MASTER THREAD: USB drives that work with Sentry and TeslaCam

[Snow Drift]

I just got the use a 4mb write speed message on v.10 with a Samsung 128 GB stubby USB.

So, after getting the 4 mb/s error I noticed that the camera full icon was showing. So, I erased the USB, recreated the folder and plugged back in. So far, so good. My USB writes way faster than 4 mb/s. Both Sentry and DashCam video has recorded for months and month w/o any issue.

 

[FastGTR]

I have been testing a few different combinations and I can share some results.

I started with a Transcend 256GB JetDrive that I used to use on my Mac with a Trancend USB 3.0 Card reader. I had read on here that GPT was better than MBR. (Note that most SSD cards/ USB drives come formatted as MBR with FAT32).

Unfortunately, this combo only worked for a few minutes before I got the dreaded too slow error. GPT was the culprit.

I check this combo with a simple dd test using sequential large blocks and it ran 1.3MB/s. I converted it to MBR and reformatted FAT32. DD ran about 11MB/s writes and 78 MB/s read. It gave no errors for TeslaCam with 1 day of driving around, but ran too hot. Too hot for my liking and I did't like how it stuck out of the usb port, could be prone to accidental breakage.

Not being a big fan of transcend as they have ****ed me over on warranty before (sent me a microscope pic of the gold on the microSD card contacts being worn from insertion/removal from their own SD card reader and rejected warranty - WTF!)
I ordered both a SanDisk UltraFit 128GB USB Drive and a SanDisk High Endurance 128GB microSDXC. What I found in my tests first was that they both come as MBR.

UltraFit gave 116MB/s read and 56MB/s write (specs: operating range 0C/32F to 35C/95F and 5 year warranty)
HighEndurance gave 85MB/s read and 74 MB/s write (specs: operating range -13F/-12C to 85C/185ºF and 10,000 Hrs of recording durability, but only a 2 year warranty)

Both of these meet the 10 MB/s or minimum threshold for TeslaCam with v9, maybe higher with V10 since it records rear cam as well, so to be safe let's say 15MB/s as a minimum. Read speed really doesn't matter much. Both have been working well swapping them out a few days each.

Here is the double edge sword: I like the fit of the ultrafit USB drive, it sits flush in the usb port and is completely unnoticeable in the dark console. It runs luke warm at best. The high endurance one needs to go into a adapter and after a number of different small form factor and even larger USB adapters, they all seem to run hella hot (too hot to touch) while being used for TeslaCam. So while I am glad that the SD card can handle 185F, the adapters seem to be the weak link (many bad reviews on amazon where the plastic on the outside of the SD card melts while inside the adapter). So have settled on the SanDisk UltraFit for now with the hope that SanDisk honors the 5 yr warranty if/when it crashes, as they have done in the past with many of their other SD cards in Camera. Unlike cheapo cards, the SanDisk will go into a ReadOnly mode before crapping out and allow you to copy off your files, just not write new ones.

I use the SanDisk high endurance 32GB in all my other cars where I have after market dashcams, but in these I do not have a little red icon as in the Tesla telling me recording is working and they run very cold as they accept microSD cards directly.

I left Sentry mode on at the airport this weekend for 2-day and it worked like a champ. Even though it was empty when I left and came back to being parked besides an F150 platinum on one side and dodge RAM on the other. I was able to see and appreciate how both truck drivers took time not to let their doors ding my Tesla or luggage scratch the paint , which has happened in the past.

One other mention-able thing is that the first time you take the TeslaCam card out and put into a Windows 10 PC, it will say there is an error and windows can fix it. Not sure what Windows is doing, but if you accept the fix, it is messing with the card making it flaky with TeslaCam after the fact. It seems to work better if you tell Windows not to fix it, as you can still see the video, whcih seems to play better on VLC than Windows player.

So for formatting, I used diskpart to convert between MBR and GPT and Gparted on Linux to format Full (not quick) FAT32 as windows is now exFAT only. Yet to try the setup with GPT which will reduce speed but hopefully well over 15MB/s and see how it performs. For Windows I recommend using SDFormatter utility from the organization that governs SD Card formats over an 3rd party utility.

