Sentry Mode USB flash drive failure costing me thousands

[David L]

I talked to the nearest Tesla Service Center first and they said they don't do body work (I think some of them do). I had read on forums that Tesla Service Centers are expensive. I don't have any experience with them so don't know if that's true. Amato's, as you said, does a LOT of high-end cars and has a great reputation. I decided to get the best possible repair and they've worked with me to bring the cost down. Also, they're getting it done in 10 days and I need the car for a trip in a few weeks. The price seemed reasonable for all the work and re-painting they have to do.

The closest Tesla body shop to you is in Pomona, CA, which I'm guessing is too far to entertain getting a quote from.

A not-at-fault accident usually wouldn't result in an insurance rate increase, even in the case of a hit and run in which you don't get the offender's info. I'd recommend checking with your insurance company before deciding whether or not to file a claim.

 

[sceptic]

1. Check with Tesla to see if they have the footage in the cloud.
2. Get a SSD drive rather than cheap flash drives.
3. Surprised that there are no cameras in the parking lot. Check again with the police.

Did you even bother reading the thread???? Every point you mentions has been answered multiple times!

 

[Glamisduner]

Here’s what I’d suggest...buy the USB drive mentioned in post #84 (which has the same specs as the drive I linked plus the added feature of a metal case).

Use it for 29 days. If it fails during that time, then return it to Amazon and buy the SSD drive that folks have recommended.

If the USB drive works, you save substantial money.

I guess, but it's still less space. My 64gb Samsung metal drive worked fine, until I added a second drive for music. I think running two drives was causing the issue, although there's been several software updates since I tested... I ended up putting both music and teslacam on the same T5, which i decided on because the 64gb stick wild fill up. Now teslacam is supposed to overwrite old files, so that's not really an issue anymore. You should be good with the either the metal Samsung dive or an SDD, but don't run two drives together. Thats my suggestion. switching to one drive immediately solved my issues.

 

[mswlogo]

stop using Sandisk products imo, they are low quality and I've had nothing but issues with their flash drives and other storage drives in the past.

Get the samsung endurance pro microSD, its made for constant writes and high temps - exactly what you need for a dash cam. I've had one since the rollout of teslacam and had zero issues

Also, this is why I still keep my blackvue 2ch dashcam running in parking mode, much more reliable and less fidgety than Sentry. I run both while parked in public, redundancy is always good for security

There are Dozens of SanDisk drives at every size. There are cheap ones and good ones. I’m running a more expensive 128GB SanDisk that is probably 3-4 years old. It’s been running a year with no issues.

 

[Knightshade]

I guess, but it's still less space. My 64gb Samsung metal drive worked fine, until I added a second drive for music. I think running two drives was causing the issue, although there's been several software updates since I tested... I ended up putting both music and teslacam on the same T5, which i decided on because the 64gb stick wild fill up. Now teslacam is supposed to overwrite old files, so that's not really an issue anymore. You should be good with the either the metal Samsung dive or an SDD, but don't run two drives together. Thats my suggestion. switching to one drive immediately solved my issues.

I've been running 2 drives (both samsung USB sticks, 1 for music 1 for dashcam) with 0 issues for as long as the dashcam feature has existed.

1 drive would seem more likely to have issues since you'd be more heavily using the single device and single USB2.0 port to both read music and write video at the same time (assuming you're listening to music)... versus doing each operation on its own device and port.

 

[SoccerMan94043]

I run two USBs as well but just started having problems with the release of V10 (which I assume is due to the new back camera feed). Yesterday I reformatted and moved the USB (256GB Samsung which is now about 6 months old) from the USB Hub to the driver side front USB port on the car and will test the next few days.

FWIW, here is my equipment:

USB: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D7Q41PM/

USB Hub: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XMD7KPU/

 

[Glamisduner]

I've been running 2 drives (both samsung USB sticks, 1 for music 1 for dashcam) with 0 issues for as long as the dashcam feature has existed.

1 drive would seem more likely to have issues since you'd be more heavily using the single device and single USB2.0 port to both read music and write video at the same time (assuming you're listening to music)... versus doing each operation on its own device and port.

Nothing but problems for me on whatever the software version was before V10. Eliminate one and they both work flawless individually. I also have the JEDA hub though, so this may have been similar to plugging 2 drives into the same USB port.

