[V9] How to Format USB into 2 Partitions for DashCam and Music [Windows]

[humbaba]

I used GUI drive partitioning tool Disk Utility on MacOS High Sierra 10.13. The key for seeing more formatting options was changing the view to "All Devices" and then clicking on Device vs Partition. From there Erase as GUID Partition Map and then create 2 or more partitions, format as MS-DOS (FAT) (this will default to FAT32) from the interface and name your partitions as you wish. Mine are MUSIC and TESLACAM, with latter having a TeslaCam folder in /.

Hope this helps.

Good call. Not only did I miss the view option, but I apparently misunderstood Tesla's requirements and thought it required MBR.

Going through the GUI, multiple partitions are only allowed with GPT. And FAT partitions cannot be resized. Those are strange limitations, but oh well. It does mean that you have to set the partition size before setting the file system type to FAT. Personally, I think it is easier and faster to do this through the command line, but that may just be me.

FWIW, I tried to capture the process in screen shots but I'm not clear on getting them in the right order in a forum post so I haven't included them. It is relatively straightforward.

 

[CamDLux]

I didn't follow your post but, I did successfully create separate partitions and the dashcam and USB music work great!

 

[Chronospoti]

Ok... so I followed the instructions here, made the two partitions. My Teslacam partition is definitely working, but somehow my car won't recognize any music on the other partition?

Is it because I have too many subfolders?

USB Drive \ Podcasts \ Podcast Title \ music files (MP3s or M4As)

 

[Feathermerchan]

It may be. Try copying a few music files to the root or the first folder. Be sure it is not formatted as NTSF.

 

[TheLocNar]

m4a isn’t a recognized format, unfortunately.

 

[Chronospoti]

m4a isn’t a recognized format, unfortunately.

Sure but it should recognize my MP3s at least right? So the fact that none are getting shown is a sign of concern.

I can confirm both partitions are FAT32 (followed the instructions here)

 

[GPinzone]

Sure but it should recognize my MP3s at least right? So the fact that none are getting shown is a sign of concern.

I can confirm both partitions are FAT32 (followed the instructions here)

You're correct. It should. How many mp3s are in the MUSIC partition? BTW, there is no reason to make the TESLACAM partition 32 GB. 2-3GB is all you'll ever need.

 

[adjacentengels]

I'm trying to configure my USB according to the instructions in the first guide, but am having some difficulty. The first issue I had was Computer Management would not let me delete the volume on the flash drive; the option was grayed out. I did some searching and it was recommended to use diskpart to clean the drive, so I tried that and it worked. I verified with both diskpart and CM that the flash drive had no partitions and was unallocated.

After that I used diskpart to create the first 16GB partition. When I tried to create the second partition I got the following error: "The operation is not supported on a non-empty removable disk." I was entering the command exatly: "create partition primary align=1024" I did some more searching and tried a few different things, but nothing has worked. I tried cleaning the flash drive again and starting over but have the same problem. I've tried leaving out the align=1024 based on someone's comment that it wasn't needed. I tried specifying the size of the new partition. Nothing is working.

I'm running Win10, trying to configure a SanDisk Ultra Fit 128GB USB 3.1 flash drive. I've confirmed with CM and diskpart that the first partition is created and there remains 98GB of unallocated space. One comment I found said that this message can come up if the drive is not empty, but since I've cleaned it, I can't imagine that there's anything left on it.

Any recommendations for a next step?

 

[Jivas]

I found this thread *extremely* useful, so I wanted to share my experience. I watched a YouTube video where someone used a hard drive (rather than a flash drive) and showed that it worked. So, I purchased this drive and formatted it as instructed by the OP. I plugged the hard drive in (via a USB 3.0 hub) when I took delivery on December 26. I have not yet removed the hard drive to view the video files - I’ll update this thread if there are any newsworthy bits from when I do so.

Since plugging in the drive:

- I have *never* noticed the “x” on the camera to indicate a video file error;
- While I haven’t checked this every time, I have seen the music needing to reload when re-entering the car;
- However, the music re-loads VERY quickly - a couple days ago it reloaded before I left the grocery store parking lot.

I realize the hard drive may be overkill — I don’t have *that* much music — but for me it’s something I don’t have to think about any more, and I assume I’m pretty well “future-proofed.”

One last thing: yesterday I opened the passenger door and sat in the passenger’s seat to place my insurance card in the glove box — and in the time it took me to do that, the car started playing the song from where it left off when I last left the car. That took me by surprise!

