

Same issue with our 2020 MY. I've tried multiple microsd cards and now using a Samsung T7 500gb. It's still buggy but I think I found a pattern...

• Sentry Mode is off when we're home since the car is in the garage.
  • If the car is parked for a few hours and starts without warming it up first, the usb drive is not recognized. We'll have to reboot the car to get it to work.
  • If I precondition the car, sentry mode/dashcam works.
• Once the car recognizes the usb drive, it will continue to work as intended as long as sentry mode stays on while we're shopping, at work, etc.
• After we get home and car goes to sleep, car won't recognize the usb drive without preconditioning again.

I have the exact same problem and it started after an update in November. Any luck fixing it?

 

[robl45]

Same issue with our 2020 MY. I've tried multiple microsd cards and now using a Samsung T7 500gb. It's still buggy but I think I found a pattern...

• Sentry Mode is off when we're home since the car is in the garage.
  • If the car is parked for a few hours and starts without warming it up first, the usb drive is not recognized. We'll have to reboot the car to get it to work.
  • If I precondition the car, sentry mode/dashcam works.
• Once the car recognizes the usb drive, it will continue to work as intended as long as sentry mode stays on while we're shopping, at work, etc.
• After we get home and car goes to sleep, car won't recognize the usb drive without preconditioning again.

This is what I got, Any luck fixing it, I know the drive seems good, but getting the same issue, either I could try turning sentry mode on in the garage or reboot the thing daily which seems stupid.

 

[PhoKingPanda]

I have the exact same problem and it started after an update in November. Any luck fixing it?

Nope, I just have to remember to precondition the car before I leave the house, or leave sentry mode on.

 

[PhoKingPanda]

This is what I got, Any luck fixing it, I know the drive seems good, but getting the same issue, either I could try turning sentry mode on in the garage or reboot the thing daily which seems stupid.

Preconditioning the car helps. I've gotten into a habit of turning on the climate control a few minutes before we leave the house, and so far it's been working "as intended"

 

[robl45]

I switched the preconditioning on like you said. That has helped in the morning, but then today I was out later in the day and x again on the drive after seeing the drive working fine earlier in the day