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ComfyUI DWPose / SAM2 "model not found" despite downloading — the nested-path fix

Also seen as: "DWPose model not found ComfyUI", "SAM2 model not found", "dw-ll_ucoco_384.onnx missing", "sam2 safetensors not loading"

Direct answer

How do I fix "DWPose / SAM2 preprocessor models not found"?

DWPose and SAM2 preprocessor nodes fail to find their models even though you downloaded them, because these nodes read from nested, node-specific folders that the generic models/ tree is not scanned for — and SAM2 also needs a specific re-serialized format, not Meta’s raw checkpoint.

Key facts

  • iDWPose reads its ONNX files from inside the custom node (custom_nodes/comfyui_controlnet_aux/ckpts/yzd-v/DWPose), not the generic models tree.
  • iSAM2 weights placed in models/sams/ (that is SAM v1) instead of models/sam2/.
  • iYou used Meta’s raw SAM2 .pt — ComfyUI wants the Kijai re-serialized safetensors, whose checkpoint keys differ.

Next step

  1. 1Put the DWPose ONNX files (dw-ll_ucoco_384.onnx + yolox_l.onnx) in custom_nodes/comfyui_controlnet_aux/ckpts/yzd-v/DWPose.
  2. 2Put the SAM2 safetensors from the Kijai/sam2-safetensors mirror in models/sam2/ (not models/sams/).
  3. 3Use the Kijai re-serialized SAM2 safetensors, not Meta’s raw .pt — the keys will not load otherwise.
  4. 4Restart ComfyUI so the nodes re-scan their folders.

If that didn't fix it

  • "Downloaded" is not enough for these nodes — the generic models/ folder is not where they look; the nested node-specific path is.

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Other ComfyUI errors

Fix

GPU Memory Exhausted

Fix

Model Not Found

Fix

Missing Python Package

Fix

Disk Space Exhausted

Fix

Gated Model Access

Fix

missing custom nodes (node type not found)

Frequently Asked Questions

What causes "DWPose / SAM2 preprocessor models not found" in ComfyUI?

DWPose reads its ONNX files from inside the custom node (custom_nodes/comfyui_controlnet_aux/ckpts/yzd-v/DWPose), not the generic models tree.

How do I fix "DWPose / SAM2 preprocessor models not found"?

Put the DWPose ONNX files (dw-ll_ucoco_384.onnx + yolox_l.onnx) in custom_nodes/comfyui_controlnet_aux/ckpts/yzd-v/DWPose. Put the SAM2 safetensors from the Kijai/sam2-safetensors mirror in models/sam2/ (not models/sams/).