diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 58e173bff..db60812f3 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,8 +4,11 @@
 
 *Note*: Pending release of `diffusers==0.22.0`
 
-Support for several new models and additional optimizations.
-Plus tons of fixes...
+Another pretty big release, this time with focus on  
+new models, new backends and optimizations and tons of fixes
+
+Also, [Wiki](https://github.com/vladmandic/automatic/wiki) has been updated with new content, so check it out!  
+Some highlights: [OpenVINO](https://github.com/vladmandic/automatic/wiki/OpenVINO), [IntelArc](https://github.com/vladmandic/automatic/wiki/Intel-ARC), [DirectML](https://github.com/vladmandic/automatic/wiki/DirectML), [ONNX/Olive>](https://github.com/vladmandic/automatic/wiki/ONNX-Runtime)
 
 - **Diffusers**
   - new model type: [Segmind SSD-1B](https://huggingface.co/segmind/SSD-1B)  
@@ -24,6 +27,8 @@ Plus tons of fixes...
   - new custom pipeline: `Disty0/zero123plus-pipeline`  
     generate 4 output images with different camera positions: front, side, top, back!  
     for more details, see <https://github.com/vladmandic/automatic/discussions/2421>  
+  - new backend: **ONNX/Olive** (experimental)  
+    for details, see WiKi  
   - extend support for [Free-U](https://github.com/ChenyangSi/FreeU)  
     improve generations quality at no cost (other than finding params that work for you)  
 - **General**  
@@ -35,6 +40,8 @@ Plus tons of fixes...
   - **Extra networks** sort by name, size, date, etc.  
   - new option: *settings -> images -> keep incomplete*  
     can be used to skip vae decode on aborted/skipped/interrupted image generations  
+  - new option: *settings -> system paths -> models*  
+    can be used to set custom base path for *all* models (previously only as cli option)  
   - remove external clone of items in `/repositories`  
   - switch core font in default theme to **noto-sans**  
     previously default font was simply *system-ui*, but it lead to too much variations between browsers and platforms  
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b9e136c0e..8c120b481 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -56,21 +56,23 @@ Additional models will be added as they become available and there is public int
 - [Stable Diffusion](https://github.com/Stability-AI/stablediffusion/) 1.x and 2.x *(all variants)*
 - [Stable Diffusion XL](https://github.com/Stability-AI/generative-models)
 - [Kandinsky](https://github.com/ai-forever/Kandinsky-2) 2.1 and 2.2
-- [DeepFloyd IF](https://github.com/deep-floyd/IF)
-- [UniDiffusion](https://github.com/thu-ml/unidiffuser)
 - [SD-Distilled](https://huggingface.co/blog/sd_distillation) *(all variants)*
 - [Wuerstchen](https://huggingface.co/blog/wuertschen)  
+- [Segmind SSD-1B](https://huggingface.co/segmind/SSD-1B)
+- [UniDiffusion](https://github.com/thu-ml/unidiffuser)
+- [DeepFloyd IF](https://github.com/deep-floyd/IF)
 
 ## Platform support
 
-- *nVidia* GPUs using **CUDA** libraries on both *Windows and Linux*
-- *AMD* GPUs using **ROCm** libraries on *Linux*.  
-  Support will be extended to *Windows* once AMD releases ROCm for Windows
-- *Intel Arc* GPUs using **OneAPI** with *IPEX XPU* libraries on both *Windows and Linux*
-- Any GPU compatible with *DirectX* on *Windows* using **DirectML** libraries.  
-  This includes support for AMD GPUs that are not supported by native ROCm libraries
-- Any GPU or device compatible with **OpenVINO** libraries on both *Windows and Linux*
-- *Apple M1/M2* on *OSX* using built-in support in Torch with **MPS** optimizations
+- *nVidia* GPUs using **CUDA** libraries on both *Windows and Linux*  
+- *AMD* GPUs using **ROCm** libraries on *Linux*  
+  Support will be extended to *Windows* once AMD releases ROCm for Windows  
+- *Intel Arc* GPUs using **OneAPI** with *IPEX XPU* libraries on both *Windows and Linux*  
+- Any GPU compatible with *DirectX* on *Windows* using **DirectML** libraries  
+  This includes support for AMD GPUs that are not supported by native ROCm libraries  
+- Any GPU or device compatible with **OpenVINO** libraries on both *Windows and Linux*  
+- *Apple M1/M2* on *OSX* using built-in support in Torch with **MPS** optimizations  
+- *ONNX/Olive* (experimental)  
 
