diff --git a/src/lora_lite/variant.py b/src/lora_lite/variant.py
index aa9ac97..0c50868 100644
--- a/src/lora_lite/variant.py
+++ b/src/lora_lite/variant.py
@@ -21,12 +21,11 @@ class ParamSpec:
         elif self.init == "zeros":
             t.zero_()
         elif self.init == "near_zero":
-            # ~identity init but breaks bf16 symmetry: N(0, eps) where eps is a few
-            # orders above bf16 spacing at 0 (eps_bf16 ~ 1.2e-7). Avoids dead-grad
-            # from exact-zero -> exact-zero in low-precision training.
+            # avoid exact-zero dead zone; N(0, 1e-4) is small enough to be
+            # ~identity but nonzero so gradients always have somewhere to go
             t.normal_(0, 1e-4)
         elif self.init == "near_one":
-            # ~identity init for gate/scale params: 1 + N(0, eps)
+            # avoid exact-one dead zone; 1 + N(0, 1e-4)
             t.fill_(1.0).add_(torch.randn_like(t).mul_(1e-4))
         elif self.init == "ones":
             t.fill_(1.0)
diff --git a/src/lora_lite/variants/antipasto.py b/src/lora_lite/variants/antipasto.py
index 7a1c092..f284615 100644
--- a/src/lora_lite/variants/antipasto.py
+++ b/src/lora_lite/variants/antipasto.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ wassname 2026  https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.07473
     R = block_diag(Cayley(skew(rot_T)));  Vh_eff = R @ Vh (or U_eff = U @ R.T)
     y = x @ W_res.T + ((x @ Vh_eff.T) * (S + delta_s)) @ U_eff.T
 
-Identity at t=0: rot_T~0 -> R≈I, delta_s~0 -> y ≈ x @ W^T (fp32 SVD round-trip). near_zero init breaks bf16 symmetry without meaningfully breaking identity (~1e-4 noise around zero).
+Identity at t=0: rot_T=0 -> R=I, delta_s~4e-4 -> y ≈ x @ W^T (fp32 SVD round-trip, tiny positive bias on delta_s breaks sign symmetry).
 
 Scope cut vs antipasto3: this is a fine-tuning adapter, not the full runtime
 steering interface. There is no per-call alpha, so it does not expose the
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@ class AntiPaSTOConfig(AdapterConfig):
     block_size: int = 4
     # Cayley map saturation: bounds rotation angle to ~max_rotation_angle radians.
     max_rotation_angle: float = 0.5
-    # Which singular basis to rotate: 'V' (input) or 'U' (output).
-    rotate_basis: Literal["V", "U"] = "V"
+    # Which singular basis to rotate: 'V' (input), 'U' (output), or 'none'.
+    rotate_basis: Literal["V", "U", "none"] = "V"
 
 
 def _cayley(skew: torch.Tensor) -> torch.Tensor:
@@ -75,17 +75,21 @@ class AntiPaSTO:
         bs = int(cfg.block_size)
         if r % bs != 0:
             raise ValueError(f"AntiPaSTO requires r={r} divisible by block_size={bs}")
-        n_blocks = r // bs
-        n_triu = bs * (bs - 1) // 2
-        return dict(
+        specs = dict(
             # Frozen SVD components captured at init.
             lora_U=ParamSpec((d_out, r), init="zeros", trainable=False, as_buffer=True),
             lora_S=ParamSpec((r,), init="zeros", trainable=False, as_buffer=True),
             lora_Vh=ParamSpec((r, d_in), init="zeros", trainable=False, as_buffer=True),
-            # Trainable: per-singular-value delta + block-diagonal Cayley rotation.
-            lora_delta_s=ParamSpec((r,), init="near_zero"),
-            lora_rot_T=ParamSpec((n_blocks, n_triu), init="near_zero"),
+            # Trainable: per-singular-value delta.
+            # antipasto3 uses 4e-4 + N(0, 4e-4): small positive bias breaks sign
+            # symmetry (rotation alone can't); zero-init works but trains slower.
+            lora_delta_s=ParamSpec((r,), init=lambda t: t.normal_(0, 4e-4).add_(4e-4)),
         )
+        if cfg.rotate_basis != "none":
+            n_blocks = r // bs
+            n_triu = bs * (bs - 1) // 2
+            specs["lora_rot_T"] = ParamSpec((n_blocks, n_triu), init="zeros")
+        return specs
 
     @staticmethod
     def init(layer: nn.Module, cfg) -> None:
@@ -105,6 +109,8 @@ class AntiPaSTO:
             W_res = (W - (Ur * Sr) @ Vhr).to(layer.weight.dtype)
             layer.weight.data.copy_(W_res)
 
