My Thumb drives keep dying

[DipStick]

I'm going into my fourth external storage for sentry and dash cam. My guess is that they are too hot while in park as the car reaches 140+ degrees every day here for 7-8 months. Any thoughts on if that's the cause?

I ordered this to see if it'll work as operating temp seems better Portable External Solid State Drive 2TB Super Speed External Solid State Drive USB 3.1 /Type-C for Mac, PC, Laptop 2022 Upgrade (2TB, Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09XQMXBKN/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_P9VM4JFBC713FXA180RR

I'm skeptical about the price but if it doesn't work I'll find a use for it.

 

[jjrandorin]

I have used a SD card + reader since delivery in Dec of 2018 (the same one) and it still works fine. Instead of getting a (unnecessarily) super huge hard drive, why not just get a 128gb or 256gb sd card + adapter?

 

[Adam3]

I use these, have not had an issue in 18 months:

• SanDisk 128GB MAX Endurance microSDXC Card with Adapter for Home Security Cameras and Dash cams
• Kingston MobileLite Plus USB 3.2 microSDHC/SDXC UHS-II Card Reader (MLPM)

 

[android04]

Agree with the others, get a SanDisk Max Endurance microSD card (or 2nd best option is SanDisk High Endurance or Samsung Pro Endurance, of which I have all of them). Here's the link (I always recommend buying flash memory directly from the manufacturer) https://www.westerndigital.com/prod...ax-endurance-uhs-i-microsd#SDSQQVR-256G-GN6IA.

My endurance rated microSD card have been in use for years with no issues, including a BlackVue dash cam that records 24/7. They are rated for higher amounts of read/write cycles and higher temperatures.

My favorite microSD to USB adapter is this one (I have two of them) https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B06XTQZS4F

 

[ATPMSD]

This is what I use,, no issues:

https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Endu...+Endurance+MicroSD&qid=1601851965&sr=8-2&th=1

 

[EVRider-FL]

If the car is reaching 140+ degrees inside, turn on Cabin Overheat Protection, which will keep the inside temp at or below 105. However, that won’t help if you don’t use the car every day, because it only operates for at most 12 hours once you exit the car.

 

[DipStick]

If the car is reaching 140+ degrees inside, turn on Cabin Overheat Protection, which will keep the inside temp at or below 105. However, that won’t help if you don’t use the car every day, because it only operates for at most 12 hours once you exit the car.

I thought about it. I haven't because it'd have to run all day long. It's 115+ outside already. Might be a good idea anyway. I don't pay for my electricity.

 

[DOOLMTR]

I had all sorts of issues with those metal Samsung drives and switch to a Sandisk microSD reader with a high endurance card and it's been almost flawless. Sometimes the recording gets corrupted when Sentry mode is triggered but it happens much much less often now.

 

[stopcrazypp]

I'm going into my fourth external storage for sentry and dash cam. My guess is that they are too hot while in park as the car reaches 140+ degrees every day here for 7-8 months. Any thoughts on if that's the cause?

I ordered this to see if it'll work as operating temp seems better Portable External Solid State Drive 2TB Super Speed External Solid State Drive USB 3.1 /Type-C for Mac, PC, Laptop 2022 Upgrade (2TB, Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09XQMXBKN/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_P9VM4JFBC713FXA180RR

I'm skeptical about the price but if it doesn't work I'll find a use for it.

I would not buy no name drives as they may make up the temp specs (might not even have the capacity quoted, a lot of them may use a smaller chip and fake it).

I agree with others to buy a brand name high endurance or max endurance microSD card (buy from a reputable retailer as there are fake cards out there too; if buying Amazon ships and sold from Amazon reduces chances of such but not completely) and a reader. Such cards are rated for higher write cycles and higher temperatures.

 

[AZAV8R]

Is this relatively new behavior? If so, there are a number of us having to remove/reinstall, reboot, reformat a number of times to get the car to recognize the drive. I replaced my first (<1 y.o.) drive when it it would not behave. After my new one started the same crap, I found it wasn't just me. It appears to be a bug brought to us courtesy of the last update.

 

[DipStick]

Is this relatively new behavior? If so, there are a number of us having to remove/reinstall, reboot, reformat a number of times to get the car to recognize the drive. I replaced my first (<1 y.o.) drive when it it would not behave. After my new one started the same crap, I found it wasn't just me. It appears to be a bug brought to us courtesy of the last update.

Yes it is new. Maybe that is it then. I had one die a year ago. This one had been OK until about a week or two ago.

 

[1speed]

As @android04 said, you need an endurance SD card. SSD drives only have so many writes in them and they can't handle the churn of constant video. This is a common problem when folks use regular SD cards in any video recording. I am just using the official $40 stick that Tesla sells. It's true there is a major software issue where the USB stick works intermittently.

