Tiny App Checks NVIDIA Driver Updates

[erixx]

Typicall small farmer mentality, distrusting anything that comes from the big city

 

[bug]

Typicall small farmer mentality, distrusting anything that comes from the big city

I don't think it's mistrust as much as resisting Nvidia's bundling. If you want one single thing from GFE, you have to install the whole package.

 

[NRANM]

To all the people telling me that the program can be set to start via a scheduled task... well... yeah, that's why I said there should be a command in the program itself to do that in order to make adding the scheduled task easier. Even easier if there were a GUI.

If the purpose of this small tool is to make checking for updates easier, then let's go all the way, not do it half-assed.

Now that I think about it, this program actually makes things worse.

Not only do I need to manually create a scheduled task (which, granted, is done once, but it still requires time which is enough for several manual checks) but I also need to now keep checking for update to this program as well. So instead of checking for updates for one piece of software (the driver) I am now checking for two.
On the other hand, if I create a bookmark of the NVIDIA GeForce's drivers page, all I would need to do is open it with a single click, then click the "START SEARCH" button (since the website remembers the last search). That's it. It takes 5 seconds.

How is this program more convenient or easier? I see it as a... sidegrade, if anything. Not an actual improvement.

 

[bug]

To all the people telling me that the program can be set to start via a scheduled task... well... yeah, that's why I said there should be a command in the program itself to do that in order to make adding the scheduled task easier. Even easier if there were a GUI.

If the purpose of this small tool is to make checking for updates easier, then let's go all the way, not do it half-assed.

Now that I think about it, this program actually makes things worse.

Not only do I need to manually create a scheduled task (which, granted, is done once, but it still requires time which is enough for several manual checks) but I also need to now keep checking for update to this program as well. So instead of checking for updates for one piece of software (the driver) I am now checking for two.
On the other hand, if I create a bookmark of the NVIDIA GeForce's drivers page, all I would need to do is open it with a single click, then click the "START SEARCH" button (since the website remembers the last search). That's it. It takes 5 seconds.

How is this program more convenient or easier? I see it as a... sidegrade, if anything. Not an actual improvement.

It's just someone's pet project which also happens to be open source, as far as I understand. Use it if you want, pretend it doesn't exist, it makes little difference

 

[Vayra86]

I don't think it's mistrust as much as resisting Nvidia's bundling. If you want one single thing from GFE, you have to install the whole package.

Yeah. The telemetry, in all fairness, I don't care too much about, and my stance did change on that, I used to try to avoid everything like it. I just stopped caring; but the first moment telemetry gets in my way, I'll be back on banishment mode. Trying to quantify what telemetry does for our benefit is hard to do; but if there is one trend you can attribute to this, it is the increased momentum with which applications are improved - you can see this everywhere, and with many recent additions and changes, I do feel it caters to large majorities of users. Even though I am not always the biggest fan myself, I can see where these changes are coming from.

The main problem with GFE is the required login now, and it enforcing all sorts of features you NEED to opt out of, it also takes (cpu) resources that I want to put towards pushing more FPS. I did use GFE when I used my SHIELD for its easy networking and game streaming, but that annoyed me too. It just feels clumsy and unnecessary, a similar waste of time as pushing every driver update.

GFE would become useful if they actually used it as NVCP as well and it would interact nicely with the per game settings.

 

[Hawaii]

To all the people telling me that the program can be set to start via a scheduled task... well... yeah, that's why I said there should be a command in the program itself to do that in order to make adding the scheduled task easier. Even easier if there were a GUI.

If the purpose of this small tool is to make checking for updates easier, then let's go all the way, not do it half-assed.

Now that I think about it, this program actually makes things worse.

Not only do I need to manually create a scheduled task (which, granted, is done once, but it still requires time which is enough for several manual checks) but I also need to now keep checking for update to this program as well. So instead of checking for updates for one piece of software (the driver) I am now checking for two.
On the other hand, if I create a bookmark of the NVIDIA GeForce's drivers page, all I would need to do is open it with a single click, then click the "START SEARCH" button (since the website remembers the last search). That's it. It takes 5 seconds.

How is this program more convenient or easier? I see it as a... sidegrade, if anything. Not an actual improvement.

Dev here, seems like no one bothered to read the wiki for the application... and leaving comments like you've done

You don't have to use the task scheduler, it's enough to paste a shortcut of the application in one of the startup folders with the --quiet command line argument. It'll run everytime you login and will only require user action if an update is found!