 ## Install & Run
 
diff --git a/installer.py b/installer.py
index b5fcd8335..2b0fe756c 100644
--- a/installer.py
+++ b/installer.py
@@ -661,7 +661,7 @@ def install_extensions():
     pkg_resources._initialize_master_working_set() # pylint: disable=protected-access
     pkgs = [f'{p.project_name}=={p._version}' for p in pkg_resources.working_set] # pylint: disable=protected-access,not-an-iterable
     log.debug(f'Installed packages: {len(pkgs)}')
-    from modules.paths_internal import extensions_builtin_dir, extensions_dir
+    from modules.paths import extensions_builtin_dir, extensions_dir
     extensions_duplicates = []
     extensions_enabled = []
     extension_folders = [extensions_builtin_dir] if args.safe else [extensions_builtin_dir, extensions_dir]
@@ -795,7 +795,7 @@ def set_environment():
 
 def check_extensions():
     newest_all = os.path.getmtime('requirements.txt')
-    from modules.paths_internal import extensions_builtin_dir, extensions_dir
+    from modules.paths import extensions_builtin_dir, extensions_dir
     extension_folders = [extensions_builtin_dir] if args.safe else [extensions_builtin_dir, extensions_dir]
     disabled_extensions_all = opts.get('disable_all_extensions', 'none')
     if disabled_extensions_all != 'none':
@@ -983,7 +983,7 @@ def extensions_preload(parser):
         log.info('Running in safe mode without user extensions')
     try:
         from modules.script_loading import preload_extensions
-        from modules.paths_internal import extensions_builtin_dir, extensions_dir
+        from modules.paths import extensions_builtin_dir, extensions_dir
         extension_folders = [extensions_builtin_dir] if args.safe else [extensions_builtin_dir, extensions_dir]
         preload_time = {}
         for ext_dir in extension_folders:
diff --git a/launch.py b/launch.py
index b725961f9..d84cb96f6 100644
--- a/launch.py
+++ b/launch.py
@@ -28,9 +28,9 @@ def init_modules():
     parser = modules.cmd_args.parser
     installer.add_args(parser)
     args, _ = parser.parse_known_args()
-    import modules.paths_internal
-    script_path = modules.paths_internal.script_path
-    extensions_dir = modules.paths_internal.extensions_dir
+    import modules.paths
+    script_path = modules.paths.script_path
+    extensions_dir = modules.paths.extensions_dir
 
 
 def get_custom_args():
diff --git a/modules/cmd_args.py b/modules/cmd_args.py
index ef2074f1e..0fc387268 100644
--- a/modules/cmd_args.py
+++ b/modules/cmd_args.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import os
 import argparse
-from modules.paths_internal import data_path
+from modules.paths import data_path
 
 parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="SD.Next", conflict_handler='resolve', epilog='For other options see UI Settings page', prog='', add_help=True, formatter_class=lambda prog: argparse.HelpFormatter(prog, max_help_position=55, indent_increment=2, width=200))
 parser._optionals = parser.add_argument_group('Other options') # pylint: disable=protected-access
diff --git a/modules/extensions.py b/modules/extensions.py
index b81dbf993..4e37e4611 100644
--- a/modules/extensions.py
+++ b/modules/extensions.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import os
 from datetime import datetime
 import git
 from modules import shared, errors
-from modules.paths_internal import extensions_dir, extensions_builtin_dir
+from modules.paths import extensions_dir, extensions_builtin_dir
 
 
 extensions = []
diff --git a/modules/paths.py b/modules/paths.py
index d3cce3f4a..b3dbaef8b 100644
--- a/modules/paths.py
+++ b/modules/paths.py
@@ -1,9 +1,43 @@
+# this module must not have any dependencies as it first import
 import os
 import sys
-from modules import paths_internal, errors
+import json
+import argparse
+from modules.errors import log
 