I would also recommend turning on Cabin Overheat unless you just can't afford losing that amount of battery daily. It will help protect the car in general. Assume you already have tint, but if not I would get the car tinted and use a reflective windshield screen.

 

[stopcrazypp]

Yes it is new. Maybe that is it then. I had one die a year ago. This one had been OK until about a week or two ago.

If it's just a week or two ago it could be a recent bug that has been reported in other threads. Usually (temporarily) fixed by reformatting the drive in the car.

You can also check if the drive still works on a computer to eliminate that as a possibility.

 

[Flynnaz]

What is a good size microSDXC card? Is anything over 256 a waste?

 

[stopcrazypp]

What is a good size microSDXC card? Is anything over 256 a waste?

128GB or 256GB is a decent size that is relatively affordable. If you have music you may want more, but if you are doing with a microSD, you can just get a dual slot version and keep one slot for music (also easier because you don't have to format a separate partition).

I got this reader (one is an SD slot, but you can use it for microSD by using the adapter that is included with the card):

https://www.amazon.com/UGREEN-Reader-Memory-Windows-Simultaneously/dp/B01EFPX9XA/

For the dashcam card, get a high endurance one.

For the music you can get at regular one, I typically get the Samsung Evo Select as it has V30 write speeds and costs the same as other much slower cards from SanDisk.

https://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-microSDXC-Expanded-MB-ME256KA-AM/dp/B09B1GXM16/

 

[android04]

What is a good size microSDXC card? Is anything over 256 a waste?

The larger it is, the longer it will last when it comes to memory wear because there are more memory blocks to level out the wear and tear. Just make sure it is a high endurance card (or PRO, Max, or Ultra Endurance...).

 

[Chemaster]

I just picked up my Model 3 Tesla last week so have not read much on a USB.

What's the default size that comes with a 2023 model 3 and how much sentry mode information can be recorded to it?

If I up the default to 256 GB how much sentry mode video Kenny handle?

 

[stopcrazypp]

I just picked up my Model 3 Tesla last week so have not read much on a USB.

What's the default size that comes with a 2023 model 3 and how much sentry mode information can be recorded to it?

The drive that came with my 2021 was 128GB. The same one listed on their store.
https://shop.tesla.com/product/usb-drive-_-128-gb

It's just a rebranded Samsung Bar Plus, which can be found for $15 on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-BAR-Plus-128GB-MUF-128BE3/dp/B07BPK3XWW

If I up the default to 256 GB how much sentry mode video Kenny handle?

Last I checked the video is recorded at around 5 Mbit/s, so about 20 Mbit/s (or ~2.5MByte / s) for the 4 camera views. That works out to 256000MB/2.5MB = 102400 seconds = ~28 hours of footage max. Subtract about 1 hour for the loop recording of Dashcam (dashcam only loop records 1 hour of footage), so you can expect about 27 hours of footage max for Sentry.

 

[Chemaster]

The drive that came with my 2021 was 128GB. The same one listed on their store.
https://shop.tesla.com/product/usb-drive-_-128-gb

It's just a rebranded Samsung Bar Plus, which can be found for $15 on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-BAR-Plus-128GB-MUF-128BE3/dp/B07BPK3XWW

Last I checked the video is recorded at around 5 Mbit/s, so about 20 Mbit/s (or ~2.5MByte / s) for the 4 camera views. That works out to 256000MB/2.5MB = 102400 seconds = ~28 hours of footage max. Subtract about 1 hour for the loop recording of Dashcam (dashcam only loop records 1 hour of footage), so you can expect about 27 hours of footage max for Sentry.

Thanks so much for the explanation. Just curious why might they record the cam information because I've certainly don't want to review what I look like for an hour.

 

[stopcrazypp]

Thanks so much for the explanation. Just curious why might they record the cam information because I've certainly don't want to review what I look like for an hour.

It does not record the cabin, only the outside. There are only 4 camera views, the front, rear, and the two sides of the car.

The Dashcam runs whenever the car is on. The one hour loop recording is there so that it can capture events during the progress of driving (usually people use it for insurance claims). You can press on the dashcam icon (or press the horn if you have the option enabled) to move 10 minutes of the most recent footage to the Saved Clips folder, which will prevent them from being deleted in the 1 hour loop.
Model 3 Owner's Manual | Tesla

I suggest however you wait at least a minute after the event you are interested in saving before doing so. This is because there have been cases reported that the last clip gets corrupted if you do this while it is still writing to the drive. Another way is to wait a minute, press and hold icon to pause dashcam, and remove the drive. This will preserve the whole hour, although it won't be able to continue recording.

In Sentry mode (which is for when the car is parked), when Sentry detects something, it will move that clip to the Sentry Clips folder.
Model 3 Owner's Manual | Tesla

Note Sentry mode will drain your battery faster. In my car it uses about 1 mile of range per hour. With it off, car uses only about 1 mile of range per day.