Tesla X Sentry / Dashcam USB drives failing issues

[MickK]

Hi All,

I have never really looked into the dashcam / sentry mode since owning my X however trying to explore its features now. I have recently upgraded the infotainment system to MCU2 a few weeks ago and have been experimenting with it since... espicially since i can now watch recorded events on the screen.

I have a problem with USB drives failing after a few days. All drives purchased from either Bing Lee of Officeworks stores, so none are the fake online specials. Its really a system i cannot rely upon if an event occurs.

I have tried the following drives after reading comments here and there throughout the forms. I had sentry mode disabled when at home for most of these tests.

Symptoms - All are NEW drives:
Samsung T7 1000Gb - Recognises when inserted but formatting the drive an error occurs. never works. I tried partitioning to a 100Gb first partition but same issue. I assume there is probably a limit on maximum size as after reading forums that most people use the 500Gb drives.

Sandisk Extreme 64Gb Drive. Formatted in Tesla, dashcam and sentry working. 3 days later noticed the dashcam icon missing. Asks to format drive again but error occurs. plugged into computer and drive has become read only. After reading up this is a faulty drive according to Sandisk. Used "Flash Drive Tester" program and confirmed faulty

Generic USB Nvme case with samsung 128Gb drive. Formatted in Tesla and worked for a day. afterwards would not recognise a USB is inserted in either USB port. Plugged into computer and could read some footage. [formatted and drive test ok with computer. Inserted back into Tesla and says to insert a drive. confirmed with PC again drive is OK

Verbatim Store and Go 64Gb. Formatted in Tesla at the time working. pressed dashcam a few times during my trip. Checked 3 days later, No dashcam icon and says to insert a USB. will not detect again. Plugged into PC and could read saved footage from 1 day, roughly 5Gb of files found. Copied footage then formatted drive with errors., Used"Flash Drive Tester" program and confirmed faulty.

Could this be related to the new MCU2 or by chance could ALL my drives be faulty? or have i done something wrong?

My Model S doesnt have dashcam/senrty as its an older model and have been happy with the BlackVue dashcam in that. i may do the same in this car as im now using it more often.

 

[mrpseudonym]

I use a high performance micro SD card (I picked one that was recommended for BlackVue dashcams) and a sandisk microSD-> USB adaptor. It took me a couple of goes to get the right adaptor. (The jaycar ones don’t work) I just don’t think USB drives are engineered the same as micro SD as no one else uses USB for dashcams other than old Teslas.

SD card is Samsung endurance PRO 128GB
adaptor is Sandisk micro SD to USB A 3.0

 

[lascavarian]

Asks to format drive again but error occurs.

It may not be entirely applicable to your problems but EM has acknowledged a SW problem involving the file system and the dashcam. Fix is coming soon OTA.

I can confirm having USB data storage problems on my 2018 model 3. USB drives fail shortly after installation. FORMAT does not work properly.

 

[mrpseudonym]

@MickK I should have clarified a bit. I had format errors, and the drive would fail a day or two after formatting when I used a cheaper USB2.0 micro->USB A adaptor. Using this one Sandisk adaptor and the samsung endurance pro micro SD card has meant my dashcam has now been working for a month. I have an older X with the MCU2 upgrade. Might be worth a try for you.

 

[mgfletcher]

This may have to do with the formatting issue in the Tesla. This may be of use:

 

[raynewman]

I formatted mine on linux as 'ext4' - seems to have fixed my format problem.

 

[Chris CG]

It’s a bug with the latest software and not a hardware / drive issue - should be fixed in next update!

 

[Lee-UK]

I have this. I have scheduled a service. Drives me bonkers wiggling it before every drive.

I use the tesla usb drive and have tried using a new SanDisk, same occurs.

 

[N7RZBEd]

I've had this problem for months. Every morning there is an X on the camera. Last night I turned ON Sentry mode when the car is home. This morning the X was not there! For the first time in weeks. Normally I've gone through the format process up to 10 times before it takes. Unplugging and replugging doesn't seem to have helped. Hopefully turning on Sentry at home will fix it. Faster than waiting for the new slow to release, new release. Probably should have waited at least one more night to see if the X is still gone.

