USB Dash Cam Questions

[rodrego66]

Forgive me if this has been answered somewhere else, but I could not find it. I recently got V9 and would like to use the Dashcam. I have read that the USB has to be properly formatted first. If using IOS (Apple Mac) how do I do this? Also, is there a specific brand of USB that works best and is there a certain size that works is required? Finally, how does one record the footage. I read you have to push something on the screen to get it to work, but if you are in an accident, what point is it to record after the accident has happened?

Thanks in advance....

 

[brianmeow]

Configure your USB flash drive by formatting in the 'FAT32' (Windows) / 'MS-DOS (FAT)' (Mac) file architecture and add a base-level folder in the flash drive called 'TeslaCam'.
Insert configured USB flash drive into either of the USB ports in the front row.
When properly configured, the Dashcam icon will be displayed in the status bar with a red dot indicating that it is recording.
Note, the USB must be plugged in while driving to record.
Tap the icon to save a 10-minute video clip or press and hold to pause recording. Recordings not downloaded after an hour will be deleted. Be sure you have sufficient space on your flash drive to allow for saving (each minute of video recorded uses approximately 30 MB; the 1-hour circular buffer requires ~1.8 GB of free space).

I have an old Sandisck Ultrafit 32GB, i'm gonna test it out.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BGTG41W/ref=twister_B06XHWWJRW?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[rodrego66]

MS-DOS (FAT)' (Mac) file architecture and add a base-level folder in the flash drive called 'TeslaCam'.

How do I do this?

 

[brianmeow]

Uhh, i had to google it myself earlier lol.
Go to apps > disc utility > find your usb drive > erase > choose new format

 

[rodrego66]

Uhh, i had to google it myself earlier lol.
Go to apps > disc utility > find your usb drive > erase > choose new format

Do I plug it into my Mac first to do this or plug it right into the USB in the M3?

 

[evpulse]

Do I plug it into my Mac first to do this or plug it right into the USB in the M3?

Mac

 

[rodrego66]

Granted it is rather big, but would this work instead of a thumb drive. Just had it around the house.

 

[C141medic]

Granted it is rather big, but would this work instead of a thumb drive. Just had it around the house.

May work if it’s bus powered.

 

[SageBrush]

I have a similar newbie question for Chromebook:
I formatted the USB drive but I'm uncertain which file format

Addendum: Google says FAT32, so I may be good to go
Incidentally, the ChromeOS has an idiosyncrasy when it comes to making a folder in the volume: you have to bring up a contextual menu inside the window that shows the volume contents rather than on the volume icon itself.

 

[rodrego66]

I have a similar newbie question for Chromebook:
I formatted the USB drive but I'm uncertain which file format

Addendum: Google says FAT32, so I may be good to go
Incidentally, the ChromeOS has an idiosyncrasy when it comes to making a folder in the volume: you have to bring up a contextual menu inside the window that shows the volume contents rather than on the volume icon itself.

I don't know what you have done, but I found this helpful.

 

[daniel]

Here's a note: Plug the USB drive into your Mac, open Finder, scroll down to find the drive (probably at the bottom of the list) and then right-click and select "Get Info."

It's likely that your USB drive is already formatted for FAT32 (MS-DOS FAT) and you won't have to re-format. Just create the base folder TeslaCam. And optionally, delete other files to free up more space.

Regarding the comment above: "Recordings not downloaded after an hour will be deleted." My reading of the owner's manual suggests the following interpretation: The car records continuously, keeping always the most recent hour and over-writing older video. If you tap the icon it will save the latest ten minutes and that will not be overwritten. I don't think you need to download it to a computer within an hour. But you can only preserve the most recent ten minutes. So you always have the latest hour plus any ten-minute segments you've saved.

I'm going to guess that you can save as many ten-minute segments as your drive has room for. An hour requires 1.8 GB. A 32 GB drive should have room for a lot of ten-minute segments.

I think this will make for some really boring TV.

ETA: It only records while the car is powered on.

 

[PoitNarf]

Granted it is rather big, but would this work instead of a thumb drive. Just had it around the house.

Dear god no, don’t use a 1TB external hard drive! Just get a cheap flash drive off of Amazon like this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BGTG41W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_zxPWBb4FSBPQW

 

[rodrego66]

Dear god no, don’t use a 1TB external hard drive! Just get a cheap flash drive off of Amazon like this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BGTG41W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_zxPWBb4FSBPQW

Why? I plan to get one of those. But just did the external hard drive to see if it would work.

 

[Tezlanian]

Dear god no, don’t use a 1TB external hard drive! Just get a cheap flash drive off of Amazon like this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BGTG41W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_zxPWBb4FSBPQW

But they need to comb the past year's driving man...

 

[PoitNarf]

Why? I plan to get one of those. But just did the external hard drive to see if it would work.

I’m sure it would work provided it is USB bus powered and can draw enough power for itself. A hard drive on it’s own in a stationary desktop computer is always going to fail at some point. Put that hard drive in a moving vehicle subject to all sorts of bumps and shocks and that hard drive isn’t going to last long at all. And 1TB storage for the dash cam function is purely a ridiculous amount. For most people I’m sure 16 or 32GB would be more than sufficient.

 

[AnarchyEOD]

Has anyone found a decently priced splitter? I want my charging capability back. Does it work with a splitter? Sucks they don’t have a third USB there specifically for the dashcam...

 

[dswansonsb]

Someone else posted this :
V9 - need two USB drives for MP3 play & Cam

 

[Msjulie]

Add to me the list of folks whose drives get 'corrupted' just sitting there .. Also, I was under the impression you had to hit the download button to save off video but I found my USB flash drive full of videos even w/o ever hitting that button. Seems somehow it decided to write to disk anyway?

 

[PoitNarf]

Add to me the list of folks whose drives get 'corrupted' just sitting there .. Also, I was under the impression you had to hit the download button to save off video but I found my USB flash drive full of videos even w/o ever hitting that button. Seems somehow it decided to write to disk anyway?

It keeps the past 60 minutes worth of video as temporary files. If you don’t want the video overwritten when the 60 minute loop rolls over you have to hit the dash cam button on the screen to save the last 10 minutes to files that will not be overwritten.

I too had my USB flash drive get “corrupted” yesterday and had to reformat it to get it working again.

 

[jhbeak]

It's working fine except the video clips are all one minute long. How do I change to 10 minute clips? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Have a new SanDisc 3.0 Ultra Trek, 32gb flash drive. Thanks!
JOHN