Sentry is now recording at home.

[RipVanFinkle]

So I’ve had my M3P for a few months and yesterday, my car started recording sentry events while at home. If I go in the garage, I get flashed at. I’ve done the following:

Rebooted
Turned sentry off and on
Reentered my home address
Toggled sentry active at home off and on

It’s still doing it. I don’t know what else to do other than open a service ticket. Anyone have any advice? I’ve searched and tried everything…

 

[funkright]

That’s Elon’s new total surveillance system. It’ll only allow you to have access to the FSD beta if you’re 100% good 100% of the time. He’ll know when you’ve been naughty and when you’ve been nice…

 

[S&B's M3]

So I’ve had my M3P for a few months and yesterday, my car started recording sentry events while at home. If I go in the garage, I get flashed at. I’ve done the following:

Rebooted
Turned sentry off and on
Reentered my home address
Toggled sentry active at home off and on

It’s still doing it. I don’t know what else to do other than open a service ticket. Anyone have any advice? I’ve searched and tried everything…

Did you turn sentry back on? If it's on it will record, if it's off it shouldn't.

 

[S&B's M3]

Did you turn sentry back on? If it's on it will record, if it's off it shouldn't.

I almost forgot, it has to be locked. If it's unlocked I don't believe it will record. I will check and make sure.

On edit: I just checked by turning on sentry, leaving it unlocked, turning off my phone's Bluetooth and leaving the phone in the house, then I walked around tha car and the lights didn't flash, neither did the display note the it was recording.

So, the car has to be locked with sentry set to on before it will normally record.

If yours is recording with the car unlocked and sentry off or car unlocked and sentry on, then you probably need to set up a service call at the local SC.

 

[RipVanFinkle]

Did you turn sentry back on? If it's on it will record, if it's off it shouldn't.

Yes. Sentry is on. But it's recording everything at home even though the settings are telling it not to record at home or work.

 

[Knightshade]

To be clear- sentry does not record video. Ever.

Dashcam does.

If the car is awake, at any location, dashcam is recording. Regardless of sentry being on or off.


What sentry does that is related is when it's on, is KEEP the car awake. Plus if it goes to alert mode, it'll copy the last 10 minutes of dashcam video to the sentry folder.

The relevant setting would be to exclude sentry use at home- at which point the car should after you leave it alone for a few minutes, go to sleep and then dashcam will cease recording until it wakes up again.

 

[S&B's M3]

Yes. Sentry is on. But it's recording everything at home even though the settings are telling it not to record at home or work.

Is the car locked? If so, then you car will record once sentry is activated.

 

[EVRider-FL]

Sentry can be active even if the car is unlocked. For example, getting in the car when Sentry is on doesn’t turn it off even though the door is unlocked.

If you manually turn Sentry on, the location rules don’t apply. Those rules only control whether Sentry comes on automatically after you exit the car.

 

[S&B's M3]

Sentry can be active even if the car is unlocked. For example, getting in the car when Sentry is on doesn’t turn it off even though the door is unlocked.

If you manually turn Sentry on, the location rules don’t apply. Those rules only control whether Sentry comes on automatically after you exit the car.

I agree that the sentry is active, but disagree that it will record with the doors unlocked, which is the OP's issue. But go try it for yourself. Turn sentry on, leave it unlocked and leave your phone outside of the car's range and then walk around this car. Mine only records when the car is locked and sentry is active. If sentry is active and the car is unlocked, at least mine does not record anything, neither does the display indicate it's recording.

 

[EVRider-FL]

If sentry is active and the car is unlocked, at least mine does not record anything, neither does the display indicate it's recording.

I know the manual says otherwise, but when I get in the car when Sentry is enabled, the Sentry icon remains active (shows the red dot) until I turn it off or shift into gear, even though my door remains unlocked. I didn’t verify that the car would still record videos for alerts in that case, but the indicator is definitely on. The OP’s issue is that Sentry is coming on at home when it shouldn’t be, which is a different issue.

 

[Resist]

To be clear- sentry does not record video. Ever.

Dashcam does.

I believe you have the terms confused, because Sentry mode does record video. And this video is even labeled a Sentry and not Dashcam.

 

[Knightshade]

I believe you have the terms confused, because Sentry mode does record video.

No, I don't, and no it does not.

And this video is even labeled a Sentry and not Dashcam.

Sentry is the folder that the previous 10 minutes of dashcam video gets moved to if sentry goes to alert mode.

So you are playing back dashcam recordings that got moved to the sentry folder.

Several ways you can confirm this, apart from the manual.


