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MASTER THREAD: USB drives that work with Sentry and TeslaCam

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So my home computer is an imac and all my music is on itunes. Can anyone point me to information on how to transfer songs from itunes to a FLAC format and arrange the titles so they are organized in a manner where it's easy to find songs?
The best I've been able to do is play it on my phone using Bluetooth. I gave up on trying to use USB storage, as the playback sucks - not quality, but just the user experience.
 
Hello all,

I was using a Samsung T5 500GB drive in my early 2020 Model 3 (pre-refit) but am taking delivery of a 2022 Model 3 later this year (hopefully). I know some of the USB ports are now USB-C. Will I need to get a different cable / adapter to use the same drive? Or is the port in the glovebox (which is still USB-A iirc) what we use anyway?
 
Hello all,

I was using a Samsung T5 500GB drive in my early 2020 Model 3 (pre-refit) but am taking delivery of a 2022 Model 3 later this year (hopefully). I know some of the USB ports are now USB-C. Will I need to get a different cable / adapter to use the same drive? Or is the port in the glovebox (which is still USB-A iirc) what we use anyway?


Car should come with a 128GB USB-A Samsung key in the glovebox port already last I heard.

You should be able to swap it for your 500GB drive if you want to.
 
May I please ask whether these two items are a reasonable setup for my dashcam:

1652821818197.png
 
May I please ask whether these two items are a reasonable setup for my dashcam:

View attachment 805531


I use that exact microSD card reader, but use sandisk endurance pro sd cards myself. Thats just what I chose though. There isnt any reason that your proposed setup wont work.

 
May I please ask whether these two items are a reasonable setup for my dashcam:

What's the rationale for paying for the wrong format and then paying more for the adapter to convert it to the correct USB-A format?

Instead of paying $35.99+19.99=$55.98 when you can buy the correct format, better hardware as a "Solid State" Drive and not just a flash drive, a better transfer rate of 380MB/s instead of 100 for a cheaper price of ... $39.95.

SanDisk 128GB Extreme PRO USB 3.2 Solid State Flash Drive - SDCZ880-128G-G46

71gbe0RaBiL._AC_SX679_.jpg


I've been using this (but an older slower version 3.1) since 2018 with no problems for my Model X and Model 3.
 
May I please ask whether these two items are a reasonable setup for my dashcam:

View attachment 805531
I would pay $35 for a Sandisk High Endurance card instead (pick the ships and sold by Amazon to lower chances of counterfeits; you can also buy at Bestbuy or directly from manufacturer's website):
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07P4HBRMV/ref=twister_B07R5WVZT8
Sandisk High Endurance is actually warrantied for dashcam usage (Ultra is not), and also is a V30 card (30MB/sec) so has higher continuous write speeds than the Ultra which is only a class 10 card (10MB/sec).
Speed Class | SD Association
With the quoted specs, I calculated a 256GB High Endurance cards is warrantied for the equivalent of 234 TBW.

There is zero reason to get an Ultra card over a High Endurance card when they are the same price or even higher.
If you are going to get an Ultra, you might as well get the flash drive that was mentioned by the other post (that one also is not warrantied for dashcam usage).

Or would this be a better option with the MobileMate:

View attachment 805539
This will give you more capacity, but keep in mind SSDs also are not warrantied for dashcam usage (in fact not warrantied for any write endurance). That drive however is better than the older T5 model as it is based on similar tech to a 970 Evo Plus, which the 500GB version is warrantied for 300 TBW, which gives you a general idea of endurance.
 
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I've had two Sandisk (500mb) solid state drives that I bought when I got my MSLR 9 months ago and both seem to have crapped out. They stopped working altogether while plugged into the glovebox USB plug, but ended up working when plugged into the center console's USB port(s), until the other day when I couldn't get either one of them to work anywhere! The lowly thumbdrive from Tesla is now plugged into the glovebox and working fine. Does anyone know if this is an update issue from Tesla or could I have had both solid state drives crap out at the same time?
 
