MASTER THREAD: USB drives that work with Sentry and TeslaCam

[tyseft163]

Check that.

It is back to having the same error almost every time now.

I have no idea why it randomly worked again for ~2 days.

Piling on... I have 128GB Samsung BAR Plus USB, formatted for FAT32 and partitioned for half music and half TeslaCam. Been working since i bought the USB stick in early June and 8/14 I got the Too slow to write message. Drive was cleaned off to fee up space just a week prior. I have notified mobile service about it. I plug it directly into Model 3's USB drive up front and also have recently seen a lot of 1KB movie files written for Saved Clips
Mobile Service says this so far: we are sorry to hear you are experiencing a concern with your dashcam USB drive. We need some additional information to assist our technicians with their diagnosis/preparation. Please provide the below as soon as possible so we can confirm your appointment. 1: Please check the available space that remains on your USB using your computer. If less than 2GB of space could experience this issue. 2: What brand of USB is being used? 3: What capacity does your USB have? 4: Have you attempted reformatting the USB again? Per the owner's manual, the USB drive must have a minimum sequential write speed of 4MB/s to fully support the Dashcam feature. Additionally, these requirements can change on a periodic basis based on improvements made via firmware.

Appt is about 2 weeks out. In the meantime I've falling back to smaller capacity USB to see how long it works

 

[dave999z]

I started getting the above error message on the M3 screen today. I'm using the same SanDisk Cruzer 128GB that I've been using for months:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TKFCYP0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The camera function has never been very stable. Sometimes it's red and recording, sometimes not. Sometimes the video files are playable, sometimes not. Every time I pull it I reformat it, which helps for a bit, then after a few days no more red dot indicating recording anymore.

What is up with this beta dash cam and Sentry mode. How many more months/years is it going to remain in beta? How hard is it for them to get the system to write video reliably to a flash drive? It's super frustrating.

Anyway, if anyone has gotten the above error message and has any solution (my guess is people will say buy a new drive), please let me know.

Thanks.

 

[GlassJAw88]

I got the same error message as you.
I bought a micro SD card from amazon.
Hopefully it works, I will find out once I get home from work later tonight.

 

[Tam]

...my guess is people will say buy a new drive...

I'm using SanDisk SDCZ880-256G-G46 Extreme PRO 256GB USB 3.1 Solid State Flash Drive .

Since your error message says "slow" so I use faster 3.1 protocol and not just a regular flash drive but it's actually a solid-state drive in the form of a flash drive.

 

[Knightshade]

I'm using SanDisk SDCZ880-256G-G46 Extreme PRO 256GB USB 3.1 Solid State Flash Drive .

Since your error message says "slow" so I use faster 3.1 protocol and not just a regular flash drive but it's actually a solid-state drive in the form of a flash drive.

The car is USB 2.0, so you you're really not using 3.1

The message is a software problem, not a hardware one.

Folks who've been using the same HW for months with no issue have suddenly begun getting it... the speed at which the car writes is MUCH less than even the SLOWEST USB keys out there, let alone any decent one.

 

[killertofu]

Are you using a usb hub? I had the same error message and just swapped it with another usb plug such that the usb drive is plugged directly to the usb port of the car.

 

[Winpcap]

I really want to like the dash cam on my Model 3, I honest to god do. After having a decent Rexing cam on my previous vehicles though, it's very difficult to even compare the capabilities. Sure you get a TON of cameras just using the onboard one, and that's great for prespective in an accident. I would however be nice to have a constantly recording/looping video you didn't have to manually save.

 

[Tam]

...The message is a software problem, not a hardware one...

Yes, but what are the options while waiting for the error to clear up in order to use TeslaCam again?

1) Wait for another firmware update and hope that it would cure the problem

And which update will that be?

It started complaining about slow drive since

last month: 2019.24.4 73fb1ab

Another one was released after that

Since the beginning of August: 2019.28.2 320fba0

And now the current one:

2019.28.3.1 f9e95acd

2) Open your wallet and buy a faster card to comply with the car's request without waiting for another firmware update.

 

[ronm2948]

I bought a pair of recent PNY 128GB usb drives to use, and I also received the “too slow” errors from our telsas. I assumed it was Tesla’s fault, but after a recent update didn’t resolve the problem, I brought the drives in and tested them on my computer. They were SOOO slow. They are USB 3.0 drives, and I tested them in a USB3 port, and the write speeds were 2MB/s. I tested a Sandisk drive I have, and it was >100MB/s. So my USB drives were junk, and Tesla was actually giving me good advice in replacing them.

