Best reliable SSD for Sentry on Model Y

[alitech]

Hi all

I have looked at a few videos etc and I am unclear of what to get for my sentry. The USB drive that was supplied by Tesla is going to die pretty soon from what I know and I want to replace it with something with a bit more life.
I am thinking of a 1TB SSD drive for the sentry mode to sit in the glove compartment as thats where the data for sentry is stored, my 2022 Model Y AMD does not have data in the center console.

Can anyone please recommend a drive that has worked well, does not head, no issues with data access / speed etc?

Is there an impact on battery more than using a regular thumb drive or is it the same?

Please let me know so I can purchase one.

 

[UoMDeacon]

A high endurance SD card will have better survivability (rated to run at lower and higher temps than an SSD) than and SSD and likely cost a lot less. I’m using a 256 Samsung Pro Endurance and it looks like it’s only $30 on Amazon currently.

 

[hmadsen]

I have previously bought one of these

10Gbps M2 SSD Case Dual NVME SATA Enclosure M.2 to USB SSD 3.1 C Type AU V9B4 | eBay

Support M.2 SSD, 22 30mm, 22 42mm, 22 60mm, 22 80mm solid state drives, (SSD hard drives are not included). 1 X SSD Enclosure. Colour: Black. The aluminum alloy shell, which facilitates the heat dissipation of the hard disk during work and increases the life of the hard disk.

www.ebay.com

And mounted a 2TB nvme drive inside.

I dont know if this will work, but if it does, it gives a lot of capacity for very little space taken up.

Just need to get a cable with an angled USB-a connector and very short lead, and then stick the drive to the back of the glovebox using some double sided tape i think.

But first...I need to get the car

 

[alitech]

A high endurance SD card will have better survivability (rated to run at lower and higher temps than an SSD) than and SSD and likely cost a lot less. I’m using a 256 Samsung Pro Endurance and it looks like it’s only $30 on Amazon currently.

With a USB card reader?

 

[UoMDeacon]

With a USB card reader?

Yeah, I'm using one of the JOWUA USB3.0 ones that has extra USB-A ports and the SD card reader.

 

[rrr_land]

I have previously bought one of these

10Gbps M2 SSD Case Dual NVME SATA Enclosure M.2 to USB SSD 3.1 C Type AU V9B4 | eBay

Support M.2 SSD, 22 30mm, 22 42mm, 22 60mm, 22 80mm solid state drives, (SSD hard drives are not included). 1 X SSD Enclosure. Colour: Black. The aluminum alloy shell, which facilitates the heat dissipation of the hard disk during work and increases the life of the hard disk.

www.ebay.com

And mounted a 2TB nvme drive inside.

I dont know if this will work, but if it does, it gives a lot of capacity for very little space taken up.

Just need to get a cable with an angled USB-a connector and very short lead, and then stick the drive to the back of the glovebox using some double sided tape i think.

But first...I need to get the car

I have tried one from Sabrent, it seemed like a top notch by looking at the reviews but it's not reliable. It drops connections leaving nothing to record to during sentry mode or while driving. I think these enclosures are made for occasional use and not frequent. I bought SanDisk 512gb usb drive, seems to be working all the time.

 

[Goobers]

So, I’ve been using a Samsun 2TB drive.

Right now, I’m currently testing a ”fix” for an issue I’ve been having. The issue was that every so often, namely if I hit a particularly jarring bump or something, the the Tesla would pop a notification about unplugging and replugging it in to get higher speeds. If I don’t do anything, it seems to work fine, but that message doesn’t go away until I do unplug/plug it.

The “fix” was squeezing the USB plug. Out of the box it never really seemed that secure, though it never actually fell out. So, by squeezing it, it does feel more secure. I pinched both ends of the cable, just in case. The metal is just noticeably curved, nothing too severe, and is tighter when plugged in.

Oh, if you plan on attempting this, do NOT use tools, just use your fingertips/nails. It’ll be a bit hard, but with a tool it’s too easy to straight up crush it.

 

[jcanoe]

Almost 3 years with my 2020 MY. I purchased the Sandisk Mobilemate USB 3.0 Reader and a Samsung 128GB Pro Endurance Micro SD card. This combination for storing Sentry and Dashcam recordings has been flawless.

Sandisk High Endurance and Sandisk Max Endurance Micro SD cards (available up to 256GB) are also reported to work well. (Note: You need to use an Endurance type memory storage to stand up to the high number of read/write operations.) Beware of counterfeit USB readers and memory storage devices.

A 128GB or 256GB micro SD card has more than enough capacity for Sentry and Dashcam recordings. The only reason you would want an SSD is if you have large music collection and plan to create a separate partition on the drive for the music files.

 

[hmadsen]

So what is the advantage of buying a 128 Gbyte USB drive, i was under the impression that the car already came with a 128 Gbyte thumbdrive installed ?

I thought the reason people swapped it, was to get more capacity ?

A 128GB or 256GB micro SD card has more than enough capacity for Sentry and Dashcam recordings. The only reason you would want an SSD is if you have large music collection and plan to create a separate partition on the drive for the music files.

