Where's the USB drive

[jgt1942]

I've have not been successful in locating the USB SSD in my 2020 M3 which I recently purchased. It's not in the glove box nor is there a USB port in the glove box.

In the Safety section of the settings I see,

• Sentry mode is on
• Dashcam is On Honk, I can't set it to auto
• Unde dashcam, it states "insert USB drive to enable dashcam". Does this mean, I don't have a USB drive? I thought that all tesla had a USB drive. Where would I plug it in?
• If I have to get one, can I use a M.2 SSD in an enclosure?
• How do I view what is on the SSD?

 

[Tam]

I've have not been successful in locating the USB SSD in my 2020 M3 which I recently purchased. It's not in the glove box nor is there a USB port in the glove box.

In the Safety section of the settings I see,

• Sentry mode is on
• Dashcam is On Honk, I can't set it to auto
• Unde dashcam, it states "insert USB drive to enable dashcam". Does this mean, I don't have a USB drive? I thought that all tesla had a USB drive. Where would I plug it in?
• If I have to get one, can I use a M.2 SSD in an enclosure?
• How do I view what is on the SSD?

New car comes with a USB thumb drive in the glove box already connected.

Since you bought used, ask the one who sold you.

If that's not possible, then just buy one.

You can use any high speed memory drive and use enclosure, cable, adapter to plug in the usb-a outlet.

 

[EVRider-FL]

Before Tesla added a USB port to the glovebox, the USB ports were located in the front compartment of the center console. Tesla didn’t provide a USB drive at that time, but you can use your own.

 

[jjrandorin]

I've have not been successful in locating the USB SSD in my 2020 M3 which I recently purchased.

Unde dashcam, it states "insert USB drive to enable dashcam". Does this mean, I don't have a USB drive? I thought that all tesla had a USB drive. Where would I plug it in?

Yes, thats what it means (that you dont have a USB drive in the car). Model Year 2020 model 3s dont have a USB slot in the glove compartment, that wasnt a thing for those cars. There are usb A slots in the console, in the big hole in front of the cup holders.

As I said, Tesla did not provide USB drives for that year of vehicle, but even if they did, if you bought a used car the previous owner could have (and likely would have) taken the drive with them, so even if the car was a used 2023 there would be no guarantee the Tesla provided USB drive would still be there in a used vehicle since its just a regular USB key drive.

As for the rest of your usability questions, The Tesla manual has a lot of information on the usage of Sentry mode. I suggest reading through that information which you can find here (direct link to manual section on sentry mode):

Model 3 Owner's Manual | Tesla

Learn about the features you can use to monitor the security of your vehicle when parked.

www.tesla.com

 

[jgt1942]

I installed a 2TB HD and it only worked if I connected to the right port in the console in the section under the dash. There are two USB ports in this area. I do NOT have any ports in the glovebox.
I then made a test drive going about 10 miles and returning. When I got home I was able to play the video after reading the manual, which had a few errors and pictures of the locations being discussed would have been helpful.

I also noticed that in the app, now when I open the app, click on "Live camera" I see four camera views. When I click on the interior camera (in the app) I then see the interior of my car. I just noticed that it shows the interior temp as 88 degrees F and I know it is a LOT cooler in the car. I just got out of the car and the internal screen was set at 74 degrees F. Possibly the position of the internal measuring device is positioned between the windshield and the sunscreens I have positioned to shade the dash area.

As a side note, I have had ceramic tinting installed that is advertised to block 95% of the IR and pass 95% of the light. After installing the tint, initially, I did NOT use the sunscreens but the car was still getting very hot when it was just setting. As a test, I just installed the sunscreens and will check tomorrow after the car is setting the sun. I don't have any additional tinting on the side windows, I just had the front windshield and back window tinted. As a simple test, while driving I positioned one hand on the top area of the dash where the sun had been hitting, the dash was a bit cooler than the trim area next to the bottom of the driver's window. Obviously, this is not very accurate and I need to find my IR meter.

Question: Other than removing the HD and attaching it to my computer is there a way I can send the recording(s) to my computer? The car is connected to my wireless network.

 

[CoffeePowered]

Question: Other than removing the HD and attaching it to my computer is there a way I can send the recording(s) to my computer? The car is connected to my wireless network.

At this time, I don't think there is.

 

[jgt1942]

I've installed a 2TB HDD, how much can I record? I've been testing the FSD, my latest test route takes about 1 hour and I have the sentry mode turned on for all locations.

 

[jgt1942]

After a bit of research, it seems that the best choice for dash cam/sentry storage recordings is either sandisk max endurance vs SAMSUNG PRO Endurance

A good high-level discussion can be found at

https://www.reddit.com/r/raspberry_pi/comments/xnkp71

I found this for the "U" class
U1 and U3 refer to the write speed of the cards. U1 can write up to 10MB/s while U3 can write up to 30MB/s. That's a big difference considering the size of most image and video files created by contemporary cameras.

BTW I have no idea how fast the Tesla M3 will attempt to write but another limiting factor to consider is how fast you can transfer from the SD to your computer. "The theoretical transfer speed of USB 3.0 is 4.8 Gbit/s (600MBps) vs. 480 Mbit/s (60MBps) which is a 10X improvement. Sustained transfer speeds (real life) for external hard drives are about 85MBps for USB 3.0 and about 22MBps for USB 2.0, so about a 5X improvement but still a significant advancement in transfer speed."

also
"Both USB Type-A and USB Type-C connectors are used to facilitate 5 Gbps and 10 Gbps (USB 3.2 Gen 1 and Gen 2) connections, and USB Type-C is also used to facilitate the 20 Gbps (USB 3.2 Gen 2×2), 40 Gbps (USB4), and 80 Gbps (USB4 V2) connections."

I'm on the cheap side and will go with a reader that supports 5 GB speed.