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

Dev here, seems like no one bothered to read the wiki for the application... and leaving comments like you've done

You don't have to use the task scheduler, it's enough to paste a shortcut of the application in one of the startup folders with the --quiet command line argument. It'll run everytime you login and will only require user action if an update is found!

I leave my PC on 24/7 a task scheduler add would be more helpful.

 

[NRANM]

Dev here, seems like no one bothered to read the wiki for the application... and leaving comments like you've done

You don't have to use the task scheduler, it's enough to paste a shortcut of the application in one of the startup folders with the --quiet command line argument. It'll run everytime you login and will only require user action if an update is found!

How is that different than a scheduled task with the same parameters? It still requires that I manually add it to Windows startup, one way or another, and it still doesn't really make things any easier. What difference does it make if I check for update of the NVIDIA driver, or if I check for update for your program so that it can check for update of the NVIDIA driver? I mean I would have to update your program, just like any other. If this is the case, I might as well skip the middle man.

Like I said, with a simple bookmark checking for a newer version of a the NVIDIA driver takes only several seconds. How does your program improve things?

I guess TPU was having a slow news day or something so that this somehow made the front page.

 

[bug]

Dev here, seems like no one bothered to read the wiki for the application... and leaving comments like you've done

You don't have to use the task scheduler, it's enough to paste a shortcut of the application in one of the startup folders with the --quiet command line argument. It'll run everytime you login and will only require user action if an update is found!

Does that work in Win10? I used to do just that with task manager and since Win10 I can't do it anymore.
And don't worry about whiners, if you do, you'll never get any development done

Also, complaining about users on an internet forum being clueless? Where is this world going?

 

[NRANM]

I assume the whiners part is a poke at me. I also did read the wiki before posting. My post wasn't inferring that there is no option to run the program quietly but that there should be a command that would add a scheduled task on behalf of the user (to save time) while taking advantage of the existing option to run quietly.

Also, the wiki is not even close to being sufficient. The descriptions of the commands are unclear.

For example: the description of the "--quiet" command is "run quiet". How is that any clearer? What does quiet mean for this program? Maybe it could have said something like:

Does not display any window while checking for updates. If there is no new version it terminates directly without any messages. If there is a new version it notifies the user as usual.

Granted, that's a bit more words but provides a clear explanation of the behavior when using the --quiet option. My guess was correct but I couldn't be sure until I tested it (I had to update my driver as well to be sure).

Another example: the "--force-dl" option is also a mystery based on the description "force download of drivers". I was assuming that it would directly download the driver without informing or asking the user, possibly even directly to a pre-determined folder (Downloads for example).
However, it turned out that this option displays the same dialog window that is displayed when there is a new version, except it displays even if the installed driver is up-to-date.
I'm not saying this behavior is completely unexpected or illogical. I'm saying that based on the description in the wiki one cannot be certain exactly what would happen without actually testing it.

Also, the tutorials are not completed yet.

I understand that being a one-man-show can be quite hard, and that it takes time, and that the tutorials are not high priority, so I'm not complaining that the tutorials are missing per se. My point is that you scolded me for not reading the wiki when it doesn't contain much, and what is there is unclear. I find this rather arrogant.

I realize that nowadays it's common to just say nice things about stuff, and avoid harsher language, since many people are becoming more sensitive or don't handle criticism well, and take things more personally then they actually are, but I myself consider criticism to be quite important. In this case it may come off a bit snarky but it's still criticism nonetheless.

I simply questioned the usefulness of this program as it is objectively dubious, at least at the moment. I'm not saying it cannot or shouldn't improve. Quite the contrary, there should be an alternative to GeForce Experience! However in its current state this program does way too little to be practically useful, unless maybe in certain, very specific situations. Like I said, opening the GeForce website for a manual check takes several seconds.

I believe software in general should be designed around the user, to make his/her experience better: perform the same tasks faster and/or automate them, and/or make things easier and more convenient. Currently this program does none of that.

