Hard Drive Issues with Dashcam (X Icon)

[asap_kwoky]

Hey All,

Been trying to scour the board for this specific scenario, but can't seem to find it. I've been having difficulties getting a 256 GB USB stick and a 2 TB HD to work with my DashCam and am trying to isolate the causes. Below are the actions I've taken so far:

-I've formatted all drives to FAT32 using the GUI Format software via Windows 10
-I've added a "TeslaCam" folder
-I've tried repairing my storage (No errors were found)
-I've tried turning off sentry mode before plugging in drives
-I've tried restarting my Tesla
-I've tried reformatting multiple times

RESULTS
4 GB USB Stick (Works)
I've tested a 4 GB USB stick and it works, but fills up in less than a day.

SanDisk 256 GB USB Stick (Doesn't work, get grey x icon and no recording)
I've purchased a 256 gb USB stick and have run it through the FAT32 formatting with the GUI Format link. Upon putting my USB stick into the USB slot, I get the Dashcam grey X icon.

Western Digital 2TB 2.5" USB 3.0 HD (Doesn't work, get grey x icon and no recording)
I then tested out a 2TB Western Digital 2.5" USB 3.0 HD and have run it through the FAT32 formatting with the GUI Format. Upon connecting the HD into the USB slot, I also get the Dashcam grey X icon.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the size of the storage and also for the fact that I'm formatting with Windows maybe the cause.

If you've gotten your hard drive to successfully work with your DashCam, can you outline the following:
1. What OS you formatted your hard drive with?
2. What size/kind of hard drive did you use?
3. Have you experienced the grey X dashcam icon?

Any help is much appreciated!

 

[Blucenturion]

I was having the same problem, then a friend took a ride, and Googled the problem and came up with MS-DOS (FAT 32) on my iMac for the formatting. Worked like a charm. I have a 16 gb drive.

 

[asap_kwoky]

Really interesting, this really leads me to the conclusion that you need to format via a Mac. Has anyone successfully formatted a HD via Windows?

 

[Spanky]

Windows formatting is quite cumbersome, even if you're technical, particularly if you want both music and TeslaCam storage on a single drive. If so, it is just easier to purchase one on ebay.

 

[Blucenturion]

Caution: Use a flash drive that is

dedicated to dashcam only. The flash

drive cannot also be used to play media

files, and Tesla is not responsible for any

personal files becoming lost or corrupted.

 

[Knightshade]

Pretty much none of the above is correct.

You can put both on the same drive no problem.

You can do it all in windows, only very slight problem.


For the first one you simply need two partitions one for music one for camera.

For the second the issue is Windows, natively, will not format a FAT32 partition larger than 32GB. So if you want the camera one larger you need to use a 3rd party utility to format it. There's a ton out there, and numerous threads on here with step by step directions.


The original poster appears to only be trying to make the camera stuff work, so #2 is his problem and is fixed using a 3rd party utility (rufus for example) to format the larger drives FAT32.

 

[Blucenturion]

Pretty much none of the above is correct.

You can put both on the same drive no problem.

You can do it all in windows, only very slight problem.


For the first one you simply need two partitions one for music one for camera.

For the second the issue is Windows, natively, will not format a FAT32 partition larger than 32GB. So if you want the camera one larger you need to use a 3rd party utility to format it. There's a ton out there, and numerous threads on here with step by step directions.


The original poster appears to only be trying to make the camera stuff work, so #2 is his problem and is fixed using a 3rd party utility (rufus for example) to format the larger drives FAT32.

Caution: Use a flash drive that is

dedicated to dashcam only. The flash

drive cannot also be used to play media

files, and Tesla is not responsible for any

personal files becoming lost or corrupted.

From your Model 3 Owner's Manual.

 

[Knightshade]

From your Model 3 Owner's Manual.

yeah, the manual is wrong.

It can't play music from the same partition as the camera uses.

It plays it no problem from a different partition on the same drive though.

Lots of folks running it that way.

