Corrupt video files in Sentry Mode

[TedS]

I have been able to duplicate the problem across three media types and I no longer have any problems

1. SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive - SDCZ43-032G-GAM46 Works fine all the time and is metal which seems to keep the drive cool. This drive has proved to be reliable for 3 days with no zero file size issues or green screen.
2. SanDisk 32GB Ultra Fit USB 3.1 Flash Drive - SDCZ430-032G-G46 Fails within the first 2 hrs. I noticed the drive was hot to the touch and the construction is all plastic so I am thinking the metal case of #1 does a better job of transferring the heat.
   
3. Transcend 32GB JetFlash 790 USB 3.1 Flash Drive (TS32GJF790K) About the same as #2 with more "0" file sizes videos but no green screen

Hope this helps all of you. Fundamentally it's the media type.

I am interested to know if this solution proves to be reliable all the time. Does it still works without issues?

Otherwise I will be switching my SanDisk Ultra Fit USB 3.1 Flash Drive to the SanDisk Ultra Fit USB 3.0 Flash Drive. I am currently using a 128 GB flash drive. I wonder if a 32 GB version has influence on the reliability.

 

[Shaun5]

I've got a bit more info that leads me to believe this is not an issue with the cameras, but an issue with either the USB drive being used to store the video or the recording software. My wife has a brand new Model 3 running the same version of software that my Model S is running (2019.12.1.2). She had the same USB drive I was using - a plastic one. (For the record, a Sandisk Cruzer 16 GB - which has a plastic case, but the actual plug part is metal.) Her recordings experienced the same issues mine did and that we have all seen.

My initial thought was this might be related to the USB drive. The two plastic drives I was using are USB 2.0 drives and the one Avalino said was working is a USB 3.0 drive. But then TedS said he was having problems with his USB 3.1 drive, so I'm not so sure anymore.

Today I received the Sandisk UltraFit USB 3.0 drive that Avalino said worked. I've installed it and will report back tomorrow on if I still have corrupted files.

My owner's manual makes no mention of what USB version the car uses, although I have seen posts from others on this site claiming it is 2.0.

If the issue still persists, I think it has to be a software issue.

 

[Knightshade]

I've got a bit more info that leads me to believe this is not an issue with the cameras, but an issue with either the USB drive being used to store the video or the recording software. My wife has a brand new Model 3 running the same version of software that my Model S is running (2019.12.1.2). She had the same USB drive I was using - a plastic one. (For the record, a Sandisk Cruzer 16 GB - which has a plastic case, but the actual plug part is metal.) Her recordings experienced the same issues mine did and that we have all seen.

My initial thought was this might be related to the USB drive. The two plastic drives I was using are USB 2.0 drives and the one Avalino said was working is a USB 3.0 drive. But then TedS said he was having problems with his USB 3.1 drive, so I'm not so sure anymore.

Today I received the Sandisk UltraFit USB 3.0 drive that Avalino said worked. I've installed it and will report back tomorrow on if I still have corrupted files.

My owner's manual makes no mention of what USB version the car uses, although I have seen posts from others on this site claiming it is 2.0.

If the issue still persists, I think it has to be a software issue.

It's 2. And the cameras are only recording at 1.5Mb/sec anyway, which is massively slower than even a completely crap USB 2.0 drive can write at, so that isn't the issue.

Not to mention even folks running SSDs have had bad repeater camera video files.

 

[GolanB]

After upgrading to a newer software release, I also began having issues with my Right repeater video files (0 length). Back in March and April, when I was running an earlier release, I had no issues at all. This is the only thing that has changed. Tesla should do some additional validation of the files as they're being written (computing MD5 or SHA hash, or at the very least file lengths) and report back to the Dash / App if there are issues. My sense is that this is software related. I'm going to call into Tesla to report the issue, although I'm not expecting this to be resolved with a phone call.

 

[GolanB]

I worked with two support engineers, and an escalation engineer just now by phone. They had me send screen captures of the file system and asked some basic questions (format of file system, free space, time of last format).

They've had many people reporting issues with the right repeater and calling into support.

Tesla believes at this point that the issue is software related, and they are aware of the issue and are working towards a fix. No information yet on when that might happen, but I've got an open case with an escalation engineer and will hear from them as the case progresses.

 

[Federico]

I'm not getting those issues, but in my case sometimes (very common now) the left or right camera will have a 0KB video size, which means it didn't record anything. I don't have a problem with the front camera. I had 8.5 before and 12.1.2 now.

 

[Shaun5]

I'm more convinced this is software issue related to power and / or heat. I tried my new thumb drive the other day in my Model S. I had a couple of sentry events recorded. One happened within 5 minutes of me parking and all of those videos were fine. All the others were 15+ minutes after that and all experienced some form of corruption / distortion. I was parked outside in the sun (although it was partially cloudy).

The same day, I put a new thumb drive in my wife's Model 3. She parks in an underground garage and her car recorded about 5 sentry events over the course of 8 hours. None of those files were corrupted or distorted.

Today, my car recorded a bunch of events and all videos were corrupted. It's at the point now where the recordings are worthless. They are so heavily distorted, you can't definitively see anything. The only thing Sentry Mode is good for now is having the screen and / or music scare off someone.

