Tesla Cam USB/SD Help

[MrTemple]

I debated both a Flash Drive and SSD, and am going with a Samsung MUF-256AB/AM FIT Plus 256GB - 300MB/s USB 3.1 Flash Drive. Good performance and seems to work well with TESLAs in general. I debated the Samsung T5 SSD, and may eventually to with a Hub (I think the Jeda has better electronics) and SSD. To start, though, I think the Flash Drive will meet my need.

View attachment 581292

FYI: That's not rated for the constant writes of a dashcam. Which means it has a limited number of writes and will definitely fail.

It will work perfectly for weeks or even many months. But one day the flash memory will corrupt irreversibly. Your Tesla will not know it corrupted (it will say it writes perfectly), but when you go to retrieve a file you really need (you just had an accident, etc), you'll find it isn't useable.

Switch to a "high endurance" or "pro endurance" micro-SD card and reader. The combo (posted above) is designed for dashcams and will run you under $50.

Don't bother with SSDs. Many aren't rated for the constant writes. Most are not rated for the temps the console can reach. And ALL take like 10-20x the energy of a micro-SD when writing, which will not only heat your car (bad wen the AC is on), but will also steal up to 4W of energy from your wireless phone charging.

The endurance micro-SDs are literally designed for dashcams. They are by far the best option.

 

[sjmcman]

Great advice, thanks!

 

[angus[Y]oung]

Is anyone having trouble with the SanDisk MobileMate USB 3.0 Reader adapter? I just watched a video on YouTube from Bearded Tesla Guy, dated late July, where he said a software update from Tesla caused that adapter to stop working. Here's the spot:

. Are other people having trouble with this reader? It's the one I was planning to order (after ordering the car of course).

 

[rxlawdude]

Is anyone having trouble with the SanDisk MobileMate USB 3.0 Reader adapter?

Nope. Not in either of my Teslas, nor have I heard/seen that assertion. How would a Tesla update kill the USB adapter, other than spiking the voltage on the USB port?

 

[angus[Y]oung]

Nope. Not in either of my Teslas, nor have I heard/seen that assertion. How would a Tesla update kill the USB adapter, other than spiking the voltage on the USB port?

@rxlawdude yeah great question. I'm not sure.

 

[Harris117]

Are you sure you formatted it with FAT? That has a maximum 256MB size.

You should use either exFAT (if your car's software version is new enough) or FAT32. With the standard Windows tools you cannot format such a large drive to FAT32 (but you can to exFAT).

Don't know what a Macbook could/would do.

BTW: I'm using almost the same memory card, the 256GB version of the Sandisk high endurance one as in the previous post combined with that card reader, have two partitions (both exFAT), one for the cam, and one for music. Working perfectly plugged into the (right) USB-A socket directly. What USB-A micro SD card reader are you using?

Can you partition the card while its in the car?

 

[rxlawdude]

Can you partition the card while its in the car?

Partition? No way. Format? Yes.

 

[Harris117]

Partition? No way. Format? Yes.

Thank you. Appreciate the info.