 

[Blucenturion]

yeah, the manual is wrong.

It can't play music from the same partition as the camera uses.

It plays it no problem from a different partition on the same drive though.

Lots of folks running it that way.

Your car

 

[sduck]

Knightshade is correct - lots of people (including myself) are using 2 partitions on a single drive. It works.

Windows thread:
[V9] How to Format USB into 2 Partitions for DashCam and Music [Windows]

Mac thread:
Mac: divide USB into 2 partitions (for dashcam and music)

 

[andrewxc]

I keep yanking the drive out, though, so make sure you have ejected it properly.
Anyone know how to do that...?

 

[sduck]

If you long press (about 2 seconds) on the dashcam icon it'll briefly flash, then you can safely pull the drive

 

[Knightshade]

If you long press (about 2 seconds) on the dashcam icon it'll briefly flash, then you can safely pull the drive

FWIW this appears to stop recording but does not appear to actually unmount it in the cars OS- thus you usually still get the offer to run a disk cleanup when you plug it into a PC because it wasn't cleanly unmounted when you pull it from the car.

 

[Eno Deb]

If you long press (about 2 seconds) on the dashcam icon it'll briefly flash, then you can safely pull the drive

You should stop the dashcam and then wait a while, perhaps 10-20 seconds, to give the OS time to flush the disk buffers (unfortunately we don't know the exact time since this can be adjusted in Linux and we don't know how Tesla configured it). This minimizes the risk of filesystem corruption.

 

[Silicon Desert]

Windows formatting is quite cumbersome, even if you're technical, particularly if you want both music and TeslaCam storage on a single drive. If so, it is just easier to purchase one on ebay.

Hmmm, I've found it to be actually very easy. Not sure what I am doing differently. There are some other threads about this.

 

[tomot]

To Unmount an HDD or USB Drive is an important aspect in Windows and Android OS systems.
In fact both OS tell you when its safe to unplug a Drive after it has been Unmounted.

The Linux Tesla OS: does not offer an Unmount procedure!

Used for MP3 Storage:
Sandisk 4GB USB stick Fat32 format: NOT recognized by Linux Tesla OS
PNY 128GB USB stick Fat32 format: recognized by Linux Tesla OS

Used to record DashCam footage:
M.2 2280 128GB Sata SSD inside USB 3.0 Enclosure SSD Housing 2280: recognized by Linux OS

P.S. I'm not sure how to Unmount the DashCam SSD

 

[asap_kwoky]

Thanks all for the info. Ended up getting a 500 GB SSD and formatted using RMPrepUSB. Found this article that breaks things down into more detail:
USB Flash Drives for Tesla Dashcam | TeslaTap

Also for those looking for a way to manage/view their videos without hooking up to a PC, get one of the following apps to hook up your USB/SSD to your phone to preview:

 

[andrewxc]

P.S. I'm not sure how to Unmount the DashCam SSD

I tapped on the icon, and it switched from Recording (red dot) to Downloading (Inbox-looking icon). After a few seconds, it went back to recording. From there, I switched music off of the drive in question, and held the record button until it turned off (gray).
I only waited a few seconds before pulling it, but this time, there was no issue with needing to repair the drive (as I have had most of the previous times).

 

[Spanky]

Hmmm, I've found it to be actually very easy. Not sure what I am doing differently. There are some other threads about this.

Clarification: I was referring to creating partitions > 32GB for FAT32. NTFS formatting is no problem at all!
Try creating your own USB that supports partitions for music and a separate one for TeslaCam, and you'll understand what I'm referring to...

 

[Silicon Desert]

Clarification: I was referring to creating partitions > 32GB for FAT32. NTFS formatting is no problem at all!
Try creating your own USB that supports partitions for music and a separate one for TeslaCam, and you'll understand what I'm referring to...

Ok I see. Actually I have done that (creating ability to have music and Teslacam) on a Windows 10 laptop and it was quite easy. Maybe I am just using different tools.