Does the car only save sentry and dashcam recordings for a set period of time ?

On my dashcam in my other car, the dashcam fills up the card and then overwrites the oldest recordings, so if i put a card, double the capacity in, i will get recordings saved for double the amount of time, before it is being overwritten.

 

[alitech]

Guys, SD cards are just as bad as USB thumb drives. They have a limited life span. I can buy these for sure, but I dont have a huge amount of confidence on either USB thumb drives or SD cards. This is why I wanted to go for something a bit more robust.

Anyone have any experience with these external SSDs

 

[siegersallee]

I use

Samsung - T7 Shield 1TB External USB 3.2 Gen 2 Rugged SSD IP65 Water Resistant - Blue​

No issues and lots of storage for teslacam and for music.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-t7-shield-1tb-external-usb-3-2-gen-2-rugged-ssd-ip65-water-resistant-blue/6501718.p?skuId=6501718

 

[jcanoe]

So what is the advantage of buying a 128 Gbyte USB drive, i was under the impression that the car already came with a 128 Gbyte thumbdrive installed ?

I thought the reason people swapped it, was to get more capacity ?

Does the car only save sentry and dashcam recordings for a set period of time ?

On my dashcam in my other car, the dashcam fills up the card and then overwrites the oldest recordings, so if i put a card, double the capacity in, i will get recordings saved for double the amount of time, before it is being overwritten.

The thumb drive that is included with the Tesla Model Y (inserted in the USB data port inside the glove box) is a Samsung USB drive. It is not an Endurance type memory device. For video and other high read/write applications you want an Endurance type memory storage for longest life. A non-Endurance type memory device would fail quickly, usually within the 1st year. For longest life get the Sandisk Max Endurance micro SD card. The Max Endurance card is designed such that it will outlast at least the time that own the Tesla vehicle, even several vehicles.

Yes, more capacity is one reason but only an advantage if you also store your music collection on the storage device (The device needs to be partitioned into more than one drive if you want to listen to music stored on the same memory device. Even if the device is an SSD you need to create a separate partition for the music files.)

Dash cam recordings are 10 minute clips. The Tesla Model Y will overwrite the oldest of the 10 minute clips after 1 hour unless there is an event that saves the dash cam clip. Events can include honking the horn, tapping the Dash cam icon on the Tesla screen or if the Tesla Model Y detects an event that could be a collision.

Saved Dash cam video files and Sentry mode events are saved to a sub folder within the /Teslacam root folder on the device. Saved files are never automatically deleted.

64GB might be enough; 128GB is usually enough and 256 GB is more than enough storage for Dash cam and Sentry files. (128GB can store ~ 17 hours of Dash cam and Sentry mode files; 256GB would store ~35 hours of video.) Unless you have a large music collection there is no advantage to using an SSD.

Since Dashcam only records 1 hour of video before overwriting the oldest video clip having more storage would only provide additional space for saved Dashcam video clips and any Sentry mode clips (Sentry mode events are automatically saved.)

 

[hmadsen]

Guys, SD cards are just as bad as USB thumb drives. They have a limited life span. I can buy these for sure, but I dont have a huge amount of confidence on either USB thumb drives or SD cards. This is why I wanted to go for something a bit more robust.

Anyone have any experience with these external SSDs

I agree.

If you take apart some of the thumbdrives you would see that it is actually just a SD card soldered onto the PCB.

 

[hmadsen]

The thumb drive that is included with the Tesla Model Y (inserted in the USB data port inside the glove box) is a Samsung USB drive. It is not an Endurance type memory device. For video and other high read/write applications you want an Endurance type memory storage for longest life.

Yes, more capacity is one reason but only an advantage if you also store your music collection on the storage device (The device needs to be partitioned into more than one drive if you want to listen to music stored on the same memory device. Even if the device is an SSD you need to create a separate partition for the music files.)

Dash cam recordings are 10 minute clips. The Tesla Model Y will overwrite the oldest of the 10 minute clips after 1 hour unless there is an event that saves the dash cam clip. Events can include honking the horn, tapping the Dash cam icon on the Tesla screen or if the Tesla Model Y detects an event that could be a collision.

Saved Dash cam video files and Sentry mode events are saved to a sub folder within the /Teslacam root folder on the device. Saved files are never automatically deleted.

64GB might be enough; 128GB is usually enough and 256 GB is more than enough storage for Dash cam and Sentry files. (128GB can store ~ 17 hours of Dash cam and Sentry mode files; 256GB would store ~35 hours of video.

Since Dashcam only records 1 hour of video before overwriting the oldest video clip having more storage would only provide additional space for saved Dashcam video clips and any Sentry mode clips (Sentry mode events are automatically saved.)

Okay, this is not how my current dashcam works, so this is why i was confused.

No need to "waste" my 2TB drive if it still only saves one hour of dashcam.

And i guess there is no way of setting the car to save more than one hour.

I did know about the horn, i have already told the wife that if she ever wants to save something, to press the horn.