 

[MrABRanch]

I have been testing a few different combinations and I can share some results.

I started with a Transcend 256GB JetDrive that I used to use on my Mac with a Trancend USB 3.0 Card reader. I had read on here that GPT was better than MBR. (Note that most SSD cards/ USB drives come formatted as MBR with FAT32).

Unfortunately, this combo only worked for a few minutes before I got the dreaded too slow error. GPT was the culprit.

I check this combo with a simple dd test using sequential large blocks and it ran 1.3MB/s. I converted it to MBR and reformatted FAT32. DD ran about 11MB/s writes and 78 MB/s read. It gave no errors for TeslaCam with 1 day of driving around, but ran too hot. Too hot for my liking and I did't like how it stuck out of the usb port, could be prone to accidental breakage.

Not being a big fan of transcend as they have ****ed me over on warranty before (sent me a microscope pic of the gold on the microSD card contacts being worn from insertion/removal from their own SD card reader and rejected warranty - WTF!)
I ordered both a SanDisk UltraFit 128GB USB Drive and a SanDisk High Endurance 128GB microSDXC. What I found in my tests first was that they both come as MBR.

UltraFit gave 116MB/s read and 56MB/s write (specs: operating range 0C/32F to 35C/95F and 5 year warranty)
HighEndurance gave 85MB/s read and 74 MB/s write (specs: operating range -13F/-12C to 85C/185ºF and 10,000 Hrs of recording durability, but only a 2 year warranty)

Both of these meet the 10 MB/s or minimum threshold for TeslaCam with v9, maybe higher with V10 since it records rear cam as well, so to be safe let's say 15MB/s as a minimum. Read speed really doesn't matter much. Both have been working well swapping them out a few days each.

Here is the double edge sword: I like the fit of the ultrafit USB drive, it sits flush in the usb port and is completely unnoticeable in the dark console. It runs luke warm at best. The high endurance one needs to go into a adapter and after a number of different small form factor and even larger USB adapters, they all seem to run hella hot (too hot to touch) while being used for TeslaCam. So while I am glad that the SD card can handle 185F, the adapters seem to be the weak link (many bad reviews on amazon where the plastic on the outside of the SD card melts while inside the adapter). So have settled on the SanDisk UltraFit for now with the hope that SanDisk honors the 5 yr warranty if/when it crashes, as they have done in the past with many of their other SD cards in Camera. Unlike cheapo cards, the SanDisk will go into a ReadOnly mode before crapping out and allow you to copy off your files, just not write new ones.

I use the SanDisk high endurance 32GB in all my other cars where I have after market dashcams, but in these I do not have a little red icon as in the Tesla telling me recording is working and they run very cold as they accept microSD cards directly.

I left Sentry mode on at the airport this weekend for 2-day and it worked like a champ. Even though it was empty when I left and came back to being parked besides an F150 platinum on one side and dodge RAM on the other. I was able to see and appreciate how both truck drivers took time not to let their doors ding my Tesla or luggage scratch the paint , which has happened in the past.

One other mention-able thing is that the first time you take the TeslaCam card out and put into a Windows 10 PC, it will say there is an error and windows can fix it. Not sure what Windows is doing, but if you accept the fix, it is messing with the card making it flaky with TeslaCam after the fact. It seems to work better if you tell Windows not to fix it, as you can still see the video, whcih seems to play better on VLC than Windows player.

So for formatting, I used diskpart to convert between MBR and GPT and Gparted on Linux to format Full (not quick) FAT32 as windows is now exFAT only. Yet to try the setup with GPT which will reduce speed but hopefully well over 15MB/s and see how it performs. For Windows I recommend using SDFormatter utility from the organization that governs SD Card formats over an 3rd party utility.

Thanks that's all very helpful, I'm gonna try that do not allow windows to fix this drive thing.

I had a few days of it working then came to car this am and the Teslacam icon was greyed out, after reinserting it was working again.
Very strange bug, pretty sure my drive is fast enough...but will try reformatting drive next.