 

[BlueBlazes]

1. Check with Tesla to see if they have the footage in the cloud.
2. Get a SSD drive rather than cheap flash drives.
3. Surprised that there are no cameras in the parking lot. Check again with the police.

I have sent a service request to Tesla to see if they have the footage but no response yet. Other people say Tesla just uploads metadata, not the actual video and they have facts to support it. I've gone all over the parking lot - no cameras. Kind of shocking these days.

 

[Knightshade]

Ah, yeah if you stick a hub into the mix and have both keys on the hub that might be an issue.

FWIW my setup is:

Camera key on its own Tesla USB port (driver side).

Music key, plus the 2 physically connected charging cables for the dock, going into a USB hub in the other Tesla front USB port (passenger side)


Both keys work flawlessly- It does produces relatively slow phone charging, but it's very very very rare I need the phone charger at all (since I can easily charge at both home and work quite fast) and the few times I do need it is generally for a road trip where even a slow charge is plenty fast to arrive with a full phone... (and I do have a "fast" 12v USB charger in the center console that's used virtually never, but available for emergencies or for a passenger whose charging habits aren't like mine)

 

[Glamisduner]

I've been running 2 drives (both samsung USB sticks, 1 for music 1 for dashcam) with 0 issues for as long as the dashcam feature has existed.

1 drive would seem more likely to have issues since you'd be more heavily using the single device and single USB2.0 port to both read music and write video at the same time (assuming you're listening to music)... versus doing each operation on its own device and port.

I agree that's why I tried to use 2 and had nothing but problems lol.

 

[BlueBlazes]

CONCLUSION (again): I started this thread so I thought I should post the result of my repair. I can't say enough about Amato's body shop in San Diego. They've been doing Tesla's since 2013 and have many rave reviews. I was concerned about cost since their building looks more like a high-end car dealer than a body shop but, as soon as they found out I was paying for it, they worked with me to keep costs down while still getting a first-class repair. They replaced the back door, repaired some minor dents in the front door, and repainted both doors and the rear panel - all on the driver's side - for about $3,500, which I felt was very fair. It looks beautiful and the paint matches perfectly. They had the car for 9 days. If it had been done under insurance it would have taken much longer because they would have had to replace the front door instead of repairing it and the driver's door is much more expensive (more electronics) and harder to get. Five stars for Amato's.

 

[SoccerMan94043]

I run two USBs as well but just started having problems with the release of V10 (which I assume is due to the new back camera feed). Yesterday I reformatted and moved the USB (256GB Samsung which is now about 6 months old) from the USB Hub to the driver side front USB port on the car and will test the next few days.

FWIW, here is my equipment:

USB: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D7Q41PM/

USB Hub: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XMD7KPU/

After a week, so far it's working.

 

[Kenz]

SSD for the win !

 

[radiocycle]

After a week, so far it's working.

I have the same one here and I've been seeing the same error message about being too slow... 300MBs is too slow??

 

[SoccerMan94043]

I have the same one here and I've been seeing the same error message about being too slow... 300MBs is too slow??

Whatever I changed is still working. Could have been the drive was too full (though only about 50% at that point) or perhaps the location in the hub. If I end up in the same place again, I may try SSD.

 

[SoccerMan94043]

Whatever I changed is still working. Could have been the drive was too full (though only about 50% at that point) or perhaps the location in the hub. If I end up in the same place again, I may try SSD.

It mostly worked but, on occasion, I got the too slow error and I had to remove the drive and reinsert it.

That didn't give me much confidence, so I'm now testing this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PJJL9ZV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[mlkmade]

How does one go about contacting Tesla for the 72 hour back up?

Edit: I just called Tesla and they said a USB thumbdrive has to be installed for this to work. Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of the backup?

 

[Runt8]

How does one go about contacting Tesla for the 72 hour back up?

As far as anyone knows, you don’t.

See Sentry Mode USB flash drive failure costing me thousands for a little background.

 

[mlkmade]

As far as anyone knows, you don’t.

See Sentry Mode USB flash drive failure costing me thousands for a little background.

Yes I already did...that's the thread we're posting in right now?

 

[ecarfan]

There is a lot of discussion in this thread about which USB drives work with Dashcam. There is a longstanding thread dedicated to that topic at MASTER THREAD: USB drives that work with Sentry and TeslaCam