 

[cafz]

I've had this problem for months. Every morning there is an X on the camera.

This might be a silly question, but have you tried just waiting a little while? Mine always starts with the red X when it first wakes up from sleep, but it sorts itself out by the time I'm out of the driveway.

 

[MattTGuy]

It may not be entirely applicable to your problems but EM has acknowledged a SW problem involving the file system and the dashcam. Fix is coming soon OTA.

I can confirm having USB data storage problems on my 2018 model 3. USB drives fail shortly after installation. FORMAT does not work properly.

Is it possible that formatting on a computer would solve the problem?

 

[grayguy]

Is there a solution for formatting on a Mac with the regular disk utility tool? I do not have a Windows or Linux computer. I also do not understand the GPT / GUID and MBR discussion.

 

[tivoboy]

Is there a solution for formatting on a Mac with the regular disk utility tool? I do not have a Windows or Linux computer. I also do not understand the GPT / GUID and MBR discussion.

Technically you SHOULD be able to select FAT 32 as the file format, and refomat the USB stuck on your mac.

[2 Working Ways] How to Format USB to FAT32 on Mac Without Losing Data

For Apple Mac users, there are two ways to format a USB flash drive to FAT32, including Disk Utility and Terminal command line. Refer to the detailed steps of using both tools for FAT32 format. If you lose data after formatting, turn to EaseUS Mac data recovery software.

www.easeus.com

 

[grayguy]

Technically you SHOULD be able to select FAT 32 as the file format, and refomat the USB stuck on your mac.

[2 Working Ways] How to Format USB to FAT32 on Mac Without Losing Data

For Apple Mac users, there are two ways to format a USB flash drive to FAT32, including Disk Utility and Terminal command line. Refer to the detailed steps of using both tools for FAT32 format. If you lose data after formatting, turn to EaseUS Mac data recovery software.

www.easeus.com

I selected exfat in Mac Disk Utility and followed the instructions to add the folder TeslaCam to the drive. So far so good on my Samsung SSD.

Previously, I made the false assumption that formatting the drive in the car was the superior option.

 

[tivoboy]

I selected exfat in Mac Disk Utility and followed the instructions to add the folder TeslaCam to the drive. So far so good on my Samsung SSD.

Previously, I made the false assumption that formatting the drive in the car was the superior option.

Technically, you should be able to just do it in the car now, no?

 

[grayguy]

Technically, you should be able to just do it in the car now, no?

I started by doing it in the car, which lead to the issue. I followed the instructions above by doing it on my computer, and the issue seems to be resolved.

 

[TanBam]

I have a 2023 MYP and a SanDisk USB adapter w/ Sandisk extreme micro SD. I can erase/reformat on my mac and in the car, and it will say success, but the Dash cam says to check the usb. Partition/add folder options are grayed out on the mac? I am kinda stuck. Please hep.

 

[TanBam]

I have a 2023 MYP. San disk extreme SSD and adapter. I can format in the car but gives me no dash cam. I can format on my mac, but still no dash cam with dosfat and exfat. Is this just not going to work? I also am unable to add partitions/folders as they are grayed out. please help.

 

[grayguy]

I have a 2023 MYP. San disk extreme SSD and adapter. I can format in the car but gives me no dash cam. I can format on my mac, but still no dash cam with dosfat and exfat. Is this just not going to work? I also am unable to add partitions/folders as they are grayed out. please help.

Did you follow the instructions above to format to exfat on the Mac and add the proper folder to the directory? I did that, and when plugging into the car the x on the dashcam went away. Don't format in the car or forget to add the TeslaCam folder.

 

[TanBam]

Did you follow the instructions above to format to exfat on the Mac and add the proper folder to the directory? I did that, and when plugging into the car the x on the dashcam went away. Don't format in the car or forget to add the TeslaCam folder.

I did. When I formatted to exFAT it appeared as a USB storage device for music it looked like. When I chose the MSdosFAT the car asks to reformat and will say success but no dash cam. When I erase and format on my computer i select the type: ExFAT or MSdosFAT, and I can enter a name: TeslaCam.

I am unable to create folders or partitions. From everything Ive read in the owners manual about read/write speeds, usb 2.0 v 3.0 seems like it should be working. I just can not figure it out.