 

[superblast]

Will the Model 3 no longer read ext4 music partitions/drives? I thought I'd give things another go yesterday and redid my 128GB Samsung Fit Plus using my Ubuntu laptop. I created a 32GB ext4 partition for TeslaCam and created a second ext4 partition with the rest of the space for music. I plugged in the drive and TeslaCam lit up like it should but the music drive was not recognized. No USB icon showed up in music. I tried reinserting the drive and rebooting the entertainment system with no luck.

So, then I tried another USB drive with a single ext4 partition and some MP3s on it. That wasn't recognized either. I then deleted the music partition off the 128GB Samsung and recreated it using FAT32 and the Tesla then recognized the music drive. I played music on my 90 minute commute to/from work today and no freezes so that was nice but I noticed the red exclamation mark and "drive too slow" error on my way home.

I checked the Samsung site and the 128GB and 256GB drives have the same specs so I'm not sure why mine no longer works.

 

[WileyTheMan]

I grabbed a cheap SSD with an external enclosure and a USB adapter, partitioned it appropriately for music and TeslaCam, and its been solid for six months now. Survived the heat waves of California during the summer. Was more concerned about repeated read/writes, that's why I went SSD.

 

[tvad]

It’s not the drives. It’s the Tesla software. Otherwise, why would drives that previously worked not work now?

 

[sduck]

Will the Model 3 no longer read ext4 music partitions/drives?

They still work. At least for me they do. I only have the music partition in EXT4 - I tried having both ext4 but it seemed to sometimes confuse things, so switched the dashcam drive to fat32.

 

[tbwnm]

Further to my earlier post, I purchased and installed the Samsung T5 SSD and it has been working fine but would like to know the best method for connecting this drive to my iPhone 7 Plus (running iOS 13.1.2) to view the footage. I checked out some USB C to Lightning cable reviews and ended up going with this one (picture attached), but when I connected it to my iPhone today the blue light on the SSD drive did not flash / light and the drive did not show up using the “Files” app on my iPhone. I suspect this is an issue with the cable so I ordered the Apple cable today to see if this solves the problem. The original xcentz cable was not cheap and was actually the same price as the Apple cable and also got 5 star reviews on Amazon, and I went with it instead because I thought it would be more durable than the Apple cable (we all know how durable Apple Cables are NOT). This is Apple Cable I just ordered on Amazon today (hopefully it’s a genuine OEM and not a knock off)

Apple Lightning to USB-C Cable (1 m) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CMN7DCX/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_yENNDbQCJ5M9G

Would appreciate hearing from someone who has had success playing back Sentry Cam / Tesla Cam footage from a Samsung T5 SSD on an iPhone to confirm. Thanks!

 

[Nuclear Fusion]

Anyone recommend a 2TB SSD equivalent to the Samsung T5?
Sandisk?

 

[Lanzer]

I think 1TB is overkill, especially now that version 10 will auto delete old files.

I have a 240GB and it's plenty. Even 120GB is fine.

The one I got cost $32, decent speed and plenty for the task.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07P22RK1G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[arcanexvi]

I'll repost the same thing here that I've posted on Reddit a few times regarding dashcam/teslacam storage:

Be careful with the temperature tolerances of the drives you use if you live in a market with seasons. I looked at another T5 but nyxed it when I saw it's only rated for 5-35 degrees C (41-95F). In Chicago we regularly get well above and below those temps in a car. Cabin overheat won't even kick in yet at 95.
I switched to the Samsung Fit Plus 256gb when I went through 2 other drives last year (polar vortex and one of the drives being a T5) and hazarded a guess that it was too cold and killing the drives. -25°C to 85°C operating limits on this drive (-13 to 185 degrees Fahrenheit). No issues since. Drive capacity is less but now with the self erasing in v10 I don't have to pop it out and erase once a month. Muuuuuch better temp tolerances and physically much smaller drive is nice as it isn't hanging from a cable in the front compartment.
Samsung MUF-256AB/AM FIT Plus 256GB - 300MB/s USB 3.1 Flash Drive https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D7Q41PM/

I'm not saying other drives wont work, just be prepared for earlier drive failures.

