Size of USB drive needed for TeslaCam?

[DeanP]

Hi everyone! First post.

Does everyone pull their cards out when full to delete data? Why can't it just overwrite the oldest files? I would think that would be more beneficial to the end user. (Sorry if this discussed earlier - nubeeee)

 

[lolder]

This simply is not true.

The data rate here isn't even remotely "high"

It's about 1.5 MB/sec... which is 2-3 times slower than the slowest USB 2.0 drives out there can write sequentially, let alone the much higher speeds decent or good ones are capable of.


Again this is a software problem not a hardware problem

See also folks getting these BS errors and/or 0 byte or corrupted files even with high end storage including SSDs.

It's not the data rate. It's the constant amount of data changing the state of the memory that physically wears out the memory. I found this out when I researched why SSDs don't last forever. The life is determined by TBW ( total bytes written ), not how long it is running. ( Is it Time to Stop Worrying about Flash Wear Out? )

 

[BluestarE3]

Hi everyone! First post.

Does everyone pull their cards out when full to delete data? Why can't it just overwrite the oldest files? I would think that would be more beneficial to the end user. (Sorry if this discussed earlier - nubeeee)

Welcome to the TMC forums!

Dashcam videos get overwritten. Sentry Mode videos and manually saved dashcam videos are not overwritten. So, yes, you have to pull the drive and delete unwanted Sentry Mode files to recover the space. As for the pros and cons of automatically deleting Sentry Mode files, this has been discussed at length in multiple threads here. You can use the forum Search function to find them.

 

[Knightshade]

It's not the data rate. It's the constant amount of data changing the state of the memory that physically wears out the memory. I found this out when I researched why SSDs don't last forever. The life is determined by TBW ( total bytes written ), not how long it is running. ( Is it Time to Stop Worrying about Flash Wear Out? )

It's absolutely about the data rate, since total amount written is simply the data rate over time- and time is what we're discussing for longevity of the recording device.


The math for this has been posted numerous times already.


1 full write cycle requires 128GB of data to be written on a 128GB key.

The car only writes 5.4GB per hour when "awake" so let's say your car is awake 10 hours every day (which probably is about right for work days for most people, and probably a high estimate on weekends, but let's pretend that's EVERY day).

That means you're going to take 2.37 days to use ONE write cycle.

Even cheap/crap flash memory is rated for at least 1000 cycles (many are rated 3-5k cycles, the very highest end ~10k)

1000 cycles at 2.37 days per cycle is 2370 days.

Or 6.5 years.

With the crappiest type of flash key you can get.

Make that a crap 256GB key and you're talking 13 years to hit the minimum write spec.



In contrast some 4k dashcams are writing data from ONE camera at 2-3 times the rate Tesla is writing it from THREE cameras... so for folks running multiple 4k dashcams they will burn through those write cycles many times faster- and thus it's far more worth worrying about "endurance" cards for that application.

This one, not so much.

 

[skip8jj]

You'll need some additional tools to use ext4 with a mac - there's a command line way, or Paragon Software makes a (nonfree) utility addon. It's normally a linux thing.

Now I am very confused and lost.

1. Is the sentry mode / Tesla dashcam still limited to 32 GB storage internally? It is hard to even ask a question about this stuff.

2. I am using a 32 GB stick that is formatted on my iMac to MOS-DOS (FAT).

3. I purchased a Samsung 256 USB3.1 and formatted it to MOS-DOS (FAT) some months ago. Tesla would not recognize this stick there for I am using the 32 GB stick.

4. Since the Apple utility does not appear to have format option EXT3 or ECT4, then Paragon is suggested as an option once installed on the iMac, Correct?

5. Assuming #4 above is correct, the 256GB stick will be usable and not limited to 32GB storage? Just format and name?

6. The name should be TeslaCam?

7. What is the specific Paragon SW? File System Link, extFS for Mac?

Thank you for your patience and clarifications.

 

[Knightshade]

Now I am very confused and lost.

1. Is the sentry mode / Tesla dashcam still limited to 32 GB storage internally? It is hard to even ask a question about this stuff.

It's never been limited to 32GB.

The only thing "special" about 32GB is if you're formatting a FAT32 partition larger than that you need to use a 3rd party tool in windows to do it.

2. I am using a 32 GB stick that is formatted on my iMac to MOS-DOS (FAT).

That's incorrect- you need to format it FAT32, not FAT.

3. I purchased a Samsung 256 USB3.1 and formatted it to MOS-DOS (FAT) some months ago. Tesla would not recognize this stick there for I am using the 32 GB stick.

See above. It needs to be FAT32, it'll work in either size that way.

6. The name should be TeslaCam?

You need to create a folder with that name in the root of the drive.

 

[whatthe2]

It's never been limited to 32GB.

The only thing "special" about 32GB is if you're formatting a FAT32 partition larger than that you need to use a 3rd party tool in windows to do it.




That's incorrect- you need to format it FAT32, not FAT.



See above. It needs to be FAT32, it'll work in either size that way.

