Debug info with non-ASCII characters breaks `ptxas`

[leoherz]

Describe the bug

When running my code, i receive the following message:

ERROR: LoadError: Failed to compile PTX code (ptxas exited with code 4294967295)
Invocation arguments: --generate-line-info --verbose --gpu-name sm_89 --output-file C:\Users\Leonardo\AppData\Local\Temp\jl_CZSpO5UVUL.cubin C:\Users\Leonardo\AppData\Local\Temp\jl_6herYrirE3.ptx
ptxas fatal : Unexpected non-ASCII character encountered on line 1288
ptxas fatal : Ptx assembly aborted due to errors
If you think this is a bug, please file an issue and attach C:\Users\Leonardo\AppData\Local\Temp\jl_6herYrirE3.ptx

To reproduce

The code is way too big and complex to be posted here. However, as stated in the error message, a ptxas file was generated in the Temp directory. I have include this file in the attachments jl_6herYrirE3_text.txt

Expected behavior

The code was working absolutely fine before. I updated my Julia version to 1.11.4 and installed the latest version of CUDA, and suddenly I started having this problem. Unfortunatelly, I did not write down the previous on version of Julia i was using (although i know for sure it was on the 1.10-x family) , neither the CUDA.jl

Version info

Details on Julia:

Julia Version 1.11.4
Commit 8561cc3d68 (2025-03-10 11:36 UTC)
Build Info:
Official https://julialang.org/ release
Platform Info:
OS: Windows (x86_64-w64-mingw32)
CPU: 32 × 13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-13900K
WORD_SIZE: 64
LLVM: libLLVM-16.0.6 (ORCJIT, alderlake)
Threads: 1 default, 0 interactive, 1 GC (on 32 virtual cores)

Details on CUDA:

CUDA runtime 12.8, artifact installation
CUDA driver 12.8
NVIDIA driver 572.83.0

CUDA libraries:

• CUBLAS: 12.8.4
• CURAND: 10.3.9
• CUFFT: 11.3.3
• CUSOLVER: 11.7.3
• CUSPARSE: 12.5.8
• CUPTI: 2025.1.1 (API 26.0.0)
• NVML: 12.0.0+572.83

Julia packages:

• CUDA: 5.7.1
• CUDA_Driver_jll: 0.12.1+1
• CUDA_Runtime_jll: 0.16.1+0

Toolchain:

• Julia: 1.11.4
• LLVM: 16.0.6

1 device:
0: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 (sm_89, 21.697 GiB / 23.988 GiB available)

Additional context

The error message "Unexpected non-ASCII character encountered" suggests that a certain character is causing the issue. My kernel code does include some Greek letters (Unicode symbols like θ). I’ve tried replacing all Greek letters with their textual descriptions (e.g., θ → theta), but the problem persists. Additionally, as I mentioned earlier, the kernel was working fine before I updated the software versions. I also attempted to examine the ptxas file, particularly at line 1288, but it only points to the function declaration of the kernel and doesn't seem to provide any further useful information — at least as far as I can tell.

Please let me know if I can help with any additional context. Thanks in advance !

[maleadt]

ptxas fatal : Unexpected non-ASCII character encountered on line 1288

.loc	19 355 0                        // C:\Users\Leonardo\Dropbox\Projeto Doutorado\Códigos\03_Gibbs_Sampler.jl:355:0

Looks like the debug info LLVM emits isn't properly sanitized, breaking ptxas. Try removing that ó from your directory name.

[leoherz]

Hi @maleadt,
I’ve replaced the "ó" character, and the code is working again. Thank you so much for your help!

What’s your take on how the dev team should handle this issue ? On one hand, it would be great to fix the bug so that non-ASCII characters are supported again. On the other hand, the workaround (just replacing the characters) is pretty straightforward for users to apply.

Would you prefer to keep the issue open so the team can investigate further, or go ahead and close it for now? I’m happy to let you take it from here.

[maleadt]

Let's keep this open, but fixing it won't be a priority since it's out of our direct control, and a workaround is readily available.