I've had two Sandisk (500mb) solid state drives that I bought when I got my MSLR 9 months ago and both seem to have crapped out. They stopped working altogether while plugged into the glovebox USB plug, but ended up working when plugged into the center console's USB port(s), until the other day when I couldn't get either one of them to work anywhere! The lowly thumbdrive from Tesla is now plugged into the glovebox and working fine. Does anyone know if this is an update issue from Tesla or could I have had both solid state drives crap out at the same time?
There are recent bugs according to other threads, but it could also be your drives. Have you tried reformatting? Before reformatting, have you tried plugging them into a computer to check if they are still working? That is an easier way to tell if it is the drive or some Tesla software.
 
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I've had two Sandisk (500mb) solid state drives that I bought when I got my MSLR 9 months ago and both seem to have crapped out. They stopped working altogether while plugged into the glovebox USB plug, but ended up working when plugged into the center console's USB port(s), until the other day when I couldn't get either one of them to work anywhere! The lowly thumbdrive from Tesla is now plugged into the glovebox and working fine. Does anyone know if this is an update issue from Tesla or could I have had both solid state drives crap out at the same time?
I got rid of the thumbdrive from Tesla early on because it kept crashing and needing to be physically removed and reinserted. I did some research, and learned that some microSD cards are designed for lots of writes like security cameras, so I got a Sandisk high endurance (256MB) along with the little Sandisk MobileMate mentioned above. It works pretty well, but has needed to be reformatted every few weeks, a process that takes only a second or so in the car. Note that if you use an adapter or hub, you will not be able to reformat in the car.

However, in the past few weeks, I've needed to reformat at least every few days. The first time I noticed, the reformat failed, and I had to remove it a couple of times, or perhaps retry reformatting a few times (not sure which). Since the first time, a simple reformat works as long as I'm parked.

I believe this is related to the last update because others have this problem, too, except for a few hard-core Tesla cult members who can't ever see any defects.

I dragged the dashcam icon down to the toolbar so it's always visible. The red dot changes to a red 'X' when the drive is not working, so I look out for that, and reformat when I see it.
 
Man.....I'm all confused now....

Do I use an SSD or Micro SD card reader ??

I have a Lacie 500GB High Performance 1050 MB/s read - 1000 MB/s write SSD that I bought at the Apple Store to back up my MacBook Pro that I was thinking using instead of the Tesla supplied 128GB stick. But I see a lot of you swearing by the SanDisk Micro SD card reader.......

Which one is ultimately the best?
 
There are recent bugs according to other threads, but it could also be your drives. Have you tried reformatting? Before reformatting, have you tried plugging them into a computer to check if they are still working? That is an easier way to tell if it is the drive or some Tesla software.
So a recent update to this. I have tried everything. I have reformatted the drives, verified the drives work, etc etc. I finally scheduled a service appointment with Tesla in Tyler - on the only day I have available for the next month - they then rescheduled it. This has happened on every, single appointment I've made with the Tyler Service Center. So out of sheer annoyance I started making phone calls until I got a hold of a human being at the Vehicle Support Line (which I didn't even know existed until the other day). We went through several processes and they determined that most likely my entire USB system (glovebox and USB-Cs under console) are probably inop and may have to be replaced. Because the service center rescheduled me - AGAIN - I can't get in there until the end of June so my dashcam will be inop and unusable for the next month or so.
 
Man.....I'm all confused now....

Do I use an SSD or Micro SD card reader ??

I have a Lacie 500GB High Performance 1050 MB/s read - 1000 MB/s write SSD that I bought at the Apple Store to back up my MacBook Pro that I was thinking using instead of the Tesla supplied 128GB stick. But I see a lot of you swearing by the SanDisk Micro SD card reader.......