On a Mac MS-DOS (FAT) is the name for FAT32 filesystem, so he should be good on that front.

 

[sduck]

4. Since the Apple utility does not appear to have format option EXT3 or ECT4, then Paragon is suggested as an option once installed on the iMac, Correct?

5. Assuming #4 above is correct, the 256GB stick will be usable and not limited to 32GB storage? Just format and name?

6. The name should be TeslaCam?

7. What is the specific Paragon SW? File System Link, extFS for Mac?

4. I wouldn't bother with ext4 and the paragon extFS for mac software unless you have uses for it beyond just using it for this application. All you gain is a little speed when cataloging audio files when plugging in a drive. For the dashcam/sentry mode usage, it makes no difference.
5. You can use disk utility on a mac to format your drive to whatever size you want in fat32 on a mac, you aren't limited to 32gb. Only windows is limited to 32gb if you use the native tools.
6. Yes, with that specific capitalization.
7. extFS for Mac

 

[skip8jj]

4. I wouldn't bother with ext4 and the paragon extFS for mac software unless you have uses for it beyond just using it for this application. All you gain is a little speed when cataloging audio files when plugging in a drive. For the dashcam/sentry mode usage, it makes no difference.
5. You can use disk utility on a mac to format your drive to whatever size you want in fat32 on a mac, you aren't limited to 32gb. Only windows is limited to 32gb if you use the native tools.
6. Yes, with that specific capitalization.
7. extFS for Mac

Re: your #5, How can I use the iMac disk utility to increase file size above 32GB?

My 32 GB stick works fine with format at "MOS-DOS(FAT32). When I format the same on my 256 GB stick, the car will not recognize the stick. Thank you for your patience and time.

 

[Atari2600]

Pardon my reading comprehension issues with this thread but do you still need different partitions for music and teslacam? I can easily work with ext4.

 

[whatthe2]

Re: your #5, How can I use the iMac disk utility to increase file size above 32GB?

My 32 GB stick works fine with format at "MOS-DOS(FAT32). When I format the same on my 256 GB stick, the car will not recognize the stick. Thank you for your patience and time.

I format my 256 microSD every week on my Mac using MS-FAT and have no issues. I simply format the entire drive, then add the TeslaCam folder. Can you take a screen shot of the drive after formatting. Go to Get Info and it will show the format and available space. If that looks good, it may just not like the drive you are using.

 

[BluestarE3]

Pardon my reading comprehension issues with this thread but do you still need different partitions for music and teslacam? I can easily work with ext4.

Yes, separate partitions required.

 

[Dan203]

Pardon my reading comprehension issues with this thread but do you still need different partitions for music and teslacam? I can easily work with ext4.

Yes. You either need to partition a single drive or use two separate drives for music and cam

 

[skip8jj]

Whatthe2, here it is. When I go to format the option is "MOS-DOS (FAT) but as soon as I execute the format, it changes to MOS-DOS (FAT32). Also maybe I do not know how to add a folder? Thanks

 

[Dan203]

View attachment 445253

Whatthe2, here it is. When I go to format the option is "MOS-DOS (FAT) but as soon as I execute the format, it changes to MOS-DOS (FAT32). Also maybe I do not know how to add a folder? Thanks

A "folder" is just a directory. Go to the drive in Finder and create a directory called "TeslaCam".

 

[skip8jj]

A "folder" is just a directory. Go to the drive in Finder and create a directory called "TeslaCam".

OK, I have created the TeslaCam folder on my 256GB stick. Will try it now. thanks

 

[skip8jj]

OK, I have created the TeslaCam folder on my 256GB stick. Will try it now. thanks

Hot Damn, it worked and was able to view what was recorded on my Mac. Next question: Is there a way to see the space in the folder? I mean available space or, because it is the only folder would it then be 256 GB in the case of a 256 GB stick? Thank you all,

 

[whatthe2]

Hot Damn, it worked and was able to view what was recorded on my Mac. Next question: Is there a way to see the space in the folder? I mean available space or, because it is the only folder would it then be 256 GB in the case of a 256 GB stick? Thank you all,

In Finder you can click on the TeslaCam folder and do Get Info and it will show free/used space. You can do the same with the sub folders Tesla automatically creates.

Edit. You can see in your screenshot that it properly formatted all 256 by looking at the volume and free space. Just FYI.

 

[Dan203]

Hot Damn, it worked and was able to view what was recorded on my Mac. Next question: Is there a way to see the space in the folder? I mean available space or, because it is the only folder would it then be 256 GB in the case of a 256 GB stick? Thank you all,

Since it's the only partition on the drive you'll get the full 256GB. If you want to split the drive between TeslaCam and music it'll be a bit more complicated and you'll have to decide ahead of time how much space you want to assign to each function.

 

[sduck]

Pardon my reading comprehension issues with this thread but do you still need different partitions for music and teslacam? I can easily work with ext4.

Yes, you still need two partitions. That was my thought also, after I found out that ext4 now also worked for the dashcam volume, that perhaps you could have both on one volume. And I tried it, but it didn't work.