cmake: conditionally enable ASM via check_language to fix MSVC/CMake configuration failures#29
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…ke detection failure on Windows
MSVC toolchains on Windows (especially with modern CMake versions) are not reliably
recognized as valid ASM compilers, causing CMake to fail during project() configuration
with "No CMAKE_ASM_COMPILER could be found".
Although GGML does not strictly require assembly support on Windows (CUDA and CPU
backends function without it), the project was declaring ASM in the top-level CMake
configuration:
project(ggml C CXX ASM)
This causes CMake to attempt ASM compiler detection before MSVC MASM (ml64) is properly
initialized, leading to hard configuration failures.
This change removes ASM from the project declaration:
project(ggml C CXX)
This avoids premature ASM language enablement and allows the build to proceed normally
on MSVC toolchains while still supporting CUDA and CPU backends.
Fixes Windows build failures related to CMake ASM detection (CMP194 / MSVC ASM incompatibility).
…of unconditional MSVC inclusion Replace unconditional ASM language declaration in ggml with a conditional CMake check using `check_language(ASM)`. On MSVC toolchains, modern CMake versions (CMP0194) do not reliably support treating MSVC as a valid ASM compiler, causing configuration failures such as: "No CMAKE_ASM_COMPILER could be found" This change ensures ASM is only enabled when CMake confirms ASM support is available for the current toolchain, while preserving ASM usage on toolchains where it is properly supported (GNU/Clang/NASM/etc). No change in runtime behavior. Windows/MSVC builds are stabilized without disabling ASM globally.
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Overview
This PR fixes a Windows/MSVC configuration failure in
ggmlcaused by unconditional enabling of theASMlanguage in CMake.On modern CMake versions (CMake 4.x / CMP0194 policy behavior), MSVC is not reliably treated as a valid ASM compiler. This leads to early configuration failures such as:
even when a fully functional Visual Studio toolchain is present.
To address this, ASM support is now enabled conditionally using
check_language(ASM), and only activated when the toolchain actually supports it. On MSVC, ASM is skipped while remaining enabled for toolchains where it is supported (GNU, Clang, NASM, etc.).This preserves ASM optimizations where available while fixing Windows/MSVC build reliability issues without globally disabling ASM.
Additional information
This change avoids forcing ASM via:
Instead, ASM is now enabled only when CMake confirms support:
Why this is needed
Recent CMake versions changed ASM handling under policy CMP0194:
enable_language(ASM)may fail early in configurationSince ggml does not require ASM for CUDA / CPU builds on Windows, disabling ASM conditionally avoids breaking configuration while keeping ASM support intact on supported toolchains.
Impact
Requirements