Most obvious:
Turn off dashcam.

Turn on Sentry.

Notice how nothing gets recorded to the USB stick.

Because sentry doesn't "record" anything. Dashcam does.


or

Remove the USB stick entirely.

Turn on senty.

Notice how it does not complain about being unable to record video? That's because that's not a function of sentry mode.


Dashcam on the other hand you can't turn on without the USB storage attached, because that's the feature that actually records video.




If you want a deeper dive- The manual can be a bit unclear if you aren't paying attention to the actual in-car functionality, but here's some highlights:

Model 3 Owner's Manual | Tesla

Learn about the features you can use to record videos when driving and monitor the security of your vehicle when parked.

www.tesla.com

It discusses both features "saving" video in specific situations. This is not discussing recording it's discussing moving existing recordings to a folder that does not get automatically overwritten after 60 minutes like the normal non-saved dashcam recordings.

The most relevant line here though is

Dashcam and Sentry Mode do not record video when dashcam is paused

And the reason, of course, is that dashcam is the only feature that actually records video.

If sentry ever recorded than pausing dashcam wouldn't stop it would it?



Look further down and you'll then find this:

Dashcam records footage of your vehicles surroundings only when model 3 is powered on

One of sentrys features is it keeps the car powered on so that dashcam, not sentry, keeps recording- as I explained earlier.

Continue scrolling and it explains the 3 different folders on the drive:

Recent clips-- this is a 60 minute buffer dashcam saves to by default. It will clear/overwrite older than 1 hour clips automatically.

Saved clips-- this is anytime you manually tell the car to "save" footage, either via the dashcam button or via the horn if you have that set up-- this will move the last 10 minutes of dashcam footage from recent to saved. And it will not overwrite these clips.

Sentry clips-- this is anytime sentry goes to alert mode and dashcam is on it will then move the last 10 minutes of dashcam footage from recent to sentry. It will not overwrite these clips unless your drive is nearly full, then it will, starting with the oldest.

If you read down a bit further it explains that "alert" state, including that it saves that most recent 10 minutes of footage... which again is dashcam recordings.

 

[Resist]

No, I don't, and no it does not.



Sentry is the folder that the previous 10 minutes of dashcam video gets moved to if sentry goes to alert mode.

So you are playing back dashcam recordings that got moved to the sentry folder.

Several ways you can confirm this, apart from the manual.


Most obvious:
Turn off dashcam.

Turn on Sentry.

Notice how nothing gets recorded to the USB stick.

Because sentry doesn't "record" anything. Dashcam does.


or

Remove the USB stick entirely.

Turn on senty.

Notice how it does not complain about being unable to record video? That's because that's not a function of sentry mode.


Dashcam on the other hand you can't turn on without the USB storage attached, because that's the feature that actually records video.




If you want a deeper dive- The manual can be a bit unclear if you aren't paying attention to the actual in-car functionality, but here's some highlights:

Model 3 Owner's Manual | Tesla

Learn about the features you can use to record videos when driving and monitor the security of your vehicle when parked.

www.tesla.com

It discusses both features "saving" video in specific situations. This is not discussing recording it's discussing moving existing recordings to a folder that does not get automatically overwritten after 60 minutes like the normal non-saved dashcam recordings.

The most relevant line here though is



And the reason, of course, is that dashcam is the only feature that actually records video.

If sentry ever recorded than pausing dashcam wouldn't stop it would it?



Look further down and you'll then find this:




One of sentrys features is it keeps the car powered on so that dashcam, not sentry, keeps recording- as I explained earlier.

Continue scrolling and it explains the 3 different folders on the drive:

Recent clips-- this is a 60 minute buffer dashcam saves to by default. It will clear/overwrite older than 1 hour clips automatically.

Saved clips-- this is anytime you manually tell the car to "save" footage, either via the dashcam button or via the horn if you have that set up-- this will move the last 10 minutes of dashcam footage from recent to saved. And it will not overwrite these clips.

Sentry clips-- this is anytime sentry goes to alert mode and dashcam is on it will then move the last 10 minutes of dashcam footage from recent to sentry. It will not overwrite these clips unless your drive is nearly full, then it will, starting with the oldest.

If you read down a bit further it explains that "alert" state, including that it saves that most recent 10 minutes of footage... which again is dashcam recordings.

Tomato, tomatoe

 

[Knightshade]

Tomato, tomatoe

It's really not though. Especially when you insisted my original, accurate, explanation was somehow me, rather than yourself, using the terms wrong.

Doubling down by disagreeing with the post correcting you by directly quoting the owners manual to you doesn't help your case either.