GolanB - Glad to hear Tesla is aware of the issue, although it seems from experience here that most people have problems with the left repeater, not the right. Please keep up posted.

 

[BrandonLive]

I suspect it’s a software issue. If it’s hardware, I’d guess it’s related to how they pipe the video from the AP system to the MCU for recording, and perhaps a limit in bandwidth available there. But more likely it’s a firmware, driver, or encoder problem - possibly related to memory issues (like the apparent leak that seems to cause the MCU to glitch and need to be restarted lately, especially in some of the builds from earlier this year).

 

[kgoroway]

Just started a similar thread. I should have searched first.

Corrupt/Glitchy Dashcam video?

Of course, this glitch happens almost *exactly* where I needed it to *not* glitch, but still captures the fact that I was at a standstill, and the car behind me hit me. He claimed it was because he was hit from behind first (as if that matters), but I *think* the video shows that wasn't the case...but the glitch doesn't help, that's for sure!

 

[bleepity]

I used to have the same problem, right repeater file completely corrupt, left repeater half the video is blurred. Only the front camera seemed to be consistently recording clear videos. However, once I got the new 16.2 update it seemed to fix the problems. All the files aren't corrupt and it seems like picture quality also got better. Best of luck!

 

[Atom12]

Left repeater. Usually zero byte files or corrupted video. As it is I do not trust Sentry to give me actionable information.

 

[Atom12]

Left repeater. Usually zero byte files or corrupted video. As it is I do not trust Sentry to give me actionable information.

2019.16.2

 

[GolanB]

I've noticed the following since updating to 2019.16.2:

- The issue of corrupted (zero bytes) video files has not been resolved.
- I continue to have zero length files daily, although it will occur sporadically throughout the day.
- Sometimes it is the left repeater, other times it is the right repeater.
- I do not have the confidence that Sentry mode will reliably record an event due to these gaps.

I have an open case with Tesla, and will try to reach out again to find out if they've got any updates.

 

[kgoroway]

This thread is about Sentry mode, but is there any reason to believe that DashCam videos would behave any differently? Seems to me they both suffer from the exact same problem (as they should?).

 

[Kira]

In addition to noting far more corrupted side repeater clips on Sunday, which was a hot one here, there's a new issue this morning:

I deleted clips out of the Recent and Saved folders on the flash drive last night (yes, I ejected it properly) and popped it into the car just now. Gray camera icon came up with a little gray "x" on it. I pressed and held the icon, waiting for the little flash around it to happen. A solid gray ring came up around the camera but didn't flash and disappear like usual. After several seconds, I let go - the red light didn't show up on the camera icon. Tried this process a number of times and also tried removing the flash drive and reinserting a number of times, no luck.

I still see the red glowing eye Sentry icon, but the TeslaCam does not appear to be working.

 

[powaking]

For me its almost always the right repeater. It does one of the following:

- 0 byte size files
- Partially created file (not the same file size as the left repeater)
- Video is garbled (either pixelated, blocky, bottom half of video is blank, clouds have an orangy contrast).

I am using the following thumb drive and another one just for music. Am willing to try the 3.0 version of the drive as I need to replace it anyway given I only got a 32gb size and it fills up quickly now.

 

[Tha_Reaper]

This thread is about Sentry mode, but is there any reason to believe that DashCam videos would behave any differently? Seems to me they both suffer from the exact same problem (as they should?).

generally people dont have the same problem when using the dashcam (at least i havent heard of anyone who does), which kind of indicates that the writing to the USB isnt at fault, and also that the cameras arent at fault. A structural camera problem would lead to AP acting up and not being available. which leaves the video signal, or the powersupply when in park mode as the most probable culprit i think.

 

[kgoroway]

generally people dont have the same problem when using the dashcam (at least i havent heard of anyone who does),

I wonder how many people have had reason to click the dash-cam icon to save off some footage, and then bothered to look at it.

People do regularly view their Sentry videos though, it seems.

Anyway, my dashcam footage *is* affected. I was rear ended, and went to look at the footage that I saved off later.

I had also just left work 2 minutes before the accident where Sentry mode was on. So, I have a bunch of Sentry footage, followed by 10 minutes of "saved" dashcam footage (because I pressed the button to save after the accident), and then, 2.5 hours later, after leaving the accident scene, I "saved" again to get footage of the offender leaving the scene before me (so I had a recording of his rear license plate).

All of this footage shows varying levels of corruption, but, to be fair, Sentry seems the best of all of it. As if the codec has trouble with large amounts of moving information (while driving, versus parked). (just a guess based on the types of corruption I'm seeing)

I should get this posted so people can see what I mean...I'll work on that.

 

[GolanB]

Tesla wrote in to get more information. I pulled my USB to take a closer look and found that none of my TeslaCam files were written this morning either. Rather than being 0 length, they were all 595 bytes. I may end up carrying around my old Anker Roav Dash Cam C1 Pro until this clears up.

 

[Slumpey326]

@GolanB, I think I am experiencing the same right_repeater not recording after one of the two recent updates. I know all three were recording in the past, but know when I just pulled out my sandisk ixpand flashdrive earlier today and plugged into the sandisk app, I can only view video from the front and left repeaters, nothing from the right (just has a weird symbol which I believe means there its a corrupt file). Are you still working with the Tesla engineers on this.