For starters I would like to see a GUI. I know all the cool kids are using CLI but there is no reason not to have a GUI, it's part of that "making things easier and more convenient" thing.
Here are some suggestions/options to add:

• an option to create a scheduled task, maybe even a choice between a few (e.g. daily, weekly, monthly) so the user doesn't have to do that;
• ask the user if the user wants to view the release notes PDF file (like it is now) or just download it instead;
• an option to automatically download the new version and/or the release notes PDF file without asking;
• an option to select the download folder;
• an option to switch between asking to run the installation or extracting and performing minimal installation without having to edit or re-create the configuration file;
• an option to choose where the configuration file would be stored;
• an option to run as a background process or service;
• ability to show tray notification instead or in addition to the dialog boxes (by the way, the buttons look like they are from Windows 9x);
• ability and option to self update (i.e. install the newer version automatically);
• change (or add the option) the extraction of the "minimal installation" to be in a sub-folder;
• ability to install the driver silently (regular or "minimal");
• support for using different archivers for extraction (not just WinRAR) or, better yet, include an executable or library with the program (7-Zip);
• multiple actions upon discovery of a new driver version, for example:
  • Do nothing
  • Download only
  • Download and run
  • Download and extract
  • Download and install silently without a reboot
  • Download and install silently with a reboot
    
  • Download and queue a (silent) installation with or without a reboot

Elaborating on that last one: downloads the driver but delays the installation until a later (pre-determined) time or after the system has been idle for a certain period.
​

 

[W1zzard]

Dev here, seems like no one bothered to read the wiki for the application... and leaving comments like you've done

You don't have to use the task scheduler, it's enough to paste a shortcut of the application in one of the startup folders with the --quiet command line argument. It'll run everytime you login and will only require user action if an update is found!

Welcome to the forum. Maybe add a checkbox and use System.Threading.Tasks.TaskScheduler to add load on startup functionality, or create a shell link in the user startup folder

 

[Hawaii]

Thanks guys for the feedback! I know the appication is a big mess and is pretty barebone, thing is that I never thought the application would 'blow up'. Before it hit reddit I had like 6 stars on github (obviously no userbase) and yes it badly designed - designed for people like me - I didn't need a quality product, it already took me some months to get it working in the first place, and have since only really cleaned up the code. But I'm going to improve the application a lot thanks to your feedback guys! It means a lot,

/Hawaii

 

[bug]

Thanks guys for the feedback! I know the appication is a big mess and is pretty barebone, thing is that I never thought the application would 'blow up'. Before it hit reddit I had like 6 stars on github (obviously no userbase) and yes it badly designed - designed for people like me - I didn't need a quality product, it already took me some months to get it working in the first place, and have since only really cleaned up the code. But I'm going to improve the application a lot thanks to your feedback guys! It means a lot,

/Hawaii

I figured as much, but there seem to be people that expect a pet project to deliver everything and the kitchen sink on day 1. Just don't let that get to you.

 

[NRANM]

there seem to be people that expect a pet project to deliver everything and the kitchen sink on day 1.

No, I just expect a program to actually be useful when being advertised as such. I'm not necessarily blaming the developer. TPU was at fault as well since they published the tool on the main page when it wasn't ready and/or intended for that.

But thank god for white knights with low standards like you to swoop in and save the day.

 

[bug]

No, I just expect a program to actually be useful when being advertised as such. I'm not necessarily blaming the developer. TPU was at fault as well since they published the tool on the main page when it wasn't ready and/or intended for that.

But thank god for white knights with low standards like you to swoop in and save the day.

Bottom line, if the tool is not what you expected, there's no way anyone would be interested in it.
Also, feel free to submit pull requests if you have anything to add.

I'm not a whit knight with low standards (my standards about code quality are pretty high, tyvm), but a developer that understands iterative development: you get the core functionality working first, then you add the bling-bling.

 

[NRANM]

This isn't about code quality but about additional features and functionality.

The problem with the tool is that in its current state it is virtually useless as it doesn't make checking for updates, much less installing them, any faster, easier, or more convenient. I would hardly call functionality that makes using the tool actually worthwhile "bling-bling".

I already explained in detail what my issues with the tool are, and I even provided suggestions for improvement, which is more than what other people in the thread have done, I might add.

And again, I'm not putting the blame entirely on the developer, even though his early attitude wasn't particularly endearing. TPU jumped the gun by publishing the news for this tool.

 

[bug]

This isn't about code quality but about additional features and functionality.

The problem with the tool is that in its current state it is virtually useless as it doesn't make checking for updates, much less installing them, any faster, easier, or more convenient. I would hardly call functionality that makes using the tool actually worthwhile "bling-bling".

I already explained in detail what my issues with the tool are, and I even provided suggestions for improvement, which is more than what other people in the thread have done, I might add.

And again, I'm not putting the blame entirely on the developer, even though his early attitude wasn't particularly endearing. TPU jumped the gun by publishing the news for this tool.

Well, maybe some would like to contribute, so why not advertise it? You don't like the tool, ignore it. It's simple, really.