Glovebox USB Drives

[RHinCT]

My MYLR is an early 2022, delivered late November 2021. At some point I read some messages on this site about upgrading the USB drive in the glovebox. I bought a USB hub, and ended up with three drives plugged into it. Today I came back to the car and found the usual sentry mode incident report on the screen, but it would not play. So tonight I brought all three drives in to my PC to see what was what.
One is the original that came with the car. It was full from an abundance of clips in the SentryClips folder. I copied it all to my PC and then deleted almost everything. I assume if I just put everything back as it was it will work until it is full again.
BUT... Another drive is a 256GB micro-SD card in an adapter. That was intended to be used for sentry and dashcam storage. It has just one folder, TESLADRIVE, that is empty. Obviously I didn't do something right when I put that together.
The last drive has all my ripped music in FLAC format. That one has been working as intended.

If someone can point me to the instructions for getting the car to record sentry and dashcam to the drive I intended I would be grateful.

Thanks!

RH in CT

 

[jcanoe]

There can only be one USB drive for Sentry Mode and Dashcam recordings. If formatting the USB drive using a computer the drive should be formatted using the exFAT file system (FAT if formatted using a Mac computer). There must be a root level folder named TeslaCam.

Remove all drives; insert only the MicroSD reader with card.

From the Tesla Model Y Owner's Manual - When formatting the USB drive from inside the Tesla Model Y:

From the Tesla Model Y screen open the Tesla Controls menu > select Safety > select Format USB Drive.

Important!, Do not leave your drive containing music plugged in while formatting the Sentry Mode /Dashcam video drive as the Tesla USB drive formatting utility may format this drive too by mistake.

After formatting verify that Sentry Mode and Dashcam are working normally. The Dashcam/ Sentry Mode viewer icon should display a red dot (not X'd out) in the upper right corner. Once the USB drive for Sentry Mode and Dashcam video recording is working then feel free to plug in the drive that holds your music into the hub. (Formatting the MicroSD card drive for Dashcam and Sentry Mode recordings frees up the Tesla USB thumb drive, a Samsung 128GB non-Endurance type storage device for other uses.)

 

[RHinCT]

Thanks! I searched the manual, obviously not very well.

 

[pvanosta]

There can only be one USB drive for Sentry Mode and Dashcam recordings. If formatting the USB drive using a computer the drive should be formatted using the exFAT file system (FAT if formatted using a Mac computer). There must be a root level folder named TeslaCam.

Remove all drives; insert only the MicroSD reader with card.

From the Tesla Model Y Owner's Manual - When formatting the USB drive from inside the Tesla Model Y:

From the Tesla Model Y screen open the Tesla Controls menu > select Safety > select Format USB Drive.

Important!, Do not leave your drive containing music plugged in while formatting the Sentry Mode /Dashcam video drive as the Tesla USB drive formatting utility may format this drive too by mistake.

After formatting verify that Sentry Mode and Dashcam are working normally. The Dashcam/ Sentry Mode viewer icon should display a red dot (not X'd out) in the upper right corner. Once the USB drive for Sentry Mode and Dashcam video recording is working then feel free to plug in the drive that holds your music into the hub. (Formatting the MicroSD card drive for Dashcam and Sentry Mode recordings frees up the Tesla USB thumb drive, a Samsung 128GB non-Endurance type storage device for other uses.)

I have a related issue. I wanted to replace the glovebox drive with a 2-slot card reader (1 SD and 1 micro SD). I formatted both cards on the PC using ExFat. I removed the Tesla USB stick and plugged in the card reader with ONLY the MicroSD card, which I was intending to use for the Cam recording. The car will not see it or recognize it. The display darkens the 'format USB' button for a split second and then goes back to grey. It does the same thing with the SD card. When I insert both cards and go to Music, it does recognize both drives (1 empty, 1 with 6000 songs) and plays music flawlessly. What am I missing ?

 

[pvanosta]

As a test, I ordered a different hub, with both USB-A and SD/Micro-SD slots, so I can do a test with the original usb stick through the hub.

 

[jcanoe]

I have a related issue. I wanted to replace the glovebox drive with a 2-slot card reader (1 SD and 1 micro SD). I formatted both cards on the PC using ExFat. I removed the Tesla USB stick and plugged in the card reader with ONLY the MicroSD card, which I was intending to use for the Cam recording. The car will not see it or recognize it. The display darkens the 'format USB' button for a split second and then goes back to grey. It does the same thing with the SD card. When I insert both cards and go to Music, it does recognize both drives (1 empty, 1 with 6000 songs) and plays music flawlessly. What am I missing ?

