Anyone still rocking a Pi Zero W smart drive for TeslaCam on Sentry Mode?

[pkitch]

If you're so inclined, log in to the pi and run:

pwd
ls -al​

then run sudo -i and:

cd /root
ls -al
cd /
ls -al​

and post the results of the pwd command and all the directory listings (the ls -al commands). Those commands will show the contents of the SD card as seen by linux running on the pi:

1. The directory you log into
2. The contents of that directory with all the permissions assigned to each file and subdirectory
3. The contents of the /root directory with all their permissions
4. The contents of the / directory with all their permissions.

Of course, and thanks for sticking with me here..

Here is what I get:

Last login: Tue May 19 17:48:58 2020 from fe80::4d0:3d5e:cad5:f724%usb0

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ pwd

/home/pi

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ ls -al

. .. .bash_history .bash_logout .bashrc .gnupg .profile

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ sudo -i

root@raspberrypi:~# cd /root

root@raspberrypi:~# ls -al

total 28

drwx------ 4 root root 4096 May 19 17:46 .

drwxr-xr-x 21 root root 4096 Jan 22 23:46 ..

-rw------- 1 root root 91 May 19 17:48 .bash_history

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 570 Nov 19 08:13 .bashrc

drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 May 18 17:21 bin

drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 May 18 20:40 .local

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 148 Nov 19 08:13 .profile

root@raspberrypi:~# cd /

root@raspberrypi:/# ls -al

 

[RichieB]

There is no permission error. You are simply missing /root/teslausb_setup_variables.conf which is copied from /boot/teslausb_setup_variables.conf by rc.local (= on startup). Please stop reflashing the sdcard. There is nothing wrong with it. Simply place teslausb_setup_variables.conf in /boot and let the pi run for 10 minutes. Then inspect /boot/teslausb-headless-setup.log using tail.

 

[pkitch]

There is no permission error. You are simply missing /root/teslausb_setup_variables.conf which is copied from /boot/teslausb_setup_variables.conf by rc.local (= on startup). Please stop reflashing the sdcard. There is nothing wrong with it. Simply place teslausb_setup_variables.conf in /boot and let the pi run for 10 minutes. Then inspect /boot/teslausb-headless-setup.log using tail.

OK will do. Confirming that /boot/teslausb_setup_variables.conf is present before hand.

 

[pkitch]

There is no permission error. You are simply missing /root/teslausb_setup_variables.conf which is copied from /boot/teslausb_setup_variables.conf by rc.local (= on startup). Please stop reflashing the sdcard. There is nothing wrong with it. Simply place teslausb_setup_variables.conf in /boot and let the pi run for 10 minutes. Then inspect /boot/teslausb-headless-setup.log using tail.

OK it's been sat for about 20mins, here is the result from the tail command:

Last login: Tue May 19 19:35:14 2020 from fe80::69:ac6b:e583:7f99%usb0

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ tail -f teslausb-headless-setup.log

tail: cannot open 'teslausb-headless-setup.log' for reading: No such file or directory

tail: no files remaining

pi@raspberrypi:~ $

 

[RichieB]

The log file is in boot:

tail -20 /boot/teslausb-headless-setup.log

 

[pkitch]

The log file is in boot:

tail -20 /boot/teslausb-headless-setup.log

This is the response:

Last login: Tue May 19 19:50:47 2020 from fe80::c04:c331:f354:30e8%usb0

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ tail -20 /boot/teslausb-headless-setup.log

Mon 18 May 17:21:45 BST 2020 : Detecting whether to update wpa_supplicant.conf

Mon 18 May 17:21:46 BST 2020 : Setup appears not to have completed, but you didn't provide a teslausb_setup_variables.conf.

Mon 18 May 17:21:46 BST 2020 : Grabbing main setup file.

Mon 18 May 17:21:47 BST 2020 : Starting setup.

Mon 18 May 17:23:46 BST 2020 : Detecting whether to update wpa_supplicant.conf

Mon 18 May 17:23:46 BST 2020 : Setup appears not to have completed, but you didn't provide a teslausb_setup_variables.conf.

Mon 18 May 17:23:46 BST 2020 : Starting setup.

Mon 18 May 17:23:59 BST 2020 : Detecting whether to update wpa_supplicant.conf

Mon 18 May 17:23:59 BST 2020 : Setup appears not to have completed, but you didn't provide a teslausb_setup_variables.conf.

Mon 18 May 17:23:59 BST 2020 : Starting setup.

Mon 18 May 18:22:54 BST 2020 : Detecting whether to update wpa_supplicant.conf

Mon 18 May 18:53:52 BST 2020 : Detecting whether to update wpa_supplicant.conf

Mon 18 May 20:42:09 BST 2020 : Detecting whether to update wpa_supplicant.conf

Mon 18 May 23:50:44 BST 2020 : Detecting whether to update wpa_supplicant.conf

Mon 18 May 23:54:11 BST 2020 : Detecting whether to update wpa_supplicant.conf

Tue 19 May 00:03:47 BST 2020 : Detecting whether to update wpa_supplicant.conf

Tue 19 May 17:53:22 BST 2020 : Detecting whether to update wpa_supplicant.conf

Tue 19 May 19:34:22 BST 2020 : Detecting whether to update wpa_supplicant.conf

Wed 20 May 12:17:28 BST 2020 : Detecting whether to update wpa_supplicant.conf

Wed 20 May 13:51:35 BST 2020 : Detecting whether to update wpa_supplicant.conf

 

[Mash]

So 1 week ago my mother laptop stopped booting. Need to reinstall Windows. So no TeamViewer. She is 72 y.o. in another country. Well, she managed to do it by herself. If she can - you can do it too.