Which one is ultimately the best?
It's hard to say which is best, but the Lacie is certainly overkill. However, if it's not needed for your MacBook, I'd guess it would be OK. But if you're buying something to use, the SanDisk is much cheaper, and possibly more robust; it's designed for security cameras, etc, which do a lot of write/rewrites. But one issue is you need a USB reader, and they may not be designed for this, so only experience will tell which ones work well. I got the small Sandisk reader mainly because it doesn't stick out so much in the glove compartment, and so won't get accidentally hit as easily. Having a longer adapter or a USB drive has enough leverage to possibly destroy the USB jack.

This is all mainly my own opinions and assumptions, so I won't take it as gospel, though. But that should go without saying in most cases.
 
Man.....I'm all confused now....

Do I use an SSD or Micro SD card reader ??

I have a Lacie 500GB High Performance 1050 MB/s read - 1000 MB/s write SSD that I bought at the Apple Store to back up my MacBook Pro that I was thinking using instead of the Tesla supplied 128GB stick. But I see a lot of you swearing by the SanDisk Micro SD card reader.......

Which one is ultimately the best?
If you already have that SSD, there is nothing wrong with using it, although as others mention, the speed is overkill for dashcam. People use a high endurance microSD card because it is warrantied/rated for the write cycles required for dashcam recording (and also high temperature tolerant), so it's a better alternative than the included 128GB stick, especially if you also use Sentry mode (which increases write cycles and storage space requirements).
 
Sentry mode does not significantly increase write cycles.

Sentry does not record video. It just "moves" existing video from the recent folder to the sentry folder- which means it's only, to simplify this, updating the index/pointer, not actually writing any new files.

And the math the life cycle stuff has been shown in the past-numerous times in this very thread- even with pretty heavy usage the included 128GB stick should be good for longer than most people own a new car based on how little actual writing the system does and the expected life of flash memory.... (likewise the included stick is rated for high temps as well- though really folks should be using cabin overheat if this is a concern, the cabin has a lot of electronics after all even without the stick)
 
Sentry mode does not significantly increase write cycles.

Sentry does not record video. It just "moves" existing video from the recent folder to the sentry folder- which means it's only, to simplify this, updating the index/pointer, not actually writing any new files.

And the math the life cycle stuff has been shown in the past-numerous times in this very thread- even with pretty heavy usage the included 128GB stick should be good for longer than most people own a new car based on how little actual writing the system does and the expected life of flash memory.... (likewise the included stick is rated for high temps as well- though really folks should be using cabin overheat if this is a concern, the cabin has a lot of electronics after all even without the stick)
It does for me because I park for a week at a time and Sentry presumably keeps dashcam on the whole time it is parked. The way the buffering is done is on the drive/microSD itself, as you say Sentry mode just "moves" video files by renaming the folder. That means the whole time dashcam is active and continuously writing to the drive/microSD, whereas with Sentry off it won't. AFAIK it's not buffering using memory on the car (if that were the case, that would minimize writes on the drive/microSD).

Note I'm not considering the case where Sentry is on and dashcam off, as essentially that is useless to me (not sure why anyone would use it like that).
 
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It does for me because I park for a week at a time and Sentry presumably keeps dashcam on the whole time it is parked. The way the buffering is done is on the drive/microSD itself, as you say Sentry mode just "moves" video files by renaming the folder. That means the whole time dashcam is active and continuously writing to the drive/microSD, whereas with Sentry off it won't. AFAIK it's not buffering using memory on the car (if that were the case, that would minimize writes on the drive/microSD).

Note I'm not considering the case where Sentry is on and dashcam off, as essentially that is useless to me (not sure why anyone would use it like that).



Yes, yours is a clarification worth mentioning.

It's not SENTRY that's increasing writes, it's dashcam... and having sentry on allows dashcam to remain on even when it otherwise would not.


As to why one might have sentry on without dashcam- IIRC older cars had no choice on this (maybe MCU1 cars?) but I agree newer ones it makes little sense to run that way.