MASTER THREAD: USB drives that work with Sentry and TeslaCam

[Knightshade]

I'm wondering if the inclusion of the rear camera in V10 had something to do with the "too slow" error people are experiencing?

Folks were experiencing it before that change.

IIRC it started to show up in one of the later V9 releases, when it was still only 3 cameras.

It's curious that Tesla didn't include the rear camera in the past software version and maybe this is why?

Nope.

They didn't include either side camera initially.

Or any cameras at all for the first year+ the car was on the market.

They seem to have like one guy who codes these types of extra features in their spare time, and does so kinda poorly.

That seems a much more likely explanation for why they've added cameras slowly, and why so many have had issues even on the same HW, and those issues often change and evolve with SW updates.

Perhaps the increase in drive performance necessary is causing the issue with certain flash drives?

It took the write speed from 1.5MB/s up to 2.0MB/s

Which is still well below the average write speed of nearly any decent USB storage made.

I installed the Samsung T5 SSD once V10 came out and have not experienced any errors, although for some unknown reason the tesla cam does not appear to be recording everything while driving (reference earlier post).

It's not an unknown reason. It's the same reason as all the other issues folks with SSDs and everyone else are having-

The software is poorly written.

 

[AmateurX]

Believe it or not I've been having good luck with the cheap USB 3.0 64GB Micro Center USB flash drives that they sell at the register. These sell for $6.99!

I've also been using a cheapie MicroCenter drive for about 11mos now, without issue (except for the occasional corrupt video), although I'm not on v10 at the moment.

 

[wbhokie]

In my case, it worked without a hiccup for about half a year. Then it started misbehaving. How does software do that?

That's pretty easy to answer. Any time the software changes, either a bug can be introduced or the requirements on the hardware (The USB port) can change. (Or a combination of both) Without knowing if a bug has been introduced, we know a lot of other things have changed. Cameras went from 1 to 4. Sentry Mode was added on top of DashCam. The way it saves and cleans up files on the drive has been changed. The amount of power going to the ports and when the power to them is turned off/on has changed (along with when sentry mode was enabled) and those are just a few things we actually know about. Tesla loves to make changes that aren't listed in release notes too.

I think the error message being displayed is actually what is throwing a lot of people off. It should just say "Your USB Storage device is not functioning properly." Or something to that nature. What is displayed now makes no sense.

I don't think I've seen a single person have an issue with a class 10 MicroSD card / usb-adapter since V10. They aren't expensive. If you're having issues, that's the easiest solution. Just get one that people normally use for dashcams. They are meant for constant video recording anyway.

 

[sceptic]

So every time Tesla updates I should get a new usb????? None of this explains the error message on a usb which then works fine a few minutes later!!!!
I would be amused by the thread if there wasn't so much illogic "this works for me so it must be the solution" despite same one not working for another person or another tesla update.

 

[Tezzie]

Is this still an issue with v10?

I had a Sandisk Cruzer 4G drive that fills up after a couple of hours. So, I bought a SanDisk Cruzer 128G drive, thinking that would help. V10 is installed in my S100D. Got the "too slow" message. I called SanDisk who said they don't recommend any of their flash drives for Tesla dashcam. They recommend this:

SanDisk 128GB High Endurance Video microSDXC Card with Adapter for Dash cam and Home Monitoring Systems - C10, U3, V30, 4K UHD, Micro SD Card - SDSQQNR-128G-GN6IA​

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NY23WBG/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1​

I can't find any place in my to insert a micro SSDX card,so I assume that's why this comes with an "adapter". But how much to the space inside the compartment would it use up? Anyone else using this with success? Or Is there a way to make a 128G flash drive work?

 

[whatthe2]

I had a Sandisk Cruzer 4G drive that fills up after a couple of hours. So, I bought a SanDisk Cruzer 128G drive, thinking that would help. V10 is installed in my S100D. Got the "too slow" message. I called SanDisk who said they don't recommend any of their flash drives for Tesla dashcam. They recommend this:

SanDisk 128GB High Endurance Video microSDXC Card with Adapter for Dash cam and Home Monitoring Systems - C10, U3, V30, 4K UHD, Micro SD Card - SDSQQNR-128G-GN6IA​

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NY23WBG/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1​

I can't find any place in my to insert a micro SSDX card,so I assume that's why this comes with an "adapter". But how much to the space inside the compartment would it use up? Anyone else using this with success? Or Is there a way to make a 128G flash drive work?

MicroSD’s do typically come with an adapter. Or use can use a more flexible one, like this.
suntrsi TF/SD Card Reader... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D72L4Q7?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

[jdw]

You can use use one of these with either the SanDisk or Samsung microSD endurance cards. Works great for me.

Edit: Just noticed the crazy price on Amazon.ca - I paid $16 for two ...,also available on Amazon.com at a much better price.

