MASTER THREAD: USB drives that work with Sentry and TeslaCam

[KL670]

A few days ago this message showed up: “Dashcam: USB drive is too slow to save-please use a drive with higher write speed”

Then I tried to format the usb stick but it still didn’t work. The worked flawlessly for months until now. Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[TEG]

So, why not buy a new flash drive with higher write speeds?

 

[Tam]

...flawlessly for months until now...

My guess is the new update makes slower drives obsolete.

I got USB 3.1 flash drive below so it records fine but my video players can't play them which make it useless:

https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-SDCZ...ash+Drive&qid=1564512873&s=electronics&sr=1-1

Make sure to format with FAT32 first. I use

Ridgecrop Consultants Ltd

 

[ronm2948]

Is your USB drive directly connected to the USB port, or is it going through a splitter. I’ve read that people who use USB splitters (with power going to another device, and data to the drive) have been having problems.

 

[Kleenerth3]

No splitter, 64GB Gigastone.
Within 24 hours after receiving update 2019.24.4 I got a message saying USB drive not compatible.
I'm going to a SSD.

 

[follow.johnny]

So, why not buy a new flash drive with higher write speeds?

Agreed. I think this warning message from Tesla is helpful to all owners who are using slow write speed USB drives that may have issues if they were ever in a incident where they needed to download dashcam footage. This would futureproof that.

 

[KL670]

No splitter for me either. Obviously I could buy a different usb but was wondering if there were other options.

Is your USB drive directly connected to the USB port, or is it going through a splitter. I’ve read that people who use USB splitters (with power going to another device, and data to the drive) have been having problems.

 

[Knightshade]

It's a bug.

Folks whose drives have been working fine for months, including ones with expensive 3.1 USB drives, are getting this too (in the several other threads already talking about it).

The car is USB2.0, and the cameras write much slower than even 2.0 can do let alone 3. The camera data is writing at 1.5 MB/sec. Even really old, crap, slow USB 2.0 drives of any size can do ~10 MB/sec and most are faster.

This is not a hardware issue- don't waste $ on some crazy fast drive that'll potentially have the same problem. Wait for Tesla to push an update to fix it.

 

[TEG]

I have 24.4, and my TeslaCam flash keeps on working...

I have one of these:

 

[BluestarE3]

Make sure to format with FAT32 first.

With recent firmware, ext4 also works for TeslaCam. Previously, ext4 was only good for USB music.

 

[RFernatt]

I have 24.4, and my TeslaCam flash keeps on working...

I have one of these:
View attachment 435803

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

 

[futbolista]

I’m also on 24.4 and use a 128GB USB3.0, today I saw the same message for the first time. I checked the contents and it has barely 5GB on it so far (cleaned it up a couple of days ago). I’m going to reformat it and see if it helps.

 

[follow.johnny]

I have 24.4, and my TeslaCam flash keeps on working...

I have one of these:
View attachment 435803

I have the same one! Been working flawlessly for me. Last a good 3-4 weeks before needing to clean up space, just depending on how many events have been triggered.

 

[brampower]

I use a Sandisk Connect USB drive (200GB) and even since I upgraded to 2019.24.4 I have been getting nothing but 1kb files. I didn't get any error on my screen, it claims that it's working fine but both Senty Mode and Dashcam videos are affected. This used to happen sporadically (just like everyone else) for certain cameras, but ever since the upgrade every single video file has been 1kb. I swapped it out with a different USB device today (SD card reader with a 256GB Samsung SD card in it). Will check when I get home from work; hopefully it's something with the drive. I'd hate if I had to make a SC appointment to get this fixed; I don't like being without the Sentry recordings.

 

[alseTrick]

I think 2019.24.4 screwed up the dash cam.

I'm using the same USB drive I've used since March/April and rarely had an issue. Now I get the gray "X" EVERY time I get in the car (last week or two, around the time I received the firmware update). I have to remove the drive and re-insert it to get the red recording dot working again.

 

[solodogg]

2019.24.4 killed my Sandisk Cruzer Fit 64Gb drive. Just after finishing installation, I was able to play a single song from the flash drive, then it became unresponsive. Unplugging and plugging back in resulted in the activity light coming in for a second, and the drive not being recognized. Ive connected it to 3 different computers, can’t even find it in control panel on Windows boxes or Disk Utility on Mac’s.

The Samsung drive that replaced it is working just fine. The Sandisk Ultra I tried to replace it with kept disconnecting from the car randomly. Definitely an odd bug.

 

[टेस्ला]

With recent firmware, ext4 also works for TeslaCam. Previously, ext4 was only good for USB music.

I am wondering if ext4 is better than fat32. As the base OS is linux.

 

[Lanzer]

From what I've learned so far, many USB drives were not designed for continuous write and will overheat and eventually die because of this.

A easy way to pick a flash drive that is designed for speed and continuous operation is to look for the "endurance" micro SD cards. You need something with a V20 rating which means it can sustain 20MB/S continuous write speed. Don't bother with the maximum write speed rating.

Another option is to just buy a M2 2280 SSD drive ($35 for 240GB) and add an enclosure for $12. That should be cheaper than the high class micro SD drives at the same size, and will easily outperform them.

 

[Vipercat]

I use a Sandisk Connect USB drive (200GB) and even since I upgraded to 2019.24.4 I have been getting nothing but 1kb files. I didn't get any error on my screen, it claims that it's working fine but both Senty Mode and Dashcam videos are affected. This used to happen sporadically (just like everyone else) for certain cameras, but ever since the upgrade every single video file has been 1kb. I swapped it out with a different USB device today (SD card reader with a 256GB Samsung SD card in it). Will check when I get home from work; hopefully it's something with the drive. I'd hate if I had to make a SC appointment to get this fixed; I don't like being without the Sentry recordings.

Same issue here since 2019.24.4. All files are now 1kb where the dashcam/sentry used to work fine on my RPI. Looks like a bug to me, so I guess we'll have to wait for an update and hope Tesla provides a fix

 

[BarryL]

I think 2019.24.4 screwed up the dash cam.

I'm using the same USB drive I've used since March/April and rarely had an issue. Now I get the gray "X" EVERY time I get in the car (last week or two, around the time I received the firmware update). I have to remove the drive and re-insert it to get the red recording dot working again.

Same exact problem here after 2019.24.4 update. I remove drive, re-insert and it records fine. About 15 mins later I get gray x again.

I called Tesla support, they wanted me to get an appointment with mobile service, tried to book appointments.. mobile app kept timing out.

Super annoying, has to related to 2019.24.4 update.