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#3
FYI,
This isn’t 100% plug & Play.
It comes formatted formatted as exFAT.
You need to reformat the card as FAT32.
It can be done on a PC or a Mac (using disk utility)

FAT32 may be shown as “MSDOS (FAT)” in the drop-down list of formats on the Mac disk utility application when you choose a the erase option.
If you need help with this just search for “formatting FAT32 on a Mac” in Google.

It doesn’t seem to matter what you name the drive.
I have a pair that I swap for each car.
I named mine “ModelScam1”, “ModelSCam2” & “Model3cam1”, “Model3cam2”
Then make sure there is a folder named “TeslaCam” on the drive.

Also...I didn’t mention this in the video. When deleting files from flash drives on my Mac I always had to empty the trash to complete the deletions. When using the iPhone app “iPlugmate” Deletion is instantaneous - there is no trash to empty. Obviously this eliminates the ability to in-delete things. But it also makes it great because you can actually make room on the card with your mobile device.
 
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#4
Just got this HooToo drive today. Strange because when I viewed the drive on Windows 10, it showed it as already being FAT32 but ended up formatting it again anyway. Added the TeslaCam folder and plugged it in. Now I'll have to wait till I take the car out to see how well it works and plays back. Btw, I couldn't find your post in the other areas of the site. Fortunately found it here so I bookmarked it this time. Also, I like the SentryView app that is being offered elsewhere but the flash drive required to run it is not available on Amazon atm.
 
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#5
Johnstac said:
Just got this HooToo drive today. Strange because when I viewed the drive on Windows 10, it showed it as already being FAT32 but ended up formatting it again anyway. Added the TeslaCam folder and plugged it in. Now I'll have to wait till I take the car out to see how well it works and plays back. Btw, I couldn't find your post in the other areas of the site. Fortunately found it here so I bookmarked it this time. Also, I like the SentryView app that is being offered elsewhere but the flash drive required to run it is not available on Amazon atm.
Click to expand...
Interesting. The two that I reformatted were definitely exFAT. I transferred the English PDF of the product manual via lightning to my iOS Books app on my iPhone prior to reformatting it on my MacBook.
 
#6
Well, I tried out the drive for the first time today and it didn't work. Not sure what's up. I had an existing 128gb drive in there and the camera icon popped up right away. When I replaced it with the new 128gb, no camera displays while driving or parked. I did format it and created a TeslaCam folder. I guess I will try formatting it again.

Edit: Let me verify a couple of things. First, it doesn't matter what I name the drive volume correct? And for formatting, since I'm on a pc, I used a free program called fat32.exe and selected the allocation size as 32768 since the drive is 128gb. I'm using the quick format check box since it has worked in the past.. Anything I miss?
 
#7
Getting ready to send back the drive. Just can't get it working. Even after trying a full format that took over an hour. Camera icon still doesn't show up while my Samsung 128gb drive shows up immediately. In the mean time, I went ahead and ordered a Sandisk Connect flash drive directly from Sandisk. It was cheaper to buy it directly from them then it was anywhere else right now. Supply and demand I guess.
 
#8
Johnstac said:
Getting ready to send back the drive. Just can't get it working. Even after trying a full format that took over an hour. Camera icon still doesn't show up while my Samsung 128gb drive shows up immediately. In the mean time, I went ahead and ordered a Sandisk Connect flash drive directly from Sandisk. It was cheaper to buy it directly from them then it was anywhere else right now. Supply and demand I guess.
Click to expand...
Have 2 drives. Both worked perfectly for me formatting on my Mac.
MSDOS (FAT)
Are you also on Reddit as Cubanitoash?
Had the same issue as you.
It’s possible you have a bad drive or the formatting software is flawed.
If you have access to a Mac try using the Disk Utility program to erase it and select MSDOS (FAT) as the format.
If the drive is defective, try to get a replacement.
 
#11
Daniel, thanks so much for posting this! I have been looking for just such a device. FYI for others, I could not get this drive to format properly in Windows 10. Tried a third party utility called FAT32 Format. (Windows built in disk utility won't format this drive FAT32, only exFAT and NTFS) Looking at the drive in Windows compared to the one I was previously using, it looked identical. FAT 32, TeslaCam folder, but the car would not recognize it. Tried multiple file allocation sizes, still nothing. Had to format is using my Mac and then it worked. Will be really nice to be able to view videos on the fly in the car when needed! If anyone figures out how to properly prepare it using Windows 10, please post in case others don't have access to a MAC.
 
#12
I have the same issue. New Hootoo drive, formatted to Fat32 (PC), and not recognized in my Model 3. Tried quick format, long format, reformat, etc. No problem with my other USB drives (typically have my 128 GB Sandisk with a 64 GB backup for when the first gets full). Likely going to test the SanDisk iXpand next.
 
#14
pdxrunr said:
Daniel, thanks so much for posting this! I have been looking for just such a device. FYI for others, I could not get this drive to format properly in Windows 10. Tried a third party utility called FAT32 Format. (Windows built in disk utility won't format this drive FAT32, only exFAT and NTFS) Looking at the drive in Windows compared to the one I was previously using, it looked identical. FAT 32, TeslaCam folder, but the car would not recognize it. Tried multiple file allocation sizes, still nothing. Had to format is using my Mac and then it worked. Will be really nice to be able to view videos on the fly in the car when needed! If anyone figures out how to properly prepare it using Windows 10, please post in case others don't have access to a MAC.
Click to expand...
Did anyone figure something out?
 
#15
I imagine another option would be to keep a lightning to USB adapter in the car, and plug any USB drive into it when wanting to view on your iPhone/iPad?

6E1169AE-A28A-4D77-9FE7-5D8D86A9EF80.png
 
#16
Joey_82 said:
I imagine another option would be to keep a lightning to USB adapter in the car, and plug any USB drive into it when wanting to view on your iPhone/iPad?

View attachment 426993
Click to expand...


IIRC that won't actually work on an iphone right now (unless running a beta of iOS13)... It will work fine for everyone else once iOS13 is in general release (assuming they don't pull that feature update)
 
#18
Daniellane said:
Interesting. The two that I reformatted were definitely exFAT. I transferred the English PDF of the product manual via lightning to my iOS Books app on my iPhone prior to reformatting it on my MacBook.
Click to expand...
From what I have read (which is a LOT) It seems to work well when using a Mac to do the formatting. Unfortunately I don’t have one. Perhaps I’ll try to see if the library has any. Otherwise will need to find a friend who has one.
 
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#19
eaglept305 said:
From what I have read (which is a LOT) It seems to work well when using a Mac to do the formatting. Unfortunately I don’t have one. Perhaps I’ll try to see if the library has any. Otherwise will need to find a friend who has one.
Click to expand...
Yes,
Really odd. I don’t believe it is an issue with the drive. Apparently, Windows doesn’t allow formatting to legacy MSDOS FAT32. Some have tried third party windows formatting utilities with no success.
According to my Model S Manual...
Dashcam requires a dedicated flash drive with FAT32 format (NTFS and exFAT are not currently supported). Before you can use the flash drive for dashcam, you must manually add a base-level folder in the flash drive called “TeslaCam” (without quotation marks). This folder is required for Model S to know where to store the video files; dashcam does not work without it.
Text above copied From this page in the Tesla Model S owners manual.
(This also applies to the Model 3 and the Model X)
65D8AE8A-B222-4CDE-9200-05F23AC937FA.jpeg
 
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