And it matters for more than just semantics, the fact the two functions are different functions directly impacts how one troubleshoots them, or even knows which of the two is the one having a problem.

 

[RipVanFinkle]

Tomato, tomatoe

I find the dash am and sentry really confusing. I read the manual and it does make more sense now, but I still find it confusing as hell at a glance.

 

[JohnCostanzo]

So I’ve had my M3P for a few months and yesterday, my car started recording sentry events while at home. If I go in the garage, I get flashed at. I’ve done the following:

Rebooted
Turned sentry off and on
Reentered my home address
Toggled sentry active at home off and on

It’s still doing it. I don’t know what else to do other than open a service ticket. Anyone have any advice? I’ve searched and tried everything…

If you have multiple driver profiles, be sure to go in each one and exclude Home from sentry. I had the same issue and once I did this it seemed to fix the issue. Same issue with locking your car at home - will need to make sure the settings you want are set for every driver. Hope this helps.

 

[stopcrazypp]

I find the dash am and sentry really confusing. I read the manual and it does make more sense now, but I still find it confusing as hell at a glance.

Basically what happens is Dashcam records video in a 1 hour loop into Recent Clips. It is the only function that does video recording.

The other functions simply move recorded footage recorded by Dashcam into different folders to save it from being deleted:
Sentry mode moves clips into the Sentry Clips folder.
Pressing the icon, the horn, or if you have the auto record on event setup will move clips into the Saved Clips folder.

 

[Resist]

I find the dash am and sentry really confusing. I read the manual and it does make more sense now, but I still find it confusing as hell at a glance.

They're not that confusing. What is confusing is why Tesla hasn't fixed the viewer yet. Often the videos stutter, record less than 10 minutes or loop way before the 10 minutes. And then there is the terrible video quality of all but the rear camera. You'd think all the cameras would be at least 1080P and we should have a 360 view. But yes, I understand that Tesla is using the cameras for more than what they originally used them for, but come on, Tesla had to know they would be used for so much more down the road. I thought Tesla hired smart people?

 

[S&B's M3]

No, I don't, and no it does not.



Sentry is the folder that the previous 10 minutes of dashcam video gets moved to if sentry goes to alert mode.

So you are playing back dashcam recordings that got moved to the sentry folder.

Several ways you can confirm this, apart from the manual.


Most obvious:
Turn off dashcam.

Turn on Sentry.

Notice how nothing gets recorded to the USB stick.

Because sentry doesn't "record" anything. Dashcam does.


or

Remove the USB stick entirely.

Turn on senty.

Notice how it does not complain about being unable to record video? That's because that's not a function of sentry mode.


Dashcam on the other hand you can't turn on without the USB storage attached, because that's the feature that actually records video.




If you want a deeper dive- The manual can be a bit unclear if you aren't paying attention to the actual in-car functionality, but here's some highlights:

Model 3 Owner's Manual | Tesla

Learn about the features you can use to record videos when driving and monitor the security of your vehicle when parked.

www.tesla.com

It discusses both features "saving" video in specific situations. This is not discussing recording it's discussing moving existing recordings to a folder that does not get automatically overwritten after 60 minutes like the normal non-saved dashcam recordings.

The most relevant line here though is



And the reason, of course, is that dashcam is the only feature that actually records video.

If sentry ever recorded than pausing dashcam wouldn't stop it would it?



Look further down and you'll then find this:




One of sentrys features is it keeps the car powered on so that dashcam, not sentry, keeps recording- as I explained earlier.

Continue scrolling and it explains the 3 different folders on the drive:

Recent clips-- this is a 60 minute buffer dashcam saves to by default. It will clear/overwrite older than 1 hour clips automatically.

Saved clips-- this is anytime you manually tell the car to "save" footage, either via the dashcam button or via the horn if you have that set up-- this will move the last 10 minutes of dashcam footage from recent to saved. And it will not overwrite these clips.

Sentry clips-- this is anytime sentry goes to alert mode and dashcam is on it will then move the last 10 minutes of dashcam footage from recent to sentry. It will not overwrite these clips unless your drive is nearly full, then it will, starting with the oldest.

If you read down a bit further it explains that "alert" state, including that it saves that most recent 10 minutes of footage... which again is dashcam recordings.

Wow, a college thesis trying to prove someone wrong... amazing insecurity...

 

[Icyy]

I was wondering the same thing too, but then I realized that the update that gave me live sentry view reset my "home" address, so the car no longer knew where home was (I had the turn sentry off at home option enabled).