vllm - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug]: --runner pooling --convert classify crashes with ValueError on Qwen3-Reranker-8B due to missing score.weight [2 comments, 3 participants]

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vllm-project/vllm#43062Fetched 2026-05-20 03:40:02
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Error Message

File ".../vllm/model_executor/model_loader/default_loader.py", line 301, in load_weights raise ValueError( ValueError: Following weights were not initialized from checkpoint: {'score.weight'} ... RuntimeError: Engine core initialization failed. See root cause above.

Root Cause

This is particularly confusing because --runner pooling --convert classify is an advertised adaptation path for serving reranker models, so users have reasonable grounds to expect it to work with a model like Qwen3-Reranker-8B.

Fix Action

Fix / Workaround

============================== CPU Info

Architecture: x86_64 CPU op-mode(s): 32-bit, 64-bit Address sizes: 52 bits physical, 57 bits virtual Byte Order: Little Endian CPU(s): 128 On-line CPU(s) list: 0-127 Vendor ID: GenuineIntel Model name: Intel(R) Xeon(R) Gold 6430 CPU family: 6 Model: 143 Thread(s) per core: 2 Core(s) per socket: 32 Socket(s): 2 Stepping: 8 CPU max MHz: 3400.0000 CPU min MHz: 800.0000 BogoMIPS: 4200.00 Flags: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc art arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc cpuid aperfmperf tsc_known_freq pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 sdbg fma cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid dca sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic movbe popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm abm 3dnowprefetch cpuid_fault epb cat_l3 cat_l2 cdp_l3 intel_ppin cdp_l2 ssbd mba ibrs ibpb stibp ibrs_enhanced tpr_shadow flexpriority ept vpid ept_ad fsgsbase tsc_adjust bmi1 avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpcid cqm rdt_a avx512f avx512dq rdseed adx smap avx512ifma clflushopt clwb intel_pt avx512cd sha_ni avx512bw avx512vl xsaveopt xsavec xgetbv1 xsaves cqm_llc cqm_occup_llc cqm_mbm_total cqm_mbm_local split_lock_detect user_shstk avx_vnni avx512_bf16 wbnoinvd dtherm ida arat pln pts hwp hwp_act_window hwp_epp hwp_pkg_req vnmi avx512vbmi umip pku ospke waitpkg avx512_vbmi2 gfni vaes vpclmulqdq avx512_vnni avx512_bitalg tme avx512_vpopcntdq la57 rdpid bus_lock_detect cldemote movdiri movdir64b enqcmd fsrm md_clear serialize tsxldtrk pconfig arch_lbr ibt amx_bf16 avx512_fp16 amx_tile amx_int8 flush_l1d arch_capabilities ibpb_exit_to_user Virtualization: VT-x L1d cache: 3 MiB (64 instances) L1i cache: 2 MiB (64 instances) L2 cache: 128 MiB (64 instances) L3 cache: 120 MiB (2 instances) NUMA node(s): 2 NUMA node0 CPU(s): 0-31,64-95 NUMA node1 CPU(s): 32-63,96-127 Vulnerability Gather data sampling: Not affected Vulnerability Indirect target selection: Not affected Vulnerability Itlb multihit: Not affected Vulnerability L1tf: Not affected Vulnerability Mds: Not affected Vulnerability Meltdown: Not affected Vulnerability Mmio stale data: Not affected Vulnerability Reg file data sampling: Not affected Vulnerability Retbleed: Not affected Vulnerability Spec rstack overflow: Not affected Vulnerability Spec store bypass: Mitigation; Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl Vulnerability Spectre v1: Mitigation; usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization Vulnerability Spectre v2: Mitigation; Enhanced / Automatic IBRS; IBPB conditional; PBRSB-eIBRS SW sequence; BHI BHI_DIS_S Vulnerability Srbds: Not affected Vulnerability Tsa: Not affected Vulnerability Tsx async abort: Not affected Vulnerability Vmscape: Mitigation; IBPB before exit to userspace

Code Example

Collecting environment information...
==============================
        System Info
==============================
OS                           : Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS (x86_64)
GCC version                  : (Ubuntu 11.4.0-1ubuntu1~22.04) 11.4.0
Clang version                : Could not collect
CMake version                : version 3.22.1
Libc version                 : glibc-2.35