The dashcam footage from our previous electric car that got totalled by a moron in a Mustang, that reversed into our car, my wife, who was the driver, did not have to save it, as the camera detected the impact. (Impact was hard enough to blow both front airbags, and all seatbelt pretentioners)...Some day i will send the clip to whambam dashcam

I actually think i will stick the webcam from that car in the windscreen of the Tesla, it seems that the dashcam is not super high quality on the tesla, this Garmin Dashcam mini 2 has a lot clearer picture. Only need to figure out where i can get 5V from to power the camera.

 

[jcanoe]

Okay, this is not how my current dashcam works, so this is why i was confused.

No need to "waste" my 2TB drive if it still only saves one hour of dashcam.

And i guess there is no way of setting the car to save more than one hour.

I did know about the horn, i have already told the wife that if she ever wants to save something, to press the horn.

The dashcam footage from our previous electric car that got totalled by a moron in a Mustang, that reversed into our car, my wife, who was the driver, did not have to save it, as the camera detected the impact. (Impact was hard enough to blow both front airbags, and all seatbelt pretentioners)...Some day i will send the clip to whambam dashcam

I actually think i will stick the webcam from that car in the windscreen of the Tesla, it seems that the dashcam is not super high quality on the tesla, this Garmin Dashcam mini 2 has a lot clearer picture. Only need to figure out where i can get 5V from to power the camera.

Many Tesla owners install a separate dash cam as the quality of the recording can be better than what the Dashcam video currently can provide. Tesla owners have figured out how to tap into power for radar detectors and dash cam units. The challenge is to provide power once the Tesla Model Y is locked as the USB ports and low voltage accessory power do not continue to be powered once the Tesla Model Y is parked and locked.

 

[hmadsen]

Many Tesla owners install a separate dash cam as the quality of the recording can be better than what the Dashcam video currently can provide. Tesla owners have figured out how to tap into power for radar detectors and dash cam units. The challenge is to provide power once the Tesla Model Y is locked as the USB ports and low voltage accessory power do not continue to be powered once the Tesla Model Y is parked and locked.

Is it not possible to tap into the "12V" battery somewhere ?

On my previous car it was very easy to install a dashcam as there were a USB socket in the top of the cover for the camera on the windscreen. Wish more cars had a USB socket in this position.

I had the camera mounted higher than the one in the picture and the wire tucked away behind the plastic piece.

I am certainly going to put this camera into the Tesla, can't have to many cameras.

PS. This USB socket was also only energized when the car was "on"

 

[jcanoe]

Is it not possible to tap into the "12V" battery somewhere ?

On my previous car it was very easy to install a dashcam as there were a USB socket in the top of the cover for the camera on the windscreen. Wish more cars had a USB socket in this position.

I had the camera mounted higher than the one in the picture and the wire tucked away behind the plastic piece.

I am certainly going to put this camera into the Tesla, can't have to many cameras.

PS. This USB socket was also only energized when the car was "on"

Tesla no longer refers to a 12V system, only a low voltage system. The 12V lead-acid battery has been replaced by a smaller, lighter lithium battery that operates at 15.5V. This lithium battery has much less amp-hour rated capacity than the older lead-acid 12V battery but is designed to last for the life of the Tesla vehicle battery warranty, i.e. 8 years. You should not attempt to tap into the lithium starting battery for powering any accessories. If you are fine with the aftermarket dash cam only being powered when the Tesla Model Y is powered on, driven than you should be able to use one of the USB-C ports for powering the dash cam provided the dash cam is compatible with 16V power.

 

[alitech]

This is going into many different directions. An external webcam seems to be a good option, but not everyone will do it.

Conclusively, does everyone feel that an SSD type solution would work best? Still not keen on SD cards even if they are endurance type.

The Samsung T7 solution seems promising?

 

[hmadsen]

Tesla no longer refers to a 12V system, only a low voltage system. The 12V lead-acid battery has been replaced by a smaller, lighter lithium battery that operates at 15.5V.

Hence me writing "12V system".

But yeah, with the new Li-ion battery with less capacity, i guess the camera would drain the battery faster, even though the HV battery would top it up before being drained.

 

[jcanoe]

The SSD has its fans even though the SSD usually costs more, requires a USB cable, takes up more space in the glove box and uses more power than the SD card. If you search the TMC forums there are threads where SSD that previously worked without issue suddenly stopped working after the Tesla USB firmware was updated.

With later software the Tesla Model Y has become more sensitive to the maximum power being drawn from the USB data port. This might trigger some errors. It is worth checking the specs because not all SSD have the same power requirements, some use less. Some SSD may be better able to tolerate the temperature extremes of the inside of an automobile.

The primary advantage of an SSD is the additional storage. The additional storage is typically used for storing audio files.

[Edit] In addition, an SSD can sustain faster read/write speeds than the USB/SD reader.

The SSD firmware manages distributing the writing of data using the available space. This maximizes the life of the SSD. The USB/microSD may do this too within the limit of what is typically the maximum microSD capacity ~256GB for an Endurance type memory device.