+# parse args, parse again after we have the data-dir and early-read the config file
+parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(add_help=False)
+parser.add_argument("--ckpt", type=str, default=os.environ.get("SD_MODEL", None), help="Path to model checkpoint to load immediately, default: %(default)s")
+parser.add_argument("--data-dir", type=str, default=os.environ.get("SD_DATADIR", ''), help="Base path where all user data is stored, default: %(default)s")
+parser.add_argument("--models-dir", type=str, default=os.environ.get("SD_MODELSDIR", None), help="Base path where all models are stored, default: %(default)s",)
+cli = parser.parse_known_args()[0]
+parser.add_argument("--config", type=str, default=os.environ.get("SD_CONFIG", os.path.join(cli.data_dir, 'config.json')), help="Use specific server configuration file, default: %(default)s")
+cli = parser.parse_known_args()[0]
+config_path = cli.config if os.path.isabs(cli.config) else os.path.join(cli.data_dir, cli.config)
+try:
+    with open(config_path, 'r', encoding='utf8') as f:
+        config = json.load(f)
+except Exception as err:
+    print('Error loading config file: ${config_path} {err}')
+    config = {}
 
-debug = errors.log.info if os.environ.get('SD_PATH_DEBUG', None) is not None else lambda *args, **kwargs: None
+modules_path = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__))
+script_path = os.path.dirname(modules_path)
+data_path = cli.data_dir
+models_config = cli.models_dir or config.get('models_dir') or 'models'
+models_path = models_config if os.path.isabs(models_config) else os.path.join(data_path, models_config)
+extensions_dir = os.path.join(data_path, "extensions")
+extensions_builtin_dir = "extensions-builtin"
+sd_configs_path = os.path.join(script_path, "configs")
+sd_default_config = os.path.join(sd_configs_path, "v1-inference.yaml")
+sd_model_file = cli.ckpt or os.path.join(script_path, 'model.ckpt') # not used
+default_sd_model_file = sd_model_file # not used
+debug = log.info if os.environ.get('SD_PATH_DEBUG', None) is not None else lambda *args, **kwargs: None
+
+if os.environ.get('SD_PATH_DEBUG', None) is not None:
+    print(f'Paths: script-path="{script_path}" data-dir="{data_path}" models-dir="{models_path}" config="{config_path}"')
+
+"""
 data_path = paths_internal.data_path
 script_path = paths_internal.script_path
 models_path = paths_internal.models_path
@@ -13,8 +47,8 @@ sd_model_file = paths_internal.sd_model_file
 default_sd_model_file = paths_internal.default_sd_model_file
 extensions_dir = paths_internal.extensions_dir
 extensions_builtin_dir = paths_internal.extensions_builtin_dir
+"""
 
-# data_path = cmd_opts_pre.data
 sys.path.insert(0, script_path)
 
 sd_path = os.path.join(script_path, 'repositories')
@@ -31,25 +65,26 @@ paths = {}
 for d, must_exist, what, _options in path_dirs:
     must_exist_path = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(script_path, d, must_exist))
     if not os.path.exists(must_exist_path):
-        errors.log.error(f'Required path not found: path={must_exist_path} item={what}')
+        log.error(f'Required path not found: path={must_exist_path} item={what}')
     else:
         d = os.path.abspath(d)
         sys.path.append(d)
         paths[what] = d
 
 
-def create_paths(opts):
-    def create_path(folder):
-        if folder is None or folder == '':
-            return
-        if os.path.exists(folder):
-            return
-        try:
-            os.makedirs(folder, exist_ok=True)
-            errors.log.info(f'Create folder={folder}')
-        except Exception as e:
-            errors.log.error(f'Create Failed folder={folder} {e}')
+def create_path(folder):
+    if folder is None or folder == '':
+        return
+    if os.path.exists(folder):
+        return
+    try:
+        os.makedirs(folder, exist_ok=True)
+        log.info(f'Create folder={folder}')
+    except Exception as e:
+        log.error(f'Create Failed folder={folder} {e}')
 
+
+def create_paths(opts):
     def fix_path(folder):
         tgt = opts.data.get(folder, None) or opts.data_labels[folder].default
         if tgt is None or tgt == '':
diff --git a/modules/paths_internal.py b/modules/paths_internal.py
index 83c097e46..49a055caa 100644
--- a/modules/paths_internal.py
+++ b/modules/paths_internal.py
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
-"""this module defines internal paths used by program and is safe to import before dependencies are installed in launch.py"""
+# no longer used, all paths are defined in paths.py
 
+from modules.paths import modules_path, script_path, sd_configs_path, sd_default_config, sd_model_file, default_sd_model_file, data_path, models_path, extensions_dir, extensions_builtin_dir # pylint: disable=unused-import
+
+"""
 import argparse
 import os
 
@@ -7,15 +10,21 @@ modules_path = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__))
 script_path = os.path.dirname(modules_path)
 sd_configs_path = os.path.join(script_path, "configs")
 sd_default_config = os.path.join(sd_configs_path, "v1-inference.yaml")
-sd_model_file = os.path.join(script_path, 'model.ckpt')
-default_sd_model_file = sd_model_file
 