==============================
       PyTorch Info
==============================
PyTorch version              : 2.9.1+cu128
Is debug build               : False
CUDA used to build PyTorch   : 12.8
ROCM used to build PyTorch   : N/A
XPU used to build PyTorch    : N/A

==============================
      Python Environment
==============================
Python version               : 3.12.12 | packaged by Anaconda, Inc. | (main, Oct 21 2025, 20:16:04) [GCC 11.2.0] (64-bit runtime)
Python platform              : Linux-6.8.0-110-generic-x86_64-with-glibc2.35
    
==============================
       CUDA / GPU Info
==============================
Is CUDA available            : True
CUDA runtime version         : Could not collect
CUDA_MODULE_LOADING set to   : 
GPU models and configuration : GPU 0: NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3
Nvidia driver version        : 570.124.06
cuDNN version                : Probably one of the following:
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libcudnn.so.8.9.0
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libcudnn_adv_infer.so.8.9.0
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libcudnn_adv_train.so.8.9.0
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libcudnn_cnn_infer.so.8.9.0
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libcudnn_cnn_train.so.8.9.0
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libcudnn_ops_infer.so.8.9.0
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libcudnn_ops_train.so.8.9.0
HIP runtime version          : N/A
MIOpen runtime version       : N/A
Is XNNPACK available         : True

==============================
          CPU Info
==============================
Architecture:                            x86_64
CPU op-mode(s):                          32-bit, 64-bit
Address sizes:                           52 bits physical, 57 bits virtual
Byte Order:                              Little Endian
CPU(s):                                  128
On-line CPU(s) list:                     0-127
Vendor ID:                               GenuineIntel
Model name:                              Intel(R) Xeon(R) Gold 6430
CPU family:                              6
Model:                                   143
Thread(s) per core:                      2
Core(s) per socket:                      32
Socket(s):                               2
Stepping:                                8
CPU max MHz:                             3400.0000
CPU min MHz:                             800.0000
BogoMIPS:                                4200.00
Flags:                                   fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc art arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc cpuid aperfmperf tsc_known_freq pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 sdbg fma cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid dca sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic movbe popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm abm 3dnowprefetch cpuid_fault epb cat_l3 cat_l2 cdp_l3 intel_ppin cdp_l2 ssbd mba ibrs ibpb stibp ibrs_enhanced tpr_shadow flexpriority ept vpid ept_ad fsgsbase tsc_adjust bmi1 avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpcid cqm rdt_a avx512f avx512dq rdseed adx smap avx512ifma clflushopt clwb intel_pt avx512cd sha_ni avx512bw avx512vl xsaveopt xsavec xgetbv1 xsaves cqm_llc cqm_occup_llc cqm_mbm_total cqm_mbm_local split_lock_detect user_shstk avx_vnni avx512_bf16 wbnoinvd dtherm ida arat pln pts hwp hwp_act_window hwp_epp hwp_pkg_req vnmi avx512vbmi umip pku ospke waitpkg avx512_vbmi2 gfni vaes vpclmulqdq avx512_vnni avx512_bitalg tme avx512_vpopcntdq la57 rdpid bus_lock_detect cldemote movdiri movdir64b enqcmd fsrm md_clear serialize tsxldtrk pconfig arch_lbr ibt amx_bf16 avx512_fp16 amx_tile amx_int8 flush_l1d arch_capabilities ibpb_exit_to_user
Virtualization:                          VT-x
L1d cache:                               3 MiB (64 instances)
L1i cache:                               2 MiB (64 instances)
L2 cache:                                128 MiB (64 instances)
L3 cache:                                120 MiB (2 instances)
NUMA node(s):                            2
NUMA node0 CPU(s):                       0-31,64-95
NUMA node1 CPU(s):                       32-63,96-127
Vulnerability Gather data sampling:      Not affected
Vulnerability Indirect target selection: Not affected
Vulnerability Itlb multihit:             Not affected
Vulnerability L1tf:                      Not affected
Vulnerability Mds:                       Not affected
Vulnerability Meltdown:                  Not affected
Vulnerability Mmio stale data:           Not affected
Vulnerability Reg file data sampling:    Not affected
Vulnerability Retbleed:                  Not affected
Vulnerability Spec rstack overflow:      Not affected
Vulnerability Spec store bypass:         Mitigation; Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
Vulnerability Spectre v1:                Mitigation; usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
Vulnerability Spectre v2:                Mitigation; Enhanced / Automatic IBRS; IBPB conditional; PBRSB-eIBRS SW sequence; BHI BHI_DIS_S
Vulnerability Srbds:                     Not affected
Vulnerability Tsa:                       Not affected
Vulnerability Tsx async abort:           Not affected
Vulnerability Vmscape:                   Mitigation; IBPB before exit to userspace