If you are getting the errors, test your drive in a computer to see how fast they are. You might be surprised.

 

[fr100]

They should add a "don't warn for this drive again" option because I've gotten this message on drives that are plenty fast.

 

[Knightshade]

Yes, but what are the options while waiting for the error to clear up in order to use TeslaCam again?

1) Wait for another firmware update and hope that it would cure the problem

And which update will that be?

It started complaining about slow drive since

last month: 2019.24.4 73fb1ab

Another one was released after that

Since the beginning of August: 2019.28.2 320fba0

And now the current one:

2019.28.3.1 f9e95acd

2) Open your wallet and buy a faster card to comply with the car's request without waiting for another firmware update.

Except folks with the same drive are getting the error as others who aren't.

So that's not really a fix either.

I'm using a Samsung FIT Plus 128 drive for example. Works fine. As it has for months. No error messages about speed.

Others have reported the "too slow" issue with the exact same drive

And it's much much faster than needed for writing the mere 1.5MB/s the car is writing data. (again, even totally crap drives are faster than this)

Others have reported spending $ on a "new" and "fast" drive and then getting the same issue a week or two later.

 

[PearlShark]

So I take it there is still no solution for this?

I have the Sandisk Extreme Go USB 3.1 Flash Drive 128GB - SDCZ800-128G-G46

It is highly reviewed and was recommended for this specific application. "Up to" 200MB/s write speed.

Worked flawlessly until .24 update. Now I get the "too slow" error everyday. If I park for a while and the car goes to sleep, it seems to wake up and think the drive is okay. After a few minutes it will return to the error state again.

 

[KL670]

Correct. It looks like it doesn’t matter what usb stock is used, it’s a consistent problem for many of us.

 

[V__2]

would it be helpful if we post models that work and those that don't.

if anyone is adventurous and have the problem discussed, buy a drive that works for others and test to know if it is the car or the usb drive. mine is super cheap and small phisically. and works with no problems for 9 months with sentry on always.

PNY Elite-X Fit 64GB 200MB/sec USB 3.0 Flash Drive (P-FDI64GEXFIT-GE) - $12

 

[Knightshade]

would it be helpful if we post models that work and those that don't.

Except we've had folks report both problems and no problems with the same model.

Because...it's a software issue, not hardware.

 

[Acvr5]

I have the 256GB version of this drive and it's also working fine on 24.4.

I have the same drive and my dashcam symbol doesn’t show up anymore after the latest update. Tried reformatting drive but still no dice. Works fine for music though. Any ideas?

 

[RFernatt]

I have the same drive and my dashcam symbol doesn’t show up anymore after the latest update. Tried reformatting drive but still no dice. Works fine for music though. Any ideas?

I've only driven the car once since the latest update and didn't notice one way or the other, so I'll have to check it out. The Leaf is more of the DD.

 

[souperdave816]

So I take it there is still no solution for this?

I have the Sandisk Extreme Go USB 3.1 Flash Drive 128GB - SDCZ800-128G-G46

It is highly reviewed and was recommended for this specific application. "Up to" 200MB/s write speed.

Worked flawlessly until .24 update. Now I get the "too slow" error everyday. If I park for a while and the car goes to sleep, it seems to wake up and think the drive is okay. After a few minutes it will return to the error state again.

Same exact problem with the exact same USB drive

 

[RFernatt]

I have the same drive and my dashcam symbol doesn’t show up anymore after the latest update. Tried reformatting drive but still no dice. Works fine for music though. Any ideas?

Just checked the car and everything appears good. Tapped the dashcam icon and it saved a clip. You can see the version it's running.

 

[jdw]

The variables are the car model, AP hardware, firmware version, USB card and any partitions or add-ons. For what it's worth, TeslaCam & Sentry have always worked for me as follows:

1- Performance S
2- HW3 w/ AP2.5 Cameras
3- Firmware: 19.15.103, 19.20.4.3, 19.24.4, 19.28.3.1, 19.32
4- 128GB Samsung Endurance MicroSD card & Adapter
5- No volume partition or USB hubs (Separate MicroSD card for music)

The first three items would have large pools of similar users, a lot of people have Model S cars with AP2.5 Cameras and HW3 and have moved through the same firmware versions. Barring some random software bug that only affects some users, that leaves the type of card, adapters, partitioning & hubs as the most likely suspects.