The Sentry/Dashcam USB storage device needs to have a root folder named "/TeslaCam"

 

[pvanosta]

I understand, but it was my understanding from the online manual that I would be able to format the drive once connected to the glovebox USB port. The car won't even see the drive and the button to format it, is greyed out.

 

[jcanoe]

I understand, but it was my understanding from the online manual that I would be able to format the drive once connected to the glovebox USB port. The car won't even see the drive and the button to format it, is greyed out.

You have introduced multiple variables into the glove box USB configuration in your Tesla Model Y. I suggest starting by removing everything except the USB-A thumb drive from the config.

Next, format the USB drive using your computer as before and create a root folder with the name /TeslaCam (just because.) Insert the USB thumb drive into the USB data port to confirm that your Tesla Model Y accepts this storage device.

Next add the USB hub to the config and see of the USB drive is still recognized. Finally, install the USB-C music file storage device to confirm that Sentry mode /Dashcam are functioning and the music files will play.

 

[pvanosta]

I have not been clear. The USB A drive works fine. But as this is the only port where I can plug a music drive into, I wanted to use a hub. If I'm going to use a hub, I might as well upgrade the storage. The hub I tried to use, does not take USB A drives, but instead has slots for SD and MicroSD cards.
I formatted both cards to Exfat on the PC and added my music onto the SD. When I plugged in the hub, the Cam function did not recognize either drive. But the Music app did. I removed the music SD, leaving only the empty (Exfat formatted) microSD. The expectation is for the Tesla Cam app to offer the option of formatting the MicroSD which would automatically create the folder structure etc. That formatting option was greyed out. When I removed the hub and returned the original USB A stick into the slot, all buttons worked and the formatting option was once again available. So: is the problem with the hub? I will know tomorrow when I can try another one, which has both USB-A, SD and MicroSD slots. Is it not the bub but something relse? If so, what?

 

[jcanoe]

It could be the hub. What happens when you format a microSD card for Dashcam use and insert only the microSD card into the hub. Does your Tesla recognize the microSD card?

 

[pvanosta]

No, that was the first thing I tried with the hub. A exfat-formatted micro sd card on its own. The cam will not recognize either card, but the music app will.

 

[jcanoe]

There is a recent thread where a user stated they had to format the USB storage device as FAT (for DOS) twice using their Apple computer before they were able to get their Tesla Model Y to recognize the drive.

There are many variables including brand, type and vintage of USB storage. Some SD, microSD storage cards sold may be counterfeit.

 

[pvanosta]

Fully agree, which is why I will go through every variable, 1 by 1. The cards were bought through Amazon, so I have a reasonable expectation of them being real. Next steps: try a different hub which has USB-A ports and try the tesla USB A drive in that. If that works, then I can connect the SD Hub to that and see if I can still access my music as well, without disrupting the functioning of the Tesla Cam USB drive. If all of that works (or if the music no longer works), I have another hub coming which has both USB-A and SD slots and I can try these steps again.

 

[pvanosta]

So... Plugged in a USB-A 3-port hub with the Tesla USB drive. All good. Everything works. Then I added the SD hub into the second port of the USB-A hub, essentially daisy-chaining hubs. Everything still works (both the Tesla USB stick and my music on the SD card). Still no explanation with the micro-SD card (through its hub) plugged directly into the Glovebox port, is invisible. Oh well...

 

[pvanosta]

Final test: new hub with both USB-A , SD and MicroSD slots installed. Both the Tesla USB stick and my SD card with music work fine. Will add music to the MicroSD card as well now, since I can continue to use the Tesla stick for Cam recording.

 

[jcanoe]

The Tesla 128GB USB thumb drive is made by Samsung. It is not a Pro Endurance Samsung storage device. The Tesla thumb drive may last ~1 year but you will likely have to replace the drive as the high volume of read/write (mostly write) operations for Dashcam and Sentry mode recording will cause the thumb drive to fail. Replace with Endurance type storage. Samsung => Pro Endurance; Sandisk => High Endurance or Max Endurance (may outlive your Tesla.)