==============================
Versions of relevant libraries
==============================
[pip3] flashinfer-python==0.5.3
[pip3] numpy==2.2.6
[pip3] nvidia-cublas-cu12==12.8.4.1
[pip3] nvidia-cuda-cupti-cu12==12.8.90
[pip3] nvidia-cuda-nvrtc-cu12==12.8.93
[pip3] nvidia-cuda-runtime-cu12==12.8.90
[pip3] nvidia-cudnn-cu12==9.10.2.21
[pip3] nvidia-cudnn-frontend==1.18.0
[pip3] nvidia-cufft-cu12==11.3.3.83
[pip3] nvidia-cufile-cu12==1.13.1.3
[pip3] nvidia-curand-cu12==10.3.9.90
[pip3] nvidia-cusolver-cu12==11.7.3.90
[pip3] nvidia-cusparse-cu12==12.5.8.93
[pip3] nvidia-cusparselt-cu12==0.7.1
[pip3] nvidia-cutlass-dsl==4.3.5
[pip3] nvidia-ml-py==13.590.48
[pip3] nvidia-nccl-cu12==2.27.5
[pip3] nvidia-nvjitlink-cu12==12.8.93
[pip3] nvidia-nvshmem-cu12==3.3.20
[pip3] nvidia-nvtx-cu12==12.8.90
[pip3] pyzmq==27.1.0
[pip3] torch==2.9.1+cu128
[pip3] torchaudio==2.9.1+cu128
[pip3] torchvision==0.24.1+cu128
[pip3] transformers==4.57.6
[pip3] triton==3.5.1
[conda] flashinfer-python         0.5.3                    pypi_0    pypi
[conda] numpy                     2.2.6                    pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-cublas-cu12        12.8.4.1                 pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-cuda-cupti-cu12    12.8.90                  pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-cuda-nvrtc-cu12    12.8.93                  pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-cuda-runtime-cu12  12.8.90                  pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-cudnn-cu12         9.10.2.21                pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-cudnn-frontend     1.18.0                   pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-cufft-cu12         11.3.3.83                pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-cufile-cu12        1.13.1.3                 pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-curand-cu12        10.3.9.90                pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-cusolver-cu12      11.7.3.90                pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-cusparse-cu12      12.5.8.93                pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-cusparselt-cu12    0.7.1                    pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-cutlass-dsl        4.3.5                    pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-ml-py              13.590.48                pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-nccl-cu12          2.27.5                   pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-nvjitlink-cu12     12.8.93                  pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-nvshmem-cu12       3.3.20                   pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-nvtx-cu12          12.8.90                  pypi_0    pypi
[conda] pyzmq                     27.1.0                   pypi_0    pypi
[conda] torch                     2.9.1+cu128              pypi_0    pypi
[conda] torchaudio                2.9.1+cu128              pypi_0    pypi
[conda] torchvision               0.24.1+cu128             pypi_0    pypi
[conda] transformers              4.57.6                   pypi_0    pypi
[conda] triton                    3.5.1                    pypi_0    pypi

==============================
         vLLM Info
==============================
ROCM Version                 : Could not collect
vLLM Version                 : 0.14.1
vLLM Build Flags:
  CUDA Archs: Not Set; ROCm: Disabled; XPU: Disabled
GPU Topology:
        GPU0    CPU Affinity    NUMA Affinity   GPU NUMA ID
GPU0     X      32-63,96-127    1               N/A

Legend:

