Local AI troubleshooting
Troubleshooting pages for local model loading, memory, Open WebUI connection, slow models, and PDF chat issues.
Start with the likely cause
Most local AI failures are not mysterious. They usually come from memory limits, model size, runtime configuration, Docker/networking, provider selection, or document-processing settings.
Each troubleshooting page should give the first three checks, the likely causes, fixes that do not hide uncertainty, and a stop/switch warning for sensitive data.
Symptom starting points
| Symptom | Start here |
|---|---|
| Model will not load | Out-of-memory errors; model download fails |
| Model is slow | Local model is too slow; Ollama is slow |
| Open WebUI cannot see Ollama | Open WebUI cannot connect to Ollama |
| PDF answers are bad | Local PDF chat gives bad answers |
| Privacy concern | Local AI privacy mistakes |
Ollama model will not load
This usually points to model name, download, memory limit, or runtime state. Start with the simplest visible checks before changing advanced settings.
This usually points to model name, download, memory limit, or runtime state. Start with the simplest visible checks before changing advanced settings.
Ollama is slow
This usually points to model size, CPU fallback, context length, offload, or hardware limits. Start with the simplest visible checks before changing advanced settings.
This usually points to model size, CPU fallback, context length, offload, or hardware limits. Start with the simplest visible checks before changing advanced settings.
Out-of-memory errors
This usually points to model weights, context window, runtime overhead, or background apps. Start with the simplest visible checks before changing advanced settings.
This usually points to model weights, context window, runtime overhead, or background apps. Start with the simplest visible checks before changing advanced settings.
Out-of-memory errors explained
This usually points to RAM, VRAM, unified memory, quantization, context, and runtime overhead. Start with the simplest visible checks before changing advanced settings.
This usually points to RAM, VRAM, unified memory, quantization, context, and runtime overhead. Start with the simplest visible checks before changing advanced settings.
Open WebUI cannot connect
This usually points to server address, Docker networking, provider settings, or service startup. Start with the simplest visible checks before changing advanced settings.
This usually points to server address, Docker networking, provider settings, or service startup. Start with the simplest visible checks before changing advanced settings.
Open WebUI cannot connect to Ollama
This usually points to Ollama endpoint, container networking, host access, or service state. Start with the simplest visible checks before changing advanced settings.
This usually points to Ollama endpoint, container networking, host access, or service state. Start with the simplest visible checks before changing advanced settings.
Local model is too slow
This usually points to model size, offload path, memory bandwidth, thermals, or context length. Start with the simplest visible checks before changing advanced settings.
This usually points to model size, offload path, memory bandwidth, thermals, or context length. Start with the simplest visible checks before changing advanced settings.
PDF chat not working
This usually points to document parsing, embedding provider, retrieval settings, or model selection. Start with the simplest visible checks before changing advanced settings.
This usually points to document parsing, embedding provider, retrieval settings, or model selection. Start with the simplest visible checks before changing advanced settings.
Local PDF chat gives bad answers
This usually points to bad extraction, weak retrieval, poor chunking, missing OCR, or hallucination. Start with the simplest visible checks before changing advanced settings.
This usually points to bad extraction, weak retrieval, poor chunking, missing OCR, or hallucination. Start with the simplest visible checks before changing advanced settings.
GPU not detected
This usually points to driver, backend, runtime build, or unsupported hardware. Start with the simplest visible checks before changing advanced settings.
This usually points to driver, backend, runtime build, or unsupported hardware. Start with the simplest visible checks before changing advanced settings.
Model download fails
This usually points to network, disk space, model name, provider availability, or permissions. Start with the simplest visible checks before changing advanced settings.
This usually points to network, disk space, model name, provider availability, or permissions. Start with the simplest visible checks before changing advanced settings.
Local AI privacy mistakes
This usually points to cloud providers, exposed local servers, sync, plugins, telemetry, or document storage. Start with the simplest visible checks before changing advanced settings.
This usually points to cloud providers, exposed local servers, sync, plugins, telemetry, or document storage. Start with the simplest visible checks before changing advanced settings.