 

[mike123abc]

Samsung lists the T5 as 0-60 C operating temperature, 32-140 F....

 

[hydro 481]

2TB drives are still relatively expensive. I would just get two 500GB T5 drives and swap them out when you need to review footage on one of them. I often forget to bring my SSD back out after plugging it into my PC.

 

[wbhokie]

I just took the 256 gig micro SD card I had for my blackvue and used it. Works great.

 

[sduck]

I've got a Sandisk - https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Extr...ywords=sandisk+ssd&qid=1570741017&sr=8-2&th=1
Personally I think 2TB is overkill for this application - it's a lot of money to spend, and personally I don't need that much room. The 250GB one I have is split in half, one partition is fat32 for the dashcam, and the other is formatted ext4 for music. I've had it working this way since January, through winter and a very hot southern summer, and haven't had any problems.

 

[Nuclear Fusion]

I think 1TB is overkill, especially now that version 10 will auto delete old files.

Was not aware of this update - thanks

 

[RLEE]

I'll repost the same thing here that I've posted on Reddit a few times regarding dashcam/teslacam storage:

Be careful with the temperature tolerances of the drives you use if you live in a market with seasons. I looked at another T5 but nyxed it when I saw it's only rated for 5-35 degrees C (41-95F). In Chicago we regularly get well above and below those temps in a car. Cabin overheat won't even kick in yet at 95.
I switched to the Samsung Fit Plus 256gb when I went through 2 other drives last year (polar vortex and one of the drives being a T5) and hazarded a guess that it was too cold and killing the drives. -25°C to 85°C operating limits on this drive (-13 to 185 degrees Fahrenheit). No issues since. Drive capacity is less but now with the self erasing in v10 I don't have to pop it out and erase once a month. Muuuuuch better temp tolerances and physically much smaller drive is nice as it isn't hanging from a cable in the front compartment.
Samsung MUF-256AB/AM FIT Plus 256GB - 300MB/s USB 3.1 Flash Drive https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D7Q41PM/

I'm not saying other drives wont work, just be prepared for earlier drive failures.

I've posted the same warning but was informed that their brochure showed a wider temp range (0 to 60) vs their manual (5 to 35). Their brochure is newer but both are still posted. Anyways I second the fit plus 256gb. More than enough space, wider temperature range, smaller size, and never had an issue with it.

 

[Cnasty]

It’s not the drives. It’s the Tesla software. Otherwise, why would drives that previously worked not work now?

This is what I am saying as well. I have 2 Model 3s and now both of the drives that worked before V10 are not working.

Frustrating.

 

[Dan203]

Exact same setup for me and I've had it happen twice now in about a week and a half. Based on many other posts across Reddit, Facebook, TMC, etc. this is new (very random) bug with v10. You can buy the fastest drives on the market but the USB 2.0 ports in the Tesla are limited to 60MBps throughput.

Yeah mine became pretty unreliable after v10. Not sure why, but I didn’t want to futz with it any more so I just bought a Samsun SSD. So far, so good, but it's only been a few days.

 

[yerEVan]

I'm using a Sandisk extreme 256 GB micro SD card with an adapter that is USB on one side and lightning connector on the other side. Have not had any issues and the adapter allows me to view the videos on my iphone.

So i just started having issues with this exact same usb drive. Plugged it into my pc and sure enough the performance was terrible and getting errors. The drive is failing. I’m going to contact SanDisk for a replacement as it’s only 4 months old.

When i went to sandisk’s website to look at the warranty statement, I realized that using this for sentry is voiding the warranty :O.

“This warranty does not cover use of the Product in connection with the following uses or devices (as determined by SanDisk): (i) normal wear and tear, (ii) video monitoring, security, and surveillance devices, (iii) internet protocol/network cameras, (iv) in-car recording devices/dashboard cameras/black box cameras,“

So, after a few months it fails, I’m going to try and get a warranty replacement anyway, but wondering if there truly is a product out there that supports this type of use. I paid 80 bucks and really don’t want to keep doing that.