  X    = Self
  SYS  = Connection traversing PCIe as well as the SMP interconnect between NUMA nodes (e.g., QPI/UPI)
  NODE = Connection traversing PCIe as well as the interconnect between PCIe Host Bridges within a NUMA node
  PHB  = Connection traversing PCIe as well as a PCIe Host Bridge (typically the CPU)
  PXB  = Connection traversing multiple PCIe bridges (without traversing the PCIe Host Bridge)
  PIX  = Connection traversing at most a single PCIe bridge
  NV#  = Connection traversing a bonded set of # NVLinks

==============================
     Environment Variables
==============================
PYTORCH_NVML_BASED_CUDA_CHECK=1
TORCHINDUCTOR_COMPILE_THREADS=1

---

vllm serve <path-to-Qwen3-Reranker-8B> \
  --host 127.0.0.1 \
  --port 18119 \
  --runner pooling \
  --convert classify

---

File ".../vllm/model_executor/model_loader/default_loader.py", line 301, in load_weights
    raise ValueError(
ValueError: Following weights were not initialized from checkpoint: {'score.weight'}
...
RuntimeError: Engine core initialization failed. See root cause above.
RAW_BUFFERClick to expand / collapse

Your current environment

<details> <summary>The output of <code>python collect_env.py</code></summary>
Collecting environment information...
==============================
        System Info
==============================
OS                           : Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS (x86_64)
GCC version                  : (Ubuntu 11.4.0-1ubuntu1~22.04) 11.4.0
Clang version                : Could not collect
CMake version                : version 3.22.1
Libc version                 : glibc-2.35

==============================
       PyTorch Info
==============================
PyTorch version              : 2.9.1+cu128
Is debug build               : False
CUDA used to build PyTorch   : 12.8
ROCM used to build PyTorch   : N/A
XPU used to build PyTorch    : N/A

==============================
      Python Environment
==============================
Python version               : 3.12.12 | packaged by Anaconda, Inc. | (main, Oct 21 2025, 20:16:04) [GCC 11.2.0] (64-bit runtime)
Python platform              : Linux-6.8.0-110-generic-x86_64-with-glibc2.35
    
==============================
       CUDA / GPU Info
==============================
Is CUDA available            : True
CUDA runtime version         : Could not collect
CUDA_MODULE_LOADING set to   : 
GPU models and configuration : GPU 0: NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3
Nvidia driver version        : 570.124.06
cuDNN version                : Probably one of the following:
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libcudnn.so.8.9.0
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libcudnn_adv_infer.so.8.9.0
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libcudnn_adv_train.so.8.9.0
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libcudnn_cnn_infer.so.8.9.0
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libcudnn_cnn_train.so.8.9.0
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libcudnn_ops_infer.so.8.9.0
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libcudnn_ops_train.so.8.9.0
HIP runtime version          : N/A
MIOpen runtime version       : N/A
Is XNNPACK available         : True

