FR: Add Nvidia driver installation options during Linux Mint's installer

[SpeeQz1]

When it comes to Linux Mint and first time installations many users with Nvidia branded GPUs face issues because their cards cannot work with the open source drivers and usually sometimes their system won't even be accessible if the proper drivers are not installed.

A simple proposition is to implement the option to install the Nvidia drivers during the installation or before the user enters into his system through some sort of on boot first activation process that will use the driver managers.

Adding the option to install the drivers can be done similarly to how multimedia codecs are installed with a checkbox or with a dropdown menu of what specific driver version to install (with the recommended one).

[NekoMimiOfficial]

The issue with post install first boot scripts or services is that they need to connect to a network to download the drivers, this probably can't be implemented well

However a post install solution that runs after the base system has been installed is possible
You'll need to be connected to a network from the live environment, and a post install script can be created to run driver installations (ex: running ubuntu-drivers or an equivalent mint cli tool)

There are issues with this method, mostly it's user preference (whether they want to even install the drivers to begin with) or other technical issues that might arise due to a failed driver installation

While this might be a good idea for most people it also needs to be planned to execute correctly and give an option for users to opt out of it and correct error handling to revert any changes caused by a failed install (from within the installer)

If a system breaks due to Nvidia drivers installation they can reinstall the system again choosing to not use the automated driver installation

[jakjasie1]

what do you think the "install propryietary drivers" option during install does?

[NekoMimiOfficial]

That's codecs only afaik

[silver-saint]

NVidia will drop support on the non-open source driver soon, but until then, the propertiary ones are the better ones on Distros like Ubuntu that uses an older version. Fedora already dropped them in favor of the open one, so the driver manager is more than enough if you wish to switch to the open drivers, though most will not get any benefit to them.

[NekoMimiOfficial]

What if we changed the format of this suggestion?
It's not necessarily Nvidia drivers
It could also include proprietary wifi drivers and other proprietary drivers , like adding an option under "install proprietary codecs" to install "proprietary drivers"