Recommended USB drive for dashcam

[lairdb]

Why buy that one when the new model is less than 1/3 the price?
https://smile.amazon.com/SanDisk-117873-Sandisk-Connect-16GB/dp/B00ZCFYDLA/

I was reading up the info on it and it seems like the stick cannot use the wireless function when it is plugged into the an usb port. You have to unplug it to use the WiFi transfer function.

Yech; I posted without looking closely. The newer one is what I'm getting: https://smile.amazon.com/Sandisk-Connect-Stick-Memory-SDWS4-032G-A46/dp/B013R4X50W. According to another poster... somewhere... you don't have to actually cap it; once the power is removed, it does its wireless thing. Also, it has been reported that it can be configured to join an infrastructure network, rather than being it's own little AP.

We'll see.

 

[timk225]

Flash drives really aren't intended for constant reading / writing, I've killed a few Kingston USB drives with transferring large files.

I'd get a 2-1/2" hard drive enclosure and a 2-1/2" SSD drive and use it. FAR higher read / write speeds than a flash drive and better able to endure the usage. Doesn't have to be a high capacity SSD, a 60 / 120 GB version is $50 or less at Best Buy.

 

[03DSG]

I got this in Canada. Nice part is it came already formatted in fat32 (windows desktop) so I didn’t need a partition program.

https://www.amazon.ca/SanDisk-Ultra...id=1538709234&sr=8-1&keywords=Sandisk+128+USB

 

[rvandrew]

Like all good nerds, I have my box of computer stuff, including a pair of 240GB intel SSD drives, and a 256 GB OCZ SSD drive. A USB 3.0 to SATA adapter is about $10 on Amazon, (yes, I know, the USB plugs in the T3 are USB 2.0, but the adapter should work the same) but my concern is if the USB ports in the Tesla will power the SSD units. I looked up the Intel drive on line, it gave me tons of specs, except for power requirements. Also, how good are SSDs generally in the hot/cold environment of a car? I figure I can get a couple of adapter cables and try it, either order from Amazon or see what my local Best Buy has. Oddly, the best Buy adapters are Lots more expensive.
Has anyone tried using an SSD for music storage in a Tesla Model 3? I figure if it works for music storage, it should work for Dashcam after V9 comes out, provided it is reconfigured correctly. Tie them down so they don't bounce around, and tuck them out of the way near the USB ports.

 

[rvandrew]

Sorry, should have checked further. There are several forums over in the Model S side of the forum world dealing with using SSD units in the Model S. If it works there, it should work in the 3, I hope

 

[insaneoctane]

Anyone with more geek going than me... What is a standard expected MTBF of a regular thumb drive? Bonus points: if you rewrite 2GB of data continously while driving, how long should a regular thumb drive last?

Wouldn't it suck if in 2 years from now you had a REAL need for that dashcam footage only to discover it wasn't recording properly because your cheap-ass thumb drive from that trade show was corrupt!

 

[swaltner]

They definitely don’t have an unlimited life. At the end of the month, I update my vehicle expenses spreadsheet with mileage info (monthly trip meter, power usage/cost from home EVSE as well as Supercharger visits). I’ll just review a recent video clip from the thumb drive at the same time.

I tended to review a clip off the Blackvue camera in the Leaf, which could be done in the car with a phone over wi-fi. I replaced the Micro SD card after about 18 months after one of these tests. I hadn’t bothered mounting the in the Model 3 because this feature was coming.

I am expecting to change out the thumb drive at least once a year.

 

[Need]

Anyone with more geek going than me... What is a standard expected MTBF of a regular thumb drive? Bonus points: if you rewrite 2GB of data continously while driving, how long should a regular thumb drive last?

Wouldn't it suck if in 2 years from now you had a REAL need for that dashcam footage only to discover it wasn't recording properly because your cheap-ass thumb drive from that trade show was corrupt!

First of all, in order to have a footage from 2 years ago, you will have to press the icon to save that footage on the USB drive 2 years ago. If you have to wait 2 years to get it out of the drive, you probably don't need it! Also according to google, usb drive have somewhere between 10,000 to 100,000 write/erase cycles. So lets say a cheap drive has 10,000 cycles. That would be 10,000 hours of recording. It would be more than 2 years even if you drive 12 hours a day.

