USB for dashcam exFAT vs FAT

[Knightshade]

That seems like good advice. I am not sure on @Knightshade's statements since I can only go off of what I read and manufacturer's recommendations. I even called Samsung and their tech support told me that they recommend SD card over their USB drives for continuous writes. Maybe as @Knightshade stated though, it's negligible for how long it will take before one fails over the other.

I expect (or hope anyway) they'd tell you (Samsung being they) to specifically buy the Endurance Pro card- since that's the one of their many SDcard lines they actually warranty for dashcam use- with them explicitly excluding warranty for such use on other lines of SDcards.

You can certainly get a USB key with similar high endurance memory though it's less common (because sdcards being physically smaller tend to be what dashcams are built to hold/use


But yeah consider the math- let's say you run the cameras 24/7/365 on a 128GB key.

Even "regular" types of flash are rated for 3000-5000 cycles typically.


That's 1,5MB/sec, which is a bit over 126GB per day. Or 1 cycle per day (slightly under).

At 3000 cycles you're good for 8.2 years.

At 5000 it's 13.69 years.

And again that's running Sentry/dashcam 24/7. If you only use it 12 hours a day that's between 16.4 and over 27 years of life.


By all means I'd expect Samsungs Endurance Pro to last longer. But who is likely to need it to?

 

[SageBrush]

But yeah consider the math

I saw 20 MB per camera per ~ minute of video
-- 60 MB per minute for 3 camera sentry mode

Figuring 24^60 minutes a day, that is
60*24*60 = 86 GB a day maximum.

---
In my case I am not concerned about sentry at home so I figured a 64 GB drive gives me ~ 1000 minutes of sentry mode a month before rewrites start after a monthly wipe, so about 30 minutes of parking a day on average away from home where I want sentry active.

 

[whatthe2]

I saw 20 MB per camera per ~ minute of video
-- 60 MB per minute for 3 camera sentry mode

Figuring 24^60 minutes a day, that is
60*24*60 = 86 GB a day maximum.

---
In my case I am not concerned about sentry at home so I figured a 64 GB drive gives me ~ 1000 minutes of sentry mode a month before rewrites start after a monthly wipe, so about 30 minutes of parking a day on average away from home where I want sentry active.

I used 68GB in 6.5 days parked at the airport as a reference point. So depends on you use case. 64 is good some some. 128 is better for others, like myself.

 

[Knightshade]

That's odd... my clips (and most I've seen reported) are nearer 30 MB per minute per camera- so 90 MB/min for all 3.

 

[enolam]

Remember that you need a 'TeslaCam' folder also.

That's exactly what I was missing! When I reformatted it... I forgot to add the folder back. Sucess!

 

[NordicParis]

I'm sure this has been asked and answered but I can't find the answer here. I searched for a good USB for dash cam and Sentry according to recommendations on this forum. I don't need it for music. I ended up purchasing a 64 GB thumbdrive https://www.amazon.com/Transcend-JetFlash-Flash-Drive-TS64GJF710S/dp/B00LFVIUGY and formatted it according to instructions on this forum. I did not have the option for FAT rather only exFAT. According to Google, " exFAT is a modern replacement for FAT32—and more devices and operating systems support it than NTFS—but it’s not nearly as widespread as FAT32.." Once formatted (not using the fast format option), I added the TeslaCam folder and plugged it into my car. Nothing appeared on the screen. Does anyone have any insigt or suggestions?

Hello,
See that people are writing alot, but no solution.
This worked for me, I have a 128GB USB stick that and converted from exFAT to FAT32:

1. Go to 3 Quick Fixes to Change exFAT to FAT32 File System Windows 10
2. Follow the step 1 to 4 under "Fix 1. Format exFAT to FAT32 with a Free Drive Formatting Utility"

You need to download the app, I just deleted it afterwards..... But it worked like a charm!

 

[Cosmacelf]

You know, I hate to be paranoid, but have you noticed that all these great FREE utilities, like the MiniTool Partion Manager linked to in this thread are from Chinese companies? A rando partition and formatting manager could stick malware onto your drive and no anti-virus program would ever find it.

I ended up using Lsoft. LSoft Technologies Inc. Data recovery software

 

[lmorda]

Here's how on a mac, use Disk Utility (Launchpad -> search for disk utliity)

 

[XLR82XS]

You know, I hate to be paranoid, but have you noticed that all these great FREE utilities, like the MiniTool Partion Manager linked to in this thread are from Chinese companies? A rando partition and formatting manager could stick malware onto your drive and no anti-virus program would ever find it.

I ended up using Lsoft. LSoft Technologies Inc. Data recovery software

I used LSoft - perfect w/no BS.