 # Parse the --data-dir flag first so we can use it as a base for our other argument default values
 parser_pre = argparse.ArgumentParser(add_help=False)
-parser_pre.add_argument("--data-dir", type=str, default="", help="base path where all user data is stored", )
-parser_pre.add_argument("--models-dir", type=str, default="models", help="base path where all models are stored",)
+parser_pre.add_argument("--ckpt", type=str, default=os.environ.get("SD_MODEL", None), help="Path to model checkpoint to load immediately, default: %(default)s")
+parser_pre.add_argument("--data-dir", type=str, default=os.environ.get("SD_DATADIR", ''), help="Base path where all user data is stored, default: %(default)s")
+parser_pre.add_argument("--models-dir", type=str, default=os.environ.get("SD_MODELSDIR", 'models'), help="Base path where all models are stored, default: %(default)s",)
 cmd_opts_pre = parser_pre.parse_known_args()[0]
+
+# parser_pre.add_argument("--config", type=str, default=os.environ.get("SD_CONFIG", os.path.join(data_path, 'config.json')), help="Use specific server configuration file, default: %(default)s")
+
 data_path = cmd_opts_pre.data_dir
 models_path = cmd_opts_pre.models_dir if os.path.isabs(cmd_opts_pre.models_dir) else os.path.join(data_path, cmd_opts_pre.models_dir)
 extensions_dir = os.path.join(data_path, "extensions")
 extensions_builtin_dir = "extensions-builtin"
+
+sd_model_file = cmd_opts_pre.ckpt or os.path.join(script_path, 'model.ckpt') # not used
+default_sd_model_file = sd_model_file # not used
+"""
diff --git a/modules/sd_models.py b/modules/sd_models.py
index 229e449b2..9098c817f 100644
--- a/modules/sd_models.py
+++ b/modules/sd_models.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ from modules import paths, shared, shared_items, shared_state, modelloader, devi
 from modules.sd_hijack_inpainting import do_inpainting_hijack
 from modules.timer import Timer
 from modules.memstats import memory_stats
-from modules.paths_internal import models_path, script_path
+from modules.paths import models_path, script_path
 
 try:
     import diffusers
diff --git a/modules/sd_vae.py b/modules/sd_vae.py
index c8184d703..eeffcef44 100644
--- a/modules/sd_vae.py
+++ b/modules/sd_vae.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import collections
 import glob
 from copy import deepcopy
 import torch
-from modules import shared, paths, paths_internal, devices, script_callbacks, sd_models
+from modules import shared, paths, devices, script_callbacks, sd_models
 
 
 vae_ignore_keys = {"model_ema.decay", "model_ema.num_updates"}
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ def load_vae_diffusers(model_file, vae_file=None, vae_source="unknown-source"):
         import diffusers
         if os.path.isfile(vae_file):
             _pipeline, model_type = sd_models.detect_pipeline(model_file, 'vae')
-            diffusers_load_config = { "config_file":  paths_internal.sd_default_config if model_type != 'Stable Diffusion XL' else os.path.join(paths_internal.sd_configs_path, 'sd_xl_base.yaml')}
+            diffusers_load_config = { "config_file":  paths.sd_default_config if model_type != 'Stable Diffusion XL' else os.path.join(paths.sd_configs_path, 'sd_xl_base.yaml')}
             vae = diffusers.AutoencoderKL.from_single_file(vae_file, **diffusers_load_config)
             vae = vae.to(devices.dtype_vae)
         else:
diff --git a/modules/shared.py b/modules/shared.py
index b0059560b..523536387 100644
--- a/modules/shared.py
+++ b/modules/shared.py
@@ -12,13 +12,13 @@ import gradio as gr
 import fasteners
 from rich.console import Console
 from modules import errors, shared_items, shared_state, cmd_args, ui_components, theme
-from modules.paths_internal import models_path, script_path, data_path, sd_configs_path, sd_default_config, sd_model_file, default_sd_model_file, extensions_dir, extensions_builtin_dir # pylint: disable=W0611
+from modules.paths import models_path, script_path, data_path, sd_configs_path, sd_default_config, sd_model_file, default_sd_model_file, extensions_dir, extensions_builtin_dir # pylint: disable=W0611
 from modules.dml import memory_providers, default_memory_provider, directml_do_hijack
 import modules.interrogate
 import modules.memmon
 import modules.styles
 import modules.devices as devices # pylint: disable=R0402
-import modules.paths_internal as paths
+import modules.paths as paths
 from installer import print_dict
 from installer import log as central_logger # pylint: disable=E0611
 
