fix: store list of attempted initializations

src/xla/XLA.jl

@@ -62,14 +62,17 @@ for runtime in (:PJRT, :IFRT)
         initialized::Bool
         clients::Dict{String,$(runtime).Client}
         default_client::$(runtime).Client
+        attempted_backends::Set{String}
 
         function $(backend_state)(
             initialized::Bool=false,
             clients::Dict{String,$(runtime).Client}=Dict{String,$(runtime).Client}(),
             default_client::$(runtime).Client=$(runtime).NullClient,
+            attempted_backends::Set{String}=Set{String}(),
         )
             return finalizer(
-                finalize_backend_state, new(initialized, clients, default_client)
+                finalize_backend_state,
+                new(initialized, clients, default_client, attempted_backends),
             )
         end
     end
@@ -82,6 +85,7 @@ for runtime in (:PJRT, :IFRT)
             free_client(client)
         end
         empty!(state.clients)
+        empty!(state.attempted_backends)
         state.default_client = $(runtime).NullClient
         return nothing
     end
@@ -126,15 +130,34 @@ end
 
 function client(backend::String)
     if backend == "gpu"
-        if haskey(global_backend_state.clients, "cuda")
-            backend = "cuda"
-        elseif haskey(global_backend_state.clients, "metal")
-            backend = "metal"
-        elseif haskey(global_backend_state.clients, "rocm")
-            backend = "rocm"
-        else
-            error("No GPU client found")
+        for b in ["cuda", "metal", "rocm"]
+            if haskey(global_backend_state.clients, b)
+                return global_backend_state.clients[b]
+            end
+        end
+
+        # If none found, check if we've attempted all of them
+        gpu_backends = normalize_backend_name("gpu")
+        if any(b ∉ global_backend_state.attempted_backends for b in gpu_backends)
+            with(BACKENDS_TO_INITIALIZE => gpu_backends) do
+                initialize_default_clients!(global_backend_state)
+            end
+            union!(global_backend_state.attempted_backends, gpu_backends)
+            return client("gpu") # Try again
+        end
+
+        error("No GPU client found")
+    end
+
+    if (
+        !haskey(global_backend_state.clients, backend) &&
+        backend ∉ global_backend_state.attempted_backends
+    )
+        backends = normalize_backend_name(backend)
+        with(BACKENDS_TO_INITIALIZE => backends) do
+            initialize_default_clients!(global_backend_state)
         end
+        union!(global_backend_state.attempted_backends, backends)
     end
     return global_backend_state.clients[backend]
 end
@@ -264,8 +287,15 @@ for runtime in (:PJRT, :IFRT)
             was_initialized;
             allow_initialization=backend -> begin
                 Reactant.precompiling() && return backend.platform_name == "cpu"
-                backends_to_initialize === missing && return true
-                return backend.platform_name in backends_to_initialize
+                will_try_initializing = false
+                if backends_to_initialize === missing
+                    will_try_initializing = true
+                else
+                    will_try_initializing = backend.platform_name in backends_to_initialize
+                end
+                will_try_initializing &&
+                    push!(state.attempted_backends, backend.platform_name)
+                return will_try_initializing
             end,
             node_id=global_state.process_id,
             num_nodes=global_state.num_processes,