 

[samThree]

I have Smasung 64GB disk formatted to ext4, after V10 update it's getting corrupted every week

 

[cwashuk79]

Sorry if this is a repeat, but a third party app is not needed. You can use a DOS command prompt of Windows Power Shell

Here's a good article:
How to Format a Hard Drive to FAT32 on Windows 10?

 

[Knightshade]

Sorry if this is a repeat, but a third party app is not needed. You can use a DOS command prompt of Windows Power Shell

Nope.

If the drive is larger than 32GB command prompt won't work and you need a 3rd party tool.

As already mentioned in the 2nd post in the thread.

 

[nvx1977]

Windows PowerShell can do it. Although it isn't bundled with Windows, it's a Microsoft tool, so technically still 1st party tool

 

[Knightshade]

Windows PowerShell can do it. Although it isn't bundled with Windows, it's a Microsoft tool, so technically still 1st party tool

True- but it works like crap and is incredibly slow... like an hour or more for a 64GB drive, many hours for bigger ones....3rd party utilities do it in minutes.

https://www.howtogeek.com/316977/how-to-format-usb-drives-larger-than-32gb-with-fat32-on-windows/

One of the many references to how bad the powershell method is in comparison

 

[iamnid]

Needs to be FAT 32 -- EXFAT or FAT won't work.

Here's a link to a simple FAT 32 format app:

Ridgecrop Consultants Ltd

That app works well and is what I used. Once you're done, simply place a folder called "TeslaCam" on the drive and you are good to go. There's no need to use a Mac or anything, there are tons of free apps that will format to FAT 32 in windows. You can try the command prompt route but that always failed for me with anything over 32GB -- plus the app is easier if you are uncomfortable with the command line.

 

[needp3d-]

You will need a SSD or Endurance MicroSD card to max the longevity

 

[Knightshade]

You will need a SSD or Endurance MicroSD card to max the longevity

I mean, technically you will.

But given how little data the car writes, assuming you're getting something of decent size (128GB or 256GB) you're talking the difference of a decade of use versus several decades of use.

Either is longer than most people even own a car.

 

[Gerben]

I'm sure this has been asked and answered but I can't find the answer here. I searched for a good USB for dash cam and Sentry according to recommendations on this forum. I don't need it for music. I ended up purchasing a 64 GB thumbdrive https://www.amazon.com/Transcend-JetFlash-Flash-Drive-TS64GJF710S/dp/B00LFVIUGY and formatted it according to instructions on this forum. I did not have the option for FAT rather only exFAT. According to Google, " exFAT is a modern replacement for FAT32—and more devices and operating systems support it than NTFS—but it’s not nearly as widespread as FAT32.." Once formatted (not using the fast format option), I added the TeslaCam folder and plugged it into my car. Nothing appeared on the screen. Does anyone have any insigt or suggestions?

I use a micro ssd with a ssd to USB converter. Make sure to purchase a "high endurance microSD". Since your car will shake, it might break a normal ssd on the long run (SSD / USB will all work but it's more vulnerable). + These micro sd cards are make for security camera's so it keeps on overwriting without a problem.

For watching back the m3 footage I like to use sentryplayer, works smooth for me so far.

Some microsd card like this: https://shop.westerndigital.com/nl-...gh-endurance-uhs-i-microsd#SDSQQNR-064G-GN6IA

+edit:
I got a 128gb, and it's on the low side for the footage, would recommend 256gb.

 

[Gerben]

I mean, technically you will.

But given how little data the car writes, assuming you're getting something of decent size (128GB or 256GB) you're talking the difference of a decade of use versus several decades of use.

Either is longer than most people even own a car.

Would recommend 256gb since the car will save more video's than needed, even if someone drives past with their car without getting too close it saves it.

 

[Knightshade]

I use a micro ssd with a ssd to USB converter. Make sure to purchase a "high endurance microSD". Since your car will shake, it might break a normal ssd on the long run (SSD / USB will all work but it's more vulnerable).

High endurance has nothing to do with handling vibration. None of them have any moving parts.

You can get USB flash drives that are just as "vibration rated" as any SSD or SD card.

I
+ These micro sd cards are make for security camera's so it keeps on overwriting without a problem.

First you said you have an SSD, now it's an SDcard?

Anyway, THIS is what "high endurance" means- the type of flash used is rated for more write cycles than "cheap" flash is.

That said- as repeatedly explained- you don't need that either because the car writes very little data compared to folks who are running multiple 4k cameras via 3rd party setups.

A 256GB "regular" flash key or SDcard would take 10+ years to use up its rated write cycles at the 2MB/s the car is writing data in normal use.

A "high endurance" card might get you 20-30 years instead of 10-15... but who keeps dashcam footage for 20 years?