MASTER THREAD: Rear view camera image goes black [2019-2020]

[MentalNomad]

Yep. This is my single biggest complaint. How do you make a car drive itself but you can't make a camera turn on instantly?

Easy.

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Step 1: Make a car with multiple computers.

One computer manages car systems and does self-driving; it controls steering, acceleration, brakes, blinkers, and monitors the camera feeds..

Another computer shows an infotainment screen; it gives users a way to interact with non-critical systems, to enter new map destinations, etc.

Step 2: Give the primary computer (the one that drives the car) priority at all times.

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How does this lead to a problem? When you shift into reverse, the infotainment checks in with the primary computer to get wheel position and to turn on a direct feed form the steering wheel/sensors so that it can draw the travel lines on to the image. It may even run the camera feed through the primary computer (I don't know.) The infotainment computer's request gets queued by the primary computer, because other stuff it does has to be programmed to take priority; it will enable the infotainment feed when it's ready.

On the other hand, if you just hit the on-screen button for the rear view, it pops up instantly. It doesn't ask the primary computer for permission for anything, or for information - it just taps into the camera feed and puts it up. Teh end.

Simply remembering that this thing has more than one computer explains a LOT of things people complain about. (It's also why it drives perfectly fine, even on autopilot, while the infotainment computer reboots... because your two-thumbs reboot ONLY reboots the infotainment computer, not the primary computer.)

 

[DJVoorhees]

But hey: video games!

Dont forget Joe Mode..................

 

[CharleyBC]

Dont forget Joe Mode..................

I still can't get Joe Mode to work. I can't even figure out where to put my mug to get the cup of joe.

 

[stevevets]

I still can't get Joe Mode to work. I can't even figure out where to put my mug to get the cup of joe.

Yeah, it's broken. Whenever I enable it, it doesn't summon my brother Joe. Not one time.

 

[MSP2023]

My car's version: 2019.32.12.2
I chose to start a new thread to record this even tho I've read about this issue on other threads. Hope to keep this topic frequency count up so others may benefit.

I have never encountered this black screen rearview issue before.
I had to put something in the trunk. After, I closed the trunk, I put the car in reverse, I see a black screen but I do see the guide lines. I didn't slam trunk closed.

It was at night in a very busy parking lot, could barely see behind. Cars waiting for me to leave.
Put in park again, then in reverse, no change.
Decided to not bother to try to analyze it any further.
Drove home. While driving I tried to turn on the rearview cam manually several times, no go.
After reaching home I put in reverse, again black screen.
I rebooted, but, no change.
Had to put on all lights in garage to allow backing up safely.
Decided to research and read this forum and create a thread. Read many of the attempts to get cam working to see if anyone found the right solution but discovered there were various types of defective backup camera issues.
After reading, I decided to check rearview cam just for the heck of it and lo and behold, it works.
Seems like shutting the car off and then restarting, interval was around an hour+, "may" have reset it. Other owners say the problem went away the next day.
So, looks like that could be a solution. Problem goes away after turning off the car... we'll see if it's just a fluke.

The version may not be the culprit since my rev is certainly not current and it appears others who have this issue have a higher rev than my Tesla.

Hope this helps.
If situation repeats, I'll do an update.

 

[Cronn]

it resets when the car goes to sleep

 

[Electrph]

Funny mine did same thing today for first time ever when I backed out of garage, I’ve owned for almost 3 months / 1,800 miles.
Ran an errand, still black when I left from store. Got home tried the steering wheel reset still black screen.
Went out to car a bit later in garage to try leaving camera activated for a while as I read in these forums see if it “Came on” after a while and voila it was working right away ... maybe as above poster stated it slept a bit and reset ??
On version 2019.36.2.1 if matters

 

[Dolemite]

tl;dr

There are pros and cons of having a car with software as its fundamental backbone. I've experienced this a few times and I'm totally unsurprised - life goes on.

 

[Big Dog]

I have two model 3's and the black rearview camera happens on occasion. It happens to my wife's car more than mine. Just something that we've learned to live with, as there seems to be no ryhme or reason to why it happens.

 

[MSP2023]

Thanks all for chiming in.
Backing up the Model3 is no ez task without the backup cam. when we initially got the car we become reliant on the camera.
The excellent visibility provided by the cam makes us kinda spoilt. So, when we lose that capability it can pose a real issue especially at night while parallel parking. The design of the back also makes it difficult to judge distances.

Also, backing up is not a frequent occurrence,hence, we don't all get an opportunity to practice to get good at it.

Tesla should by all means rectify this abnormality as soon as is possible so that would be owners won't be dissuaded in purchasing... also owners with this problem can rest assured that the quality department is diligently working on a fix.