You guys, should really PM each other. And agree on some PayPal "thank you" afterwards. You polluting this thread with something that is interesting to a single person. And doing it super slow, because its a forum. Painful to watch, tbh.

No?

 

[pkitch]

So 1 week ago my mother laptop stopped booting. Need to reinstall Windows. So no TeamViewer. She is 72 y.o. in another country. Well, she managed to do it by herself. If she can - you can do it too.

You guys, should really PM each other. And agree on some PayPal "thank you" afterwards. You polluting this thread with something that is interesting to a single person. And doing it super slow, because its a forum. Painful to watch, tbh.

No?

I am not attempting to reinstall Windows but thanks for the analogy.

I am grateful for the help I have received from several folks more knowledgable than I. From your study of the situation you'll see it's not as simple as following instructions - I'd assume useful to others with perhaps the same issue.

 

[Mash]

I am not attempting to reinstall Windows but thanks for the analogy.

I am grateful for the help I have received from several folks more knowledgable than I. From your study of the situation you'll see it's not as simple as following instructions - I'd assume useful to others with perhaps the same issue.

I feel your pain. I've been at exact that place. Guys who are helping also deserve a respect. But, honestly, if you follow instructions to the point and read what the system answers to you - you don't need that help. And if you can't - it was a time to donate some beer money for private help. You would solve problem faster and we won't have several pages of your logs, which, no, I don't see how they can help anyone.

I'm not a moderator, as you know, I just happened to be subscribed to this thread for anything useful or at least amusing.

 

[Dan203]

Now that you can view TeslaCam footage on screen is there really a need for this setup?

 

[Mash]

Now that you can view TeslaCam footage on screen is there really a need for this setup?

My setup automatically uploads everything to Google drive once it gets wifi. And it's unlimited space. So no need to cleanup, can always check things from anywhere. If only it was more reliable and worked with internal dashcam...

 

[pkitch]

I feel your pain. I've been at exact that place. Guys who are helping also deserve a respect. But, honestly, if you follow instructions to the point and read what the system answers to you - you don't need that help. And if you can't - it was a time to donate some beer money for private help. You would solve problem faster and we won't have several pages of your logs, which, no, I don't see how they can help anyone.

I'm not a moderator, as you know, I just happened to be subscribed to this thread for anything useful or at least amusing.

I'll happily donate some beer tokens or such and am hugely grateful for the help. I didn't come here to end up airing dirty laundry and assumed there was something very simple that could be answered. That so far doesn't seem to be the case. The Pi isn't reading the files according to available logging and there isn't yet an obvious reason why though still working it through.

I'll have someone helping me now via DM and I have another approach to try. I'll post back here if I find a solution in case anyone else does experience the same issue.

 

[pkitch]

My setup automatically uploads everything to Google drive once it gets wifi. And it's unlimited space. So no need to cleanup, can always check things from anywhere. If only it was more reliable and worked with internal dashcam...

I'm hoping ultimately to just have it setup up as a networked drive so can move (or sync) music across incrementally.

 

[Mash]

I'm hoping ultimately to just have it setup up as a networked drive so can move (or sync) music across incrementally.

My music taste fits within Spotify library, so I don't see a need for that. But I find a convenience in checking all videos from Google drive with endless history.

 

[MLo1]

I’ve just about given up now that we can watch the footage on the screen. The pi seems to work well for weeks at a time then nothing- always at the most inconvenient times too like when there was a sentry event. Oh well best of luck to all that are continuing down this path

 

[maximus96]

newb question - if i have it set up already and want to change the config, like turning on/off the built-in AP, Do I just make the changes in the config file and move it to the pi or is there something else involved? I made the change, move the file over, but it didn't seem to make any difference. Do i need to run the commands shown a few pages back to re-run the set up process? Thanks

 

[RichieB]

You need to re-run setup-teslausb

 

[Vipercat]

Hi All,

I noticed a change in the way Tesla powers the USB ports in the Model S. As of 2020.20.12 (received this update last Saterday) my USB ports (on which I've connected my PI) are no longer powered when Sentry is enabled. The power is cut after +/- 90 seconds. As a result my PI is no longer recording when Sentry is enabled.

Do others experience the same? I've already done a reboot and power off. No luck with that. I'm now using a Power Bank, but I don't like having such device in the car, especially when looking at how hot the car gets in the summer. I don't want the Power Bank to ignite

 

[RichieB]

Yes, this is a common problem. The issue seems to be that when the Tesla does not detect a USB mass storage device, it powers off the USB ports in Sentry Mode. One of the possible solutions discussed in Tesla API to keep your car awake · Issue #384 · marcone/teslausb is to make TeslaUSB present a USB storage device even when it is archiving.

 

[BioSehnsucht]

Has anyone tested whether the ports are shut off entirely or just the +5V supply to the ports is? I wonder if you battery backed or separately powered the Pi, if it would continue to work.

One possible solution might be to connect a hub to the USB port, and to the hub connect both a regular thumbdrive (not used for anything in particular), plus the Pi device, that might cause it to always see a storage device. Though if it powers off the port if no devices are detected as being in use by sentry, that doesn't solve anything versus why it wasn't detecting the Pi in the first place.