==============================
          CPU Info
==============================
Architecture:                            x86_64
CPU op-mode(s):                          32-bit, 64-bit
Address sizes:                           52 bits physical, 57 bits virtual
Byte Order:                              Little Endian
CPU(s):                                  128
On-line CPU(s) list:                     0-127
Vendor ID:                               GenuineIntel
Model name:                              Intel(R) Xeon(R) Gold 6430
CPU family:                              6
Model:                                   143
Thread(s) per core:                      2
Core(s) per socket:                      32
Socket(s):                               2
Stepping:                                8
CPU max MHz:                             3400.0000
CPU min MHz:                             800.0000
BogoMIPS:                                4200.00
Flags:                                   fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc art arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc cpuid aperfmperf tsc_known_freq pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 sdbg fma cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid dca sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic movbe popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm abm 3dnowprefetch cpuid_fault epb cat_l3 cat_l2 cdp_l3 intel_ppin cdp_l2 ssbd mba ibrs ibpb stibp ibrs_enhanced tpr_shadow flexpriority ept vpid ept_ad fsgsbase tsc_adjust bmi1 avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpcid cqm rdt_a avx512f avx512dq rdseed adx smap avx512ifma clflushopt clwb intel_pt avx512cd sha_ni avx512bw avx512vl xsaveopt xsavec xgetbv1 xsaves cqm_llc cqm_occup_llc cqm_mbm_total cqm_mbm_local split_lock_detect user_shstk avx_vnni avx512_bf16 wbnoinvd dtherm ida arat pln pts hwp hwp_act_window hwp_epp hwp_pkg_req vnmi avx512vbmi umip pku ospke waitpkg avx512_vbmi2 gfni vaes vpclmulqdq avx512_vnni avx512_bitalg tme avx512_vpopcntdq la57 rdpid bus_lock_detect cldemote movdiri movdir64b enqcmd fsrm md_clear serialize tsxldtrk pconfig arch_lbr ibt amx_bf16 avx512_fp16 amx_tile amx_int8 flush_l1d arch_capabilities ibpb_exit_to_user
Virtualization:                          VT-x
L1d cache:                               3 MiB (64 instances)
L1i cache:                               2 MiB (64 instances)
L2 cache:                                128 MiB (64 instances)
L3 cache:                                120 MiB (2 instances)
NUMA node(s):                            2
NUMA node0 CPU(s):                       0-31,64-95
NUMA node1 CPU(s):                       32-63,96-127
Vulnerability Gather data sampling:      Not affected
Vulnerability Indirect target selection: Not affected
Vulnerability Itlb multihit:             Not affected
Vulnerability L1tf:                      Not affected
Vulnerability Mds:                       Not affected
Vulnerability Meltdown:                  Not affected
Vulnerability Mmio stale data:           Not affected
Vulnerability Reg file data sampling:    Not affected
Vulnerability Retbleed:                  Not affected
Vulnerability Spec rstack overflow:      Not affected
Vulnerability Spec store bypass:         Mitigation; Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
Vulnerability Spectre v1:                Mitigation; usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
Vulnerability Spectre v2:                Mitigation; Enhanced / Automatic IBRS; IBPB conditional; PBRSB-eIBRS SW sequence; BHI BHI_DIS_S
Vulnerability Srbds:                     Not affected
Vulnerability Tsa:                       Not affected
Vulnerability Tsx async abort:           Not affected
Vulnerability Vmscape:                   Mitigation; IBPB before exit to userspace

==============================
Versions of relevant libraries
==============================
[pip3] flashinfer-python==0.5.3
[pip3] numpy==2.2.6
[pip3] nvidia-cublas-cu12==12.8.4.1
[pip3] nvidia-cuda-cupti-cu12==12.8.90
[pip3] nvidia-cuda-nvrtc-cu12==12.8.93
[pip3] nvidia-cuda-runtime-cu12==12.8.90
[pip3] nvidia-cudnn-cu12==9.10.2.21
[pip3] nvidia-cudnn-frontend==1.18.0
[pip3] nvidia-cufft-cu12==11.3.3.83
[pip3] nvidia-cufile-cu12==1.13.1.3
[pip3] nvidia-curand-cu12==10.3.9.90
[pip3] nvidia-cusolver-cu12==11.7.3.90
[pip3] nvidia-cusparse-cu12==12.5.8.93
[pip3] nvidia-cusparselt-cu12==0.7.1
[pip3] nvidia-cutlass-dsl==4.3.5
[pip3] nvidia-ml-py==13.590.48
[pip3] nvidia-nccl-cu12==2.27.5
[pip3] nvidia-nvjitlink-cu12==12.8.93
[pip3] nvidia-nvshmem-cu12==3.3.20
[pip3] nvidia-nvtx-cu12==12.8.90
[pip3] pyzmq==27.1.0
[pip3] torch==2.9.1+cu128
[pip3] torchaudio==2.9.1+cu128
[pip3] torchvision==0.24.1+cu128
[pip3] transformers==4.57.6
[pip3] triton==3.5.1
[conda] flashinfer-python         0.5.3                    pypi_0    pypi
[conda] numpy                     2.2.6                    pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-cublas-cu12        12.8.4.1                 pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-cuda-cupti-cu12    12.8.90                  pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-cuda-nvrtc-cu12    12.8.93                  pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-cuda-runtime-cu12  12.8.90                  pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-cudnn-cu12         9.10.2.21                pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-cudnn-frontend     1.18.0                   pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-cufft-cu12         11.3.3.83                pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-cufile-cu12        1.13.1.3                 pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-curand-cu12        10.3.9.90                pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-cusolver-cu12      11.7.3.90                pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-cusparse-cu12      12.5.8.93                pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-cusparselt-cu12    0.7.1                    pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-cutlass-dsl        4.3.5                    pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-ml-py              13.590.48                pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-nccl-cu12          2.27.5                   pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-nvjitlink-cu12     12.8.93                  pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-nvshmem-cu12       3.3.20                   pypi_0    pypi
[conda] nvidia-nvtx-cu12          12.8.90                  pypi_0    pypi
[conda] pyzmq                     27.1.0                   pypi_0    pypi
[conda] torch                     2.9.1+cu128              pypi_0    pypi
[conda] torchaudio                2.9.1+cu128              pypi_0    pypi
[conda] torchvision               0.24.1+cu128             pypi_0    pypi
[conda] transformers              4.57.6                   pypi_0    pypi
[conda] triton                    3.5.1                    pypi_0    pypi