@@ -346,8 +346,8 @@ options_templates.update(options_section(('diffusers', "Diffusers Settings"), {
 }))
 
 options_templates.update(options_section(('system-paths', "System Paths"), {
-    "temp_dir": OptionInfo("", "Directory for temporary images; leave empty for default", folder=True),
-    "clean_temp_dir_at_start": OptionInfo(True, "Cleanup non-default temporary directory when starting webui"),
+    "models_paths_sep_options": OptionInfo("<h2>Models paths</h2>", "", gr.HTML),
+    "models_dir": OptionInfo('models', "Base path where all models are stored", folder=True),
     "ckpt_dir": OptionInfo(os.path.join(paths.models_path, 'Stable-diffusion'), "Folder with stable diffusion models", folder=True),
     "diffusers_dir": OptionInfo(os.path.join(paths.models_path, 'Diffusers'), "Folder with Hugggingface models", folder=True),
     "vae_dir": OptionInfo(os.path.join(paths.models_path, 'VAE'), "Folder with VAE files", folder=True),
@@ -366,6 +366,10 @@ options_templates.update(options_section(('system-paths', "System Paths"), {
     "swinir_models_path": OptionInfo(os.path.join(paths.models_path, 'SwinIR'), "Folder with SwinIR models", folder=True),
     "ldsr_models_path": OptionInfo(os.path.join(paths.models_path, 'LDSR'), "Folder with LDSR models", folder=True),
     "clip_models_path": OptionInfo(os.path.join(paths.models_path, 'CLIP'), "Folder with CLIP models", folder=True),
+
+    "other_paths_sep_options": OptionInfo("<h2>Other paths</h2>", "", gr.HTML),
+    "temp_dir": OptionInfo("", "Directory for temporary images; leave empty for default", folder=True),
+    "clean_temp_dir_at_start": OptionInfo(True, "Cleanup non-default temporary directory when starting webui"),
 }))
 
 options_templates.update(options_section(('saving-images', "Image Options"), {
diff --git a/modules/taesd/sd_vae_taesd.py b/modules/taesd/sd_vae_taesd.py
index ff50b4156..8ad4f6f21 100644
--- a/modules/taesd/sd_vae_taesd.py
+++ b/modules/taesd/sd_vae_taesd.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ https://github.com/madebyollin/taesd
 """
 import os
 from PIL import Image
-from modules import devices, paths_internal
+from modules import devices, paths
 from modules.taesd.taesd import TAESD
 
 taesd_models = { 'sd-decoder': None, 'sd-encoder': None, 'sdxl-decoder': None, 'sdxl-encoder': None }
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ def download_model(model_path):
 def model(model_class = 'sd', model_type = 'decoder'):
     vae = taesd_models[f'{model_class}-{model_type}']
     if vae is None:
-        model_path = os.path.join(paths_internal.models_path, "TAESD", f"tae{model_class}_{model_type}.pth")
+        model_path = os.path.join(paths.models_path, "TAESD", f"tae{model_class}_{model_type}.pth")
         download_model(model_path)
         if os.path.exists(model_path):
             from modules.shared import log
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ def decode(latents):
         return Image.new('RGB', (8, 8), color = (0, 0, 0))
     vae = taesd_models[f'{model_class}-decoder']
     if vae is None:
-        model_path = os.path.join(paths_internal.models_path, "TAESD", f"tae{model_class}_decoder.pth")
+        model_path = os.path.join(paths.models_path, "TAESD", f"tae{model_class}_decoder.pth")
         download_model(model_path)
         if os.path.exists(model_path):
             taesd_models[f'{model_class}-decoder'] = TAESD(decoder_path=model_path, encoder_path=None)
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ def encode(image):
         return Image.new('RGB', (8, 8), color = (0, 0, 0))
     vae = taesd_models[f'{model_class}-encoder']
     if vae is None:
-        model_path = os.path.join(paths_internal.models_path, "TAESD", f"tae{model_class}_encoder.pth")
+        model_path = os.path.join(paths.models_path, "TAESD", f"tae{model_class}_encoder.pth")
         download_model(model_path)
         if os.path.exists(model_path):
             taesd_models[f'{model_class}-encoder'] = TAESD(encoder_path=model_path, decoder_path=None)