So unless they increase the buffer or add more cameras, I think a 4GB drive is big enough. 2GB for the 1 hour buffer, and 2 GB to save clips for downloading. I am using a 16GB one because I have a tons of them sitting around. BTW, the thumb drive gets warm when you unplug them, but I have metal Kinstons ones. Also not sure how to stop the writing when unplug from usb port. I tried stopping the recording and unplug but it still keep giving me the your drive is corrupted.. scan and fix...screen on my laptop. I just ignore that message.

 

[vrykolas]

For those trying to use really big USB/flash drives, be aware the documentation states the filesystem needs to be FAT32 OR FAT.

The max partition size allowed by FAT32 is 32GB.
So even if you put a larger USB in, you can only "use" 32GB of the space.

 

[Eno Deb]

The max partition size allowed by FAT32 is 32GB.
So even if you put a larger USB in, you can only "use" 32GB of the space.

That's only a limitation of the basic Windows formatting utility. You can format FAT32 volumes up to 2TB using the format command line tool, 3rd party utilities, or the MacOS disk utility.

 

[R1Fast]

This is the one I got and it is working well. 256 gb is way to much. Keep in mind these USB keys wear out so by the time it’s useful to have that much space (never) , you will need a new one.

64 gb Sandisk ultra usb 3
https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Ultr...UTF8&qid=1538536985&sr=8-4&keywords=usb+64+gb

Not a bad deal, but IMO the 128gb is a better grab being only $10 more ($24.99) and the Samsung claims double the transfer speed (300mb/s)

Newb question (Still waiting on delivery so I can't tinker to get the answer myself): Do you have to use a specific USB port for dashcam recording or is it simply any connected to the system? And if so, I assume you can use the same drive for audio storage/playback? That might help justify a larger, 128gb+ drive.

Edit: Also, is there any benefit of going with USB 3.1 over 3.0? Or SSD over flash for that matter? Can the onboard Tesla hardware even take advantage of the increased transfer rate?

Ex: Samsung T5 SSD (540mb/s) vs Samsung FIT+ (300mb/s)

 

[Knightshade]

Not a bad deal, but IMO the 128gb is a better grab being only $10 more ($24.99) and the Samsung claims double the transfer speed (300mb/s)

Newb question (Still waiting on delivery so I can't tinker to get the answer myself): Do you have to use a specific USB port for dashcam recording or is it simply any connected to the system?

Only the front 2 can be used for anything other than charging devices

And if so, I assume you can use the same drive for audio storage/playback? That might help justify a larger, 128gb+ drive.

Nope, sure can't. Which means both front ports are used up if using a dashcam drive and a music drive.

Edit: Also, is there any benefit of going with USB 3.1 over 3.0? Or SSD over flash for that matter? Can the onboard Tesla hardware even take advantage of the increased transfer rate?

Ex: Samsung T5 SSD (540mb/s) vs Samsung FIT+ (300mb/s)

The ports are 2.0, so no advantage to anything faster

 

[smartypnz]

Where physically will this USB drive be plugged? (May be a dumb question - be nice)

 

[Knightshade]

Where physically will this USB drive be plugged? (May be a dumb question - be nice)

Either of the front 2 USB ports- those are the only ones connected to the computer for data...the rear ports are power only.

 

[COrocket]

Has anyone used a high endurance micro SD card (that are used for actual dashcam/security cameras) with a USB adapter? I’m gonna order something since I don’t have an old drive sitting around and if the SD card gets a longer life I don’t mind spending a few extra bucks

 

[seyclone]

Everybody has to consider that the drive must be set up in FAT32 format. The size limit of FAT32 is 32 gigs.. There are utilities that can expand that size for larger drives, but they require some degree of computer expertise. So, don't waste your money. Get a 32 Gig drive. I don't know whether the port is USB-2 or USB-3 (I suspect -2). They're cheap, so get a couple of them.

 

[mswlogo]

Everybody has to consider that the drive must be set up in FAT32 format. The size limit of FAT32 is 32 gigs.. There are utilities that can expand that size for larger drives, but they require some degree of computer expertise. So, don't waste your money. Get a 32 Gig drive. I don't know whether the port is USB-2 or USB-3 (I suspect -2). They're cheap, so get a couple of them.

Wrong again. See above post. You can format up to 2 TB on FAT32.

I have run a hub in the front port with 2 flash drives of music. And works. Can’t test dashcam yet.

 

[golfbern]

Either of the front 2 USB ports- those are the only ones connected to the computer for data...the rear ports are power only.

In the center console? Like here?

 

[Need]

That looks like a S or X? The ones on 3 are under the front most console 2nd lid.

 

[golfbern]

That looks like a S or X? The ones on 3 are under the front most console 2nd lid.

This is for an X