 

[darnelli]

just got a 32GB ixpand sandisk USB, trying to create the partition from the OP's directions, but running into an error in 'Disk Management'

'Virtual Disk Manager' popup with 'The request is not supported'.

Anyone have ideas on how to go about resolving this?

 

[tinkererguy]

Perhaps things changed in recent software releases, not sure. I went with getting two 32GB Sandisk Ultra Fit drives each formatted FAT32, with one used for music, and the other for dashcam footage in the /TeslaCam folder I created. Both music and dashcam footage work fine, but because I have a Nomad charging mat, I needed to use a Sabrent Premium 3-Port USB hub to get it all connected.

 

[mtapes]

OP: I appreciate your work on this. Thanks very much!

 

[WileyTheMan]

Just FYI: This method still works well using 2019.5.3, and I even increased the TeslaCam partition to ~100G to accommodate the increased usage of all the additional cameras with no issues.

 

[billh13850]

I found this thread *extremely* useful, so I wanted to share my experience. I watched a YouTube video where someone used a hard drive (rather than a flash drive) and showed that it worked. So, I purchased this drive and formatted it as instructed by the OP. I plugged the hard drive in (via a USB 3.0 hub) when I took delivery on December 26. I have not yet removed the hard drive to view the video files - I’ll update this thread if there are any newsworthy bits from when I do so.

Since plugging in the drive:

- I have *never* noticed the “x” on the camera to indicate a video file error;
- While I haven’t checked this every time, I have seen the music needing to reload when re-entering the car;
- However, the music re-loads VERY quickly - a couple days ago it reloaded before I left the grocery store parking lot.

I realize the hard drive may be overkill — I don’t have *that* much music — but for me it’s something I don’t have to think about any more, and I assume I’m pretty well “future-proofed.”

One last thing: yesterday I opened the passenger door and sat in the passenger’s seat to place my insurance card in the glove box — and in the time it took me to do that, the car started playing the song from where it left off when I last left the car. That took me by surprise!

Thanks - also answers my other question about whether it'll work behind a hub, very useful.

 

[Jivas]

Thanks - also answers my other question about whether it'll work behind a hub, very useful.

You are more than welcome. I’m glad to be able to “pay it forward” on here!

 

[MXn00b]

Xins-MacBook-Proownloads xwang$ sudo diskutil partitionDisk disk2 2 MBR MS-DOS TESLACAM 16G MS-DOS MUSIC R

This post wins the thread. Just one copy/paste cmd and I'm all set. I'm surprised I am the first to react to it. Not to minimize the OP write up, but anyone having trouble following it can find a friend with a Mac.

OK, this one is basically the same and reminds me that it's not quite as simple as the one step. These three are very important.

6. make 100% certain that you know what the thumb drive device is and that you have the correct device
9. make 100% certain that you are using the correct disk device
11. make 100% certain that you are using the correct disk device

 

[voip-ninja]

This post wins the thread. Just one copy/paste cmd and I'm all set. I'm surprised I am the first to react to it. Not to minimize the OP write up, but anyone having trouble following it can find a friend with a Mac.

OK, this one is basically the same and reminds me that it's not quite as simple as the one step. These three are very important.

That looks great if you want to split the disk evenly but I'd have to look a bit further on what the command syntax is if you want to asymmetrically partition the disk.

 

[rlb4]

Just FYI: This method still works well using 2019.5.3, and I even increased the TeslaCam partition to ~100G to accommodate the increased usage of all the additional cameras with no issues.

How do you increase the TeslaCam partition to >32GB?

 

[PoitNarf]

How do you increase the TeslaCam partition to >32GB?

Did you read the first post in this thread in its entirety? It goes over the whole process, you’ll just have to adjust your partition sizes accordingly.

THE 32GB LIMITATION ON FAT32 FORMATTED PARTITIONS IS WITH WINDOWS BUILT-IN FORMATTING TOOL. IF YOU USE A 3RD PARTY TOOL YOU CAN FORMAT A FAT32 PARTITION UP TO 2 TB.

 

[rlb4]

Did you read the first post in this thread in its entirety? It goes over the whole process, you’ll just have to adjust your partition sizes accordingly.

THE 32GB LIMITATION ON FAT32 FORMATTED PARTITIONS IS WITH WINDOWS BUILT-IN FORMATTING TOOL. IF YOU USE A 3RD PARTY TOOL YOU CAN FORMAT A FAT32 PARTITION UP TO 2 TB.

Yes. It said 3rd party tools would cause errors for the TeslaCam so Windows had to be used for that partition? Has that changed?