Strata v0.1.33
The image encoder runs on every CPU again, and setup recommends instead of forcing: a longer context, more GPUs or a bigger RAM budget you choose is kept, with a note about the risk.
Images (#411, #412): 0.1.32's ready-made strata-vision.exe was built with AVX-512 and OpenMP and stopped at
start on CPUs without AVX-512 (most AMD Ryzen before Zen 4, many Intel desktop CPUs): "illegal instruction" or "the
vision encoder did not start". 0.1.33's is built portable again (AVX2, no OpenMP), like 0.1.31's, and keeps 0.1.32's
RTX 20 code. Running START-HERE.bat once installs it.
Setup recommends, you choose (#406, #403, #364, #384):
- Context: setup still recommends 128K for IQ3_XXS / IQ3_S on a 64 GB PC, but a longer one you pick (or
--context 262144) is kept, with a note that it may run out of RAM under load. An update keeps your earlier
context, and in the low-RAM mode the context no longer counts against RAM. - Several GPUs on a low-RAM PC: setup asks whether to use one GPU (the default: experts kept in RAM, steady RAM
use) or all of them (experts read through the OS file cache: 1.3-1.6x faster in two users' measurements, but RAM
can fill up during long prompts).--gpus 0,1is honoured. The engine runs--resident-expertswith a layer split
as--mmap-experts, with a warning, instead of refusing to start. - RAM budget (
--resident-budget-gib): a budget larger than the free RAM no longer fails the safety check after
the engine lowers it (#403), and a budget that can't be kept at all is a warning. Setup takes--resident-budget-gib N. - Setup asks instead of stopping when a model is above its RAM estimate, or a named card has under 8 GB for a
split.--yesalone keeps the recommended choices.--kv-streaming on|off|autois new. - With
--yesor Enter for every question, setup writes exactly the same config as 0.1.32 (checked on 23
PC/model combinations).
Fixes:
- V100 (sm_70) in a layer split: the prompt's attention uses the kernel that card supports again (#371, AxalotLDev).
--expert-cache-per-layerstarts on native packs and fills every layer (#369, dag08).STRATA_GR_V3=1(opt-in) keeps the default read on cards where its two-half split fails its checks (Turing; #375,
kenh0u); its test compares within float rounding (#379, sergqwer).- Server: a request the chat template refuses ("No user query found in messages.") gets a 400 error instead of a
dropped connection (#365); a temporary image file is removed when the encoder fails (#352, Tsury); the image encoder
can run on its own GPU,"cuda_device"in the vision section (#408, Efs-O). - Setup stops when its input ends instead of answering yes, e.g. to installing the build tools (#393, #398 by
Bortlesboat); a setup test no longer fails on a PC with CUDA installed (#414, rwkeyes). - Docs: byte-identical greedy repeats through the server also need
--prompt-cache 0 --adapt-swaps 0(#410).
Checked before the release:
- Same answers as 0.1.32 on all four quants (Q2_0, IQ3_XXS, IQ3_S, the Coder), 10/10 each with a fixed cache.
The prompt path's internal state at 4K and 20K tokens is identical too. The default speed is unchanged within noise
(5-pair A/B, same expert slots). The merged release was checked again on Q2_0 and IQ3_XXS. - The image encoder: no AVX-512 instructions and no OpenMP (the same profile as 0.1.31's, which ran on CPUs
without AVX-512), and the image test passes behind the server (greedy colour and three sampled descriptions). - Real use at a 57K-token prompt through the server on Q2_0 and the Coder.
- Linux (WSL, RTX 5070): Q2_0 byte-identical to 0.1.32 (10/10), and the default settings pass.
- AMD (R9700): the HIP build and its tests. All pass except the two that need a model fixture or an AVX-512 CPU,
as in 0.1.32. - Tests: setup's tests (120, including a golden check that
--yes/Enter configs are byte-identical to 0.1.32's
on 23 PC/model combinations), the server's (141), the tools', and the parity tests of the changed kernels (QSA
prompt attention, the hyper-connection read with and without V3, the per-layer expert cache). - #403: an engine started with
--resident-budget-gib 500lowers the budget with its margin, starts and answers.
Updating: get the latest files (git pull, or download and unzip anywhere), then run START-HERE.bat (Linux:
./setup.sh). Setup installs engine 0.1.33.
The ready-made Strata engine for Windows (RTX 20 / 30 / 40 / 50: sm_75, sm_86, sm_89, sm_120 + PTX), CUDA 13.0.
You don't need to download this yourself: START-HERE.bat fetches it (and NVIDIA's cuBLAS from pip), so no compiler
or CUDA Toolkit is needed, only an NVIDIA driver 580 or newer.
Contents: strata.exe (the engine), strata-vision.exe (the optional image encoder), BUILD.json.