==============================
         vLLM Info
==============================
ROCM Version                 : Could not collect
vLLM Version                 : 0.14.1
vLLM Build Flags:
  CUDA Archs: Not Set; ROCm: Disabled; XPU: Disabled
GPU Topology:
        GPU0    CPU Affinity    NUMA Affinity   GPU NUMA ID
GPU0     X      32-63,96-127    1               N/A

Legend:

  X    = Self
  SYS  = Connection traversing PCIe as well as the SMP interconnect between NUMA nodes (e.g., QPI/UPI)
  NODE = Connection traversing PCIe as well as the interconnect between PCIe Host Bridges within a NUMA node
  PHB  = Connection traversing PCIe as well as a PCIe Host Bridge (typically the CPU)
  PXB  = Connection traversing multiple PCIe bridges (without traversing the PCIe Host Bridge)
  PIX  = Connection traversing at most a single PCIe bridge
  NV#  = Connection traversing a bonded set of # NVLinks

==============================
     Environment Variables
==============================
PYTORCH_NVML_BASED_CUDA_CHECK=1
TORCHINDUCTOR_COMPILE_THREADS=1
</details>

🐛 Describe the bug

When serving Qwen3-Reranker-8B with --runner pooling --convert classify, the CLI and config validation both accept the combination without complaint, but the server crashes during weight loading with a ValueError about a missing weight score.weight. The --convert classify path constructs a ModelForSequenceClassification adapter that requires a classification head weight (score.weight) in the checkpoint, but Qwen3-Reranker-8B does not include this weight, and there is no early validation to detect this mismatch before model loading begins.

This is particularly confusing because --runner pooling --convert classify is an advertised adaptation path for serving reranker models, so users have reasonable grounds to expect it to work with a model like Qwen3-Reranker-8B.

Steps to Reproduce

vllm serve <path-to-Qwen3-Reranker-8B> \
  --host 127.0.0.1 \
  --port 18119 \
  --runner pooling \
  --convert classify

Expected Behavior

One of the following should happen:

  1. vLLM detects at config validation time that the checkpoint does not contain the weights required by --convert classify (specifically score.weight) and exits with a clear, user-facing error explaining the incompatibility, or
  2. vLLM automatically initializes the missing classification head with appropriate default weights and proceeds successfully, or
  3. vLLM documents clearly which model checkpoints are compatible with --convert classify so users know what to expect.

In any case, the server should not load the full model (~19 GiB) and then fail with an internal ValueError that does not explain the actual cause.

Actual Behavior

The server loads all model weights (~3.79 seconds) before failing immediately after with:

File ".../vllm/model_executor/model_loader/default_loader.py", line 301, in load_weights
    raise ValueError(
ValueError: Following weights were not initialized from checkpoint: {'score.weight'}
...
RuntimeError: Engine core initialization failed. See root cause above.

The error message gives no indication that the problem is a checkpoint/adapter incompatibility, or that --convert classify requires a pre-trained classification head that this model does not provide.

Suggested Fix

Add a checkpoint compatibility check in the --convert classify adaptation path that verifies the required classification head weights (e.g. score.weight) are present in the checkpoint before proceeding with model initialization. If they are absent, raise a clear ValueError at config validation time explaining that --convert classify requires a checkpoint that includes a pre-trained classification head, and suggest alternatives such as fine-tuning or using a different --convert mode.

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