+            # FIXME antipasto needs an init from data too
+
     @staticmethod
     def forward(
         layer: nn.Module,
diff --git a/src/lora_lite/variants/dora.py b/src/lora_lite/variants/dora.py
index 82bbfad..7ee496e 100644
--- a/src/lora_lite/variants/dora.py
+++ b/src/lora_lite/variants/dora.py
@@ -32,9 +32,9 @@ class DoRA:
     def param_specs(d_in, d_out, cfg):
         return dict(
             lora_A=ParamSpec((cfg.r, d_in), init="kaiming"),
-            lora_B=ParamSpec((d_out, cfg.r), init="near_zero"),
+            lora_B=ParamSpec((d_out, cfg.r), init="zeros"),
             # m is filled from ||W||_c during init(); shape (d_out,)
-            lora_m=ParamSpec((d_out,), init="near_zero"),
+            lora_m=ParamSpec((d_out,), init="zeros"),
         )
 
     @staticmethod
diff --git a/src/lora_lite/variants/hra.py b/src/lora_lite/variants/hra.py
index 873fcfc..8329c43 100644
--- a/src/lora_lite/variants/hra.py
+++ b/src/lora_lite/variants/hra.py
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ class HRA:
         return dict(
             # Householder vectors stacked as rows (one vector per rank slot)
             # init done in init() to enforce paired rows -> R = I at t=0.
-            lora_U=ParamSpec((cfg.r, d_in), init="near_zero"),
+            lora_U=ParamSpec((cfg.r, d_in), init="zeros"),
         )
 
     @staticmethod
diff --git a/src/lora_lite/variants/ia3.py b/src/lora_lite/variants/ia3.py
index bcde1d6..8e93ee1 100644
--- a/src/lora_lite/variants/ia3.py
+++ b/src/lora_lite/variants/ia3.py
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ class IA3:
 
     @staticmethod
     def param_specs(d_in, d_out, cfg):
-        return dict(lora_g=ParamSpec((d_out,), init="near_one"))
+        return dict(lora_g=ParamSpec((d_out,), init="ones"))
 
     @staticmethod
     def init(layer: nn.Module, cfg) -> None:
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ class IA3FF:
 
     @staticmethod
     def param_specs(d_in, d_out, cfg):
-        return dict(lora_g=ParamSpec((d_in,), init="near_one"))
+        return dict(lora_g=ParamSpec((d_in,), init="ones"))
 
     @staticmethod
     def init(layer: nn.Module, cfg) -> None:
diff --git a/src/lora_lite/variants/lora.py b/src/lora_lite/variants/lora.py
index 97c1ad2..209b48c 100644
--- a/src/lora_lite/variants/lora.py
+++ b/src/lora_lite/variants/lora.py
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ class LoRA:
     def param_specs(d_in, d_out, cfg):
         return dict(
             lora_A=ParamSpec((cfg.r, d_in), init="kaiming"),
-            lora_B=ParamSpec((d_out, cfg.r), init="near_zero"),
+            lora_B=ParamSpec((d_out, cfg.r), init="zeros"),
         )
 
     @staticmethod
diff --git a/src/lora_lite/variants/pissa.py b/src/lora_lite/variants/pissa.py
index 34f969a..7987ff2 100644
--- a/src/lora_lite/variants/pissa.py
+++ b/src/lora_lite/variants/pissa.py
@@ -38,8 +38,8 @@ class PiSSA:
     @staticmethod
     def param_specs(d_in, d_out, cfg):
         return dict(
-            lora_A=ParamSpec((cfg.r, d_in), init="near_zero"),
-            lora_B=ParamSpec((d_out, cfg.r), init="near_zero"),
+            lora_A=ParamSpec((cfg.r, d_in), init="zeros"),
+            lora_B=ParamSpec((d_out, cfg.r), init="zeros"),
         )
 
     @staticmethod
diff --git a/src/lora_lite/variants/road.py b/src/lora_lite/variants/road.py
index 3d37868..6042576 100644
--- a/src/lora_lite/variants/road.py
+++ b/src/lora_lite/variants/road.py
@@ -117,8 +117,8 @@ class ROAD:
         _validate_group_geometry(d_out, cfg.group_size)
         size = _road_param_size(d_out, cfg.road_variant)
         return dict(
-            lora_road_theta=ParamSpec((size,), init="near_zero"),
-            lora_road_alpha=ParamSpec((size,), init="near_one"),
+            lora_road_theta=ParamSpec((size,), init="zeros"),
+            lora_road_alpha=ParamSpec((size,), init="ones"),
         )
 
     @staticmethod