The third time’s the charm. After over a week of trying to get the TeslaDashCam to work, a USB Stick arrived yesterday. After again formatting with a GUID Partition Table, a FAT32 file system, and adding the /TeslaCam directory, I plugged it into #CO2Fre.
But that wasn’t all! Turns out I also got the 2020.12.6 TeslaOS. Eager to install, I hit the install now button because I knew this update would be adding auto-stop at stop signs and stop lights. The quirk with the update is that it will even stop at green lights, so if you want it to keep going you need to keep your foot on the accelerator to get it to run the green light. It’s probably okay, though, to let it stop on yellow or red. Also, it won’t turn for you; to do that, you need to take control of the wheel.
Finally, once that was installed and Stop at Traffic Lights was activated, I decided to have another go with my 2TB SanDisk Extreme SSD. Because it was also formatted properly and had the same directory structure as the USB Stick, I had a hunch it was because the drive was a whopping 2TB that the Tesla couldn’t recognize it.
With a little work, I re-formatted the drive as GUID, with one FAT32 partition with 996GB and another 1TB of free space. After adding the /TeslaCam directory, it worked like a charm!
In conclusion, although the 2TB SanDisk Extreme SSD drive works with Tesla, Tesla cannot understand drives above at least 1TB. This seems like a failing of the TeslaOS, but one I can live with. After all, my long-term plan is to have a Raspberry Pi Zero W installed and use the 2TB drive for portable backups.
Now that I have my DashCam back, and have the automatic stopping at stop signs, I can’t wait to take #CO2Fre for a spin. I hope to be cruising on a cloud soon!
I really wanted to have my DashCam fixed by today. I really did. But then the hypochondriac got involved, called Tesla, and have them tell me some least common denominator information information that they wouldn’t accept there was a problem with my Tesla unless I tested it with a USB Key [sic]. As I didn’t have any USB Sticks handy, I ordered one that was Tesla branded, as well as a faster, High Endurance MicroSD Card and new adaptor.
The USB Stick won’t arrive until later in the week but the flimsy excuse from the hypochondriac threatened to call the police if I didn’t cancel my service request and wait for my USB Stick order to arrive. She said some lawn care folks would be here today but of course they didn’t come, so I ended up cancelling my appointment for nothing.
However, not wanting to give up, I got my MicroSD Card and tried it in #CO2Fre. It was formatted as exFAT so I formatted it as FAT32 and plugged it into #CO2Fre. Nothing.
I did some more research and realized that most drives come formatted with an MBR to allocate its partitions. I pulled the SanDisk Extreme SDD #CO2Fre and it too had an MBR. Since Tesla recommends using a GUID Partition Table, I opened up DiskUtility and reformatted the entire drive with a GUID Partition Table and a FAT32 File System.
This is what DiskUtility shows for the SanDisk Extreme SDD 2TB Drive. Under the heading, you can clearly see the drive is formatted as a GUID Partition Map, as requested by Tesla
This went quickly and in the end I had the system correctly formatted as per Tesla’s specifications. The drive was formatted with 2TB of free space.
This is what DiskUtility shows for the one partition on my SanDisk. The Partition is called TESLACAM as FAT32 only supports uppercase names. Below that, you can see the format is indeed FAT32, as requested by Tesla
Finally, I added the TeslaCam folder.
This is the root folder of the SanDisk drive. You can clearly see a TeslaCam folder in the root, as required by Tesla
With the drive reconfigured to Tesla’s specifications, I donned the rubber gloves and tried the SanDisk SDD in #CO2Fre. Finally, I got a camera in the toolbar. Only there was an X on the Camera and a warning label. When I clicked the warning, #CO2Fre gave me a mysterious UI_a078 error,
Despite doing everything right, using an externally verified SanDisk Extreme SDD with a GUID Partition Map and a FAT32 filesystem with a TeslaCam folder, this is what #CO2Fre tells me. I was unable to verify what the UI_a078 message means and more conversations with Tesla recommend I schedule another appointment
Because the hypochondriac doesn’t want them to come to my house to fix #CO2Fre, she insisted I call Tesla’s tech support. I reiterated the issue to the support staff, including the note about UI_a078, and told him about my problems obtaining a USB Stick, and he recommended I make a new appointment as the Tesla Mobile Team Member would have a USB Stick he or she could use to test the USB ports of #CO2Fre.
Of course, the hypochondriac vetoed this idea and instead she ordered a couple, cheap USB Stick that should get here by Sunday. If they don’t work, I may be able to get support to come out next week to help me finally resolve this most vexing issue.
Alas, until then, I won’t be cruising on the cloud.
I haven’t been able to use the TeslaCam since 27 July 2019. That’s because, around TeslaOS 2019.28.1, Tesla broke most USB Sticks used for Dashcam functionality, because, it claimed, they were too slow.
Not having a DashCam and having such a mysterious and incomprehensible error—my USB stick was fast enough—I was afraid to buy a new USB stick to see if I could get it working again. For months I dithered on the issue, totally unsure what Tesla wanted, and wanting so badly not to waste money on a device that would fail with Tesla.