 

[Electrph]

Good points ... at some point someone may chime in “we backed-up for years no camera” but the converse is I never once backed up my Tesla without a backup camera until yesterday (yes i do also use side mirrors even with camera)

 

[dreuters]

Yeah, I have suspicions about your USB drive. I keep on preaching using SSDs in this forum, but technologically illiterate people always disagree. Samsung T5 or nothing. I use one with zero issues. I'm dismayed that you used a USB 2.0 drive and work in IT, by the way.

I've been using a Samsung T5 for months and am having the exact issue described.

 

[M3BlueGeorgia]

I had the same problem today with my backup camera showing a black screen. Tried a warm reboot but no difference. Didnt have time for a hard reboot. I then left the car in a car park and on returning a few hours later and starting up, the backup screen was back to normal. Is this the Tesla equivalent of a computer restart (maybe as opposed to a hard reboot)? Might be a totally different problem to yours but I thought I would share my experience with you

Doing this is a normal recommendation for these kind of issues.

However, you have to make sure the car goes into a deep sleep, so disable third-party applications and Sentry mode; maybe also Summon Standby as well.
Good news is it doesn't take long, since walking away from the car for 10 mins will do the trick. Just make sure you are far enough away the car auto-locks.

 

[Mrcarcrazy]

3 weeks old / 581 miles
Firmware Version: 2019.32.12.2 58f3b76

I've seen other people post these issues separately off-and-on over the last few months, but several of them hit my car last Friday:

1. My backup camera no longer works, the screen turns black. No amount of shifting / waiting solves it.
2. The GPS location of the car no longer updates, it thinks it's sitting in my driveway. Because of this, the street speed limit / cruise control / AutoPilot are not functioning.
   
3. The day/night auto screen brightness no longer works automatically. I have to manually switch it between day and night, after setting it correctly for a specific driving session I set it back to Auto.

I've tried the soft reboot (brake/buttons) and the hard reboot (power off 3+ mins) process several times, neither one fixed it. However, with a soft reboot the car correctly detects which day/night mode the screen should be in immediately after the reboot.

The two things I did to the car on the Friday that this started happening:

• I inserted a FAT32 formatted 64GB USB 3.0 stick to enable dash cam. I had a USB 2.0 stick before that, the car complained about write speed (even though the actual dash / sentry functionality worked fine) so I upgraded.
• I installed my front/rear license plates from the DMV.

I'm a 20+ year software engineer / IT project manager, so the idea of driving a fast computer with a few quirks isn't a big problem. But at some point these types of problems on a new, expensive car will switch from amusing to embarrassing.

I have a service appointment scheduled for next Tuesday.

Sharing all of this ^^^ in case anyone else is experiencing the same issue.

Doing this is a normal recommendation for these kind of issues.

However, you have to make sure the car goes into a deep sleep, so disable third-party applications and Sentry mode; maybe also Summon Standby as well.
Good news is it doesn't take long, since walking away from the car for 10 mins will do the trick. Just make sure you are far enough away the car auto-locks.

Quoted for emphasis. Car must sleep. Problem should be gone when you wake it. Basically it got up on the wrong side of the bed. It happened to mine once. I hit bug report three times reporting each issue. Let the car sleep and problem was gone. Interestingly I got a software update the next day (likely coincidence).

 

[iwannam3]

This will truly reset the car, not just the infotainment computer.

Tesla Model 3 Hard Reset

Is this a thing people routinely do? What does Tesla think about civilians doing it?

 

[M3BlueGeorgia]

Is this a thing people routinely do? What does Tesla think about civilians doing it?

You can do it, but probably a last resort after interacting with Tesla.
>>>Doing a hard reset

 

[jkdman123]

Yeah, I have suspicions about your USB drive. I keep on preaching using SSDs in this forum, but technologically illiterate people always disagree. Samsung T5 or nothing. I use one with zero issues. I'm dismayed that you used a USB 2.0 drive and work in IT, by the way.

Unfortunately there is no hard evidence that SSDs work better than USB drives.

 

[MentalNomad]

Is this a thing people routinely do?

Absolutely not. I've never done it. Most don't know it's possible.

It's a last resort for self - troubleshooting.

 

[TrooperCA]

I had the exact issue you were having. I was receiving errors from my USB that it was writing too slow. This happened for a few days. Then I got rear ended on Thanksgiving day. The following morning driving to work, all cameras were not functioning and my GPS was locked at my home address.

I did 2 soft reboots, then 1 hard reboot. The hard reboot did the trick for me. I held the brakes and the 2 buttons on the wheel. Continued to hold until the Tesla Icon showed, then I released, the brake but continued to hold the 2 buttons. This did the trick for me and I also stopped using the USB that was giving me issues.

 

[LACALawyer]

For the first time in 6 months of ownership, my backup camera went black and all I could see was the the white lines.

Anyone know what the problem is? Is there a fix? I tried rebooting. Do I need to make a service appointment?

Thanks in advance for any information.