 

[whatthe2]

MicroSD’s do typically come with an adapter. Or use can use a more flexible one, like this.
suntrsi TF/SD Card Reader... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D72L4Q7?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Edit: or just go to the Samsung T5 SSD for more capacity. I just switched and it works great, as did my MicroSD.

And before someone says, “we don’t need that much capacity since Tesla overwrites now” I park at the airport every week and I just don’t trust it to overwrite. I fill it a 256 up every week, so far no problems with Tesla overwriting but don’t want to chance it.

 

[Tezzie]

I use an ssd drive in a usb 3.0 case. 50 bucks for the 240gb drive, 14 for the case. works like a charm.

Can you show us a picture of what this looks like? Will it fit in the compartment with the 2 USB drives?

 

[CharleyBC]

Can you show us a picture of what this looks like? Will it fit in the compartment with the 2 USB drives?

Easily. These things are smaller than a deck of cards.

 

[brianman]

The hardware didn't change at all- only the software did.

Incorrect. Hardware changes with age, and use. Especially in the realm of SSDs and USB sticks.

 

[Knightshade]

Incorrect. Hardware changes with age, and use. Especially in the realm of SSDs and USB sticks.

Over years, sure.

Folks are reporting changes over days or weeks- when the only actual change was software.

Devices rated for thousands of write cycles do not substantially change when you've only used dozens of write cycles.

 

[BZM3]

I purchased off Amazon a recommended drive I found on this forum. Low and behold it no longer works! Says write speed is too slow which is not the case... software issue?

Kingston Digital DataTraveler SE9 32GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive (DTSE9H/32GBZET)

 

[Knightshade]

I purchased off Amazon a recommended drive I found on this forum. Low and behold it no longer works! Says write speed is too slow which is not the case... software issue?

Kingston Digital DataTraveler SE9 32GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive (DTSE9H/32GBZET)

Almost certainly- though I will say 32GB is awfully small anymore for this purpose. Maybe back when it was just 1 camera that was fine, but with 4 cameras I wouldn't go smaller than 128GB.

For the cheapest/lowest rated types of flash memory you're rated for 1000 write cycles- if you use dashcam/sentry say 9 hours a day (8 hours at work, 1 hour of driving) that's just over 2 full write cycles per day used... so you'd use up the rated lifespan of the drive in roughly 16-17 months.

Versus a 128GB drive that'd be good for 5-6 years at that rate of use, or a 256GB one that'd be good over a decade.

(using slightly better quality flash would get you roughly 3x the rated # of write cycles as above, which still leaves a 32GB sticks useful life at less than the average time of new car ownership)

 

[Silent Ludicrosy]

Updating to software 2019.32.12.2 seems to have solved the issue for me in the Model 3 and the S.

 

[HappyWino]

Updating to software 2019.32.12.2 seems to have solved the issue for me in the Model 3 and the S.

Unfortunately that's the version I was/am on when I first saw this (likely bogus) error

 

[BZM3]

Almost certainly- though I will say 32GB is awfully small anymore for this purpose. Maybe back when it was just 1 camera that was fine, but with 4 cameras I wouldn't go smaller than 128GB.

For the cheapest/lowest rated types of flash memory you're rated for 1000 write cycles- if you use dashcam/sentry say 9 hours a day (8 hours at work, 1 hour of driving) that's just over 2 full write cycles per day used... so you'd use up the rated lifespan of the drive in roughly 16-17 months.

Versus a 128GB drive that'd be good for 5-6 years at that rate of use, or a 256GB one that'd be good over a decade.

(using slightly better quality flash would get you roughly 3x the rated # of write cycles as above, which still leaves a 32GB sticks useful life at less than the average time of new car ownership)

Is there a decently priced option you recommend? But regardless, it was working for a few weeks and all of a sudden is giving me the error out of nowhere. which is why i'm confused if it meets the minimum required specs. I also use rarely use sentry mode. The stick has been working for about a month and just got the error two days ago.

 

[JPP]

Data point--my 1 year old Samsung USB 3.1 FIT Plus 256 GB drive just died after a full year in my P3D+. Can't reformat it or see it mounted on my Mac. RMA in process with Samsung (5 year warranty).

 

[brianman]

Over years, sure.

Folks are reporting changes over days or weeks- when the only actual change was software.

Devices rated for thousands of write cycles do not substantially change when you've only used dozens of write cycles.

YMMV. Some devices wear much faster than others in this space. Also, not all advertised specs are trustworthy in this regard.

 

[brianman]

Data point--my 1 year old Samsung USB 3.1 FIT Plus 256 GB drive just died after a full year in my P3D+. Can't reformat it or see it mounted on my Mac. RMA in process with Samsung (5 year warranty).

Example of my point.

Glad the RMA route is working for you, JPP.