Compound that with, in December, 2019, thanks to an AutoPilot, #CO2Fre failed to stop when a vehicle with California plates cut me off by jumping into the exit lane ahead of me at the last minute, causing $4,000 worth of damage I can’t remotely afford to pay. The scratches, therefore, remain to this day. And as no solace, I don’t even have the Dashcam video to go over the details even if I wanted to make an Insurance claim. So, I have scratches but still no Dashcam.
Then TeslaOS 2020.12.5 came out, which added support for watching Dashcam videos within #CO2Fre. Since I had the time off thanks to Covidapolis, I decided to try again with the Dashcam, and found this neat video:
I didn’t have access to my car because of the hypochondriac until the day of my #CO2Fredemo. I plugged in the SanDisk drive with its USB-C to USB-A adaptor and… nothing. I had the drive plugged in, but no camera was showing, and I couldn’t show off any of the Dashcam features during my entire presentation, including Dashcam footage of the speed test on the main screen after I parked, despite having the drive plugged in. The demo still went well, but I’m annoyed how hard I tried to get this working and still failed.
Afterwards, I tried to play around some more. Doing so requires me to go through decontamination because, for some reason, the hypochondriac thinks #CO2Fre has SARS-CoV-2. Meaning, I have to keep changing my clothes every time I go to the car because sitting in my car contaminates my clothes.
The drive was exFAT, so I reformatted it as FAT32. The drive did flash on the screen after some cord giggling, but it said it wasn’t formatted properly despite having the TeslaCam folder and being named TeslaCam. Since I’ve read that Tesla supports exFAT, I formatted it back as that, and it sits now, unable to connect.
I also tried my MicroSD chip with an adaptor. Originally, the chip was supposed to be part of the Raspberry Pi, but I wanted to test to see if it could be used as the TeslaCam directly. No dice. I’d hook up the Raspberry Pi and try with that, but I have to finish updating my Résumé and fix my broken Zone File updater for Reston Writers first. I just have too much going on to worry about going any further with this nightmare of Tesla‘s.
The way I see it, the drive works in a PC, the drive works in a Mac, it just doesn’t work in #CO2Fre. When you’ve tried everything else, the simple answer it so blame Tesla. So, I made a Mobile Service Request and they should be here Friday morning.
Why must Tesla make this so hard!?!?
In any case, unless I find another set of clothes to wear, even without my Dashcam, I shall very much miss cruising on a cloud.
Thursday, I was so busy with updating my Science Book Club book nominations list, which I will discuss Friday, that I forgot to transmit this piece on time. I have, however, fixed the release date to correspond to when it was relevant.
That out of the way, I am very excited about TeslaOS 2020.12.5. Well, I would be if I could access #CO2Fre. Unfortunately, I am disallowed from entering #CO2Fre because of fears that, after the scam service from last week because someone things everything in the world has SARS-CoV-2.
One thing I hear is that you can now view your Dash Cam on the big screen. So, what? I’ve been struggling to find the right and reliable USB storage device that can allow me to sync my recordings to my capacious Google Drive but am completed paralyzed when it comes to finding a replacement for my original, failed device that stopped working many months ago. I just wish there was an out-of-the-box solution that didn’t require external DC Power.
And I still haven’t figured out what Game Controller to get. If only there was an official list of supported devices.
As for actually stopping at Stop Signs and Stop Lights, that’s yet to be seen. I’ve not seen it mentioned on any sites about TeslaOS 2020.12.5, so I’m dubious it has that.
But, I guess I’ll find out next week.
All this is bad enough it it weren’t for the fact that I was originally scheduled to give a demonstration of my Tesla #P㆔D and all the new capabilities of the vehicle this weekend with the RVA Electric Vehicle association meetup on Saturday. I’m really hoping to switch this to next week as if we hold it on Saturday, I will be presenting #CO2Fre without #CO2Fre!
But at least there’s TeslaOS 2020.12.5, in theory.
Apparently, #CO2Fre is now running TeslaOS 2020.12.5. Unfortunately, I have no way of verifying this in the automobile or see what’s in the update as I’m prohibited from entering my vehicle until next Saturday because of unfounded fear of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
When I got home from work yesterday, I was notified of software version for #CO2Fre from Tesla. Turns out, I was one of the first as TeslaFi, which informed me last night that TOS 2020.8.1 was detected in the wild in Florida. turns out, as I was getting a ribbon at yesterday’s event, #CO2Fre was just waiting for me to push the button to install 2020.8.1 on herself.
When the update came down, I was shocked, and melancholy. On the one hand, I always wanted to try Track Mode. Now, Track Mode is even customizable. You can configure different settings for how your Tesla performs based on the track you’ve taken her to. Awesome!
The problem derives from the simple fact that I can’t afford to go to a Track to test it. That’s to say, I probably could afford to go if I really wanted, but I’m just too lazy to find a good track that would be fun for me to ride in my Tesla. Also, I’d probably not want my Insurance to find out. But I so want to do it! I didn’t may $10,000 to maintain Performance Tyres on #CO2Fre for nothing, did I? Did I?!?!
What’s more, ever since my USB Stick stopped working in #CO2Fre, I’ve been worried about buying a replacement that won’t fail so quickly. Getting videos of my Track sessions would be icing on the cake, if only I could find the right drive.
All in all, I’m excited to try the new features out even if sad that I probably will have to wait and probably be forced to replace my Performance Tyres before I get the opportunity. Alas, and alack.
Follow my socials!