Cannot access plex.tv from China

A couple of days ago, I found that I cannot download subtitles from plex, and I can’t even upload from local pc.

It shows “不支持的字幕文件格式”.

Can anyone help me?

Is this a subtitles issue or access to plex.tv issue ?

according to google translate, that chinese text translates to:
Unsupported subtitle file format

If there is a plex.tv access issue, please run this command line curl command and copy the result into a text file and attach

curl -v -L https://app.plex.tv/desktop

If it is a subtitles issue, please run the server with debug logging enabled - see Reporting issues with Plex Media Server | Plex Support and when you get the subtitles error, please download the Plex Media Server server logs and attach


ben@media:~$ curl -v -L https://app.plex.tv/desktop

  • Trying 104.18.34.20:443…
  • TCP_NODELAY set
  • Trying 2606:4700:4400::6812:2214:443…
  • TCP_NODELAY set
  • Immediate connect fail for 2606:4700:4400::6812:2214: Network is unreachable
  • Trying 2606:4700:4400::ac40:99ec:443…
  • TCP_NODELAY set
  • Immediate connect fail for 2606:4700:4400::ac40:99ec: Network is unreachable
  • Trying 2606:4700:4400::6812:2214:443…
  • TCP_NODELAY set
  • Immediate connect fail for 2606:4700:4400::6812:2214: Network is unreachable
  • Trying 2606:4700:4400::ac40:99ec:443…
  • TCP_NODELAY set
  • Immediate connect fail for 2606:4700:4400::ac40:99ec: Network is unreachable
  • Trying 2606:4700:4400::6812:2214:443…
  • TCP_NODELAY set
  • Immediate connect fail for 2606:4700:4400::6812:2214: Network is unreachable
  • Trying 2606:4700:4400::ac40:99ec:443…
  • TCP_NODELAY set
  • Immediate connect fail for 2606:4700:4400::ac40:99ec: Network is unreachable
  • Trying 2606:4700:4400::6812:2214:443…
  • TCP_NODELAY set
  • Immediate connect fail for 2606:4700:4400::6812:2214: Network is unreachable
  • Trying 2606:4700:4400::ac40:99ec:443…
  • TCP_NODELAY set
  • Immediate connect fail for 2606:4700:4400::ac40:99ec: Network is unreachable
  • Trying 2606:4700:4400::6812:2214:443…
  • TCP_NODELAY set
  • Immediate connect fail for 2606:4700:4400::6812:2214: Network is unreachable
  • Trying 2606:4700:4400::ac40:99ec:443…
  • TCP_NODELAY set
  • Immediate connect fail for 2606:4700:4400::ac40:99ec: Network is unreachable
  • Trying 2606:4700:4400::6812:2214:443…
  • TCP_NODELAY set
  • Immediate connect fail for 2606:4700:4400::6812:2214: Network is unreachable
  • Trying 2606:4700:4400::ac40:99ec:443…
  • TCP_NODELAY set
  • Immediate connect fail for 2606:4700:4400::ac40:99ec: Network is unreachable
  • Trying 2606:4700:4400::6812:2214:443…
  • TCP_NODELAY set
  • Immediate connect fail for 2606:4700:4400::6812:2214: Network is unreachable
  • Trying 2606:4700:4400::ac40:99ec:443…
  • TCP_NODELAY set
  • Immediate connect fail for 2606:4700:4400::ac40:99ec: Network is unreachable
  • Trying 2606:4700:4400::6812:2214:443…
  • TCP_NODELAY set
  • Immediate connect fail for 2606:4700:4400::6812:2214: Network is unreachable
  • Trying 2606:4700:4400::ac40:99ec:443…
  • TCP_NODELAY set
  • Immediate connect fail for 2606:4700:4400::ac40:99ec: Network is unreachable

could you try curl for ipv4 only

I think syntax would be
curl -v -L -4 https://app.plex.tv/desktop

ben@media:~$ curl -v -L -4 https://app.plex.tv/desktop

  • Trying 104.18.34.20:443…

  • TCP_NODELAY set

  • connect to 104.18.34.20 port 443 failed: Connection timed out

  • Trying 172.64.153.236:443…

  • TCP_NODELAY set

  • Connected to app.plex.tv (172.64.153.236) port 443 (#0)

  • ALPN, offering h2

  • ALPN, offering http/1.1

  • successfully set certificate verify locations:

  • CAfile: /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
    CApath: /etc/ssl/certs

  • TLSv1.3 (OUT), TLS handshake, Client hello (1):

  • TLSv1.3 (IN), TLS handshake, Server hello (2):

  • TLSv1.2 (IN), TLS handshake, Certificate (11):

  • TLSv1.2 (IN), TLS handshake, Server key exchange (12):

  • TLSv1.2 (IN), TLS handshake, Server finished (14):

  • TLSv1.2 (OUT), TLS handshake, Client key exchange (16):

  • TLSv1.2 (OUT), TLS change cipher, Change cipher spec (1):

  • TLSv1.2 (OUT), TLS handshake, Finished (20):

  • OpenSSL SSL_connect: SSL_ERROR_SYSCALL in connection to app.plex.tv:443

  • Closing connection 0
    curl: (35) OpenSSL SSL_connect: SSL_ERROR_SYSCALL in connection to app.plex.tv:443

ben@media:~$ curl -v -L -4 https://app.plex.tv/desktop

  • Trying 104.18.34.20:443…
  • TCP_NODELAY set
  • connect to 104.18.34.20 port 443 failed: Connection timed out
  • Trying 172.64.153.236:443…
  • TCP_NODELAY set
  • After 84502ms connect time, move on!
  • connect to 172.64.153.236 port 443 failed: Connection timed out
  • Failed to connect to app.plex.tv port 443: Connection timed out
  • Closing connection 0
    curl: (28) Failed to connect to app.plex.tv port 443: Connection timed out

I fixed the SSL_ERROR_SYSCALL error and try again, but got timeout

thanks - could you do traceroutes - suggest default first and then just ipv4

traceroute app.plex.tv

traceroute -4 app.plex.tv

ben@media:~$ traceroute app.plex.tv
traceroute to app.plex.tv (104.18.34.20), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
1 _gateway (192.168.0.1) 0.509 ms 0.451 ms 0.415 ms
2 121.228.88.1 (121.228.88.1) 2.410 ms 2.377 ms 2.991 ms
3 61.177.10.221 (61.177.10.221) 6.472 ms 6.439 ms 6.407 ms
4 218.94.164.125 (218.94.164.125) 8.863 ms 8.831 ms 8.799 ms
5 202.97.29.125 (202.97.29.125) 12.703 ms 202.97.71.5 (202.97.71.5) 10.355 ms 202.97.66.197 (202.97.66.197) 10.347 ms
6 * * 202.97.62.98 (202.97.62.98) 9.789 ms
7 * * *
8 202.97.27.210 (202.97.27.210) 171.620 ms 171.589 ms 171.558 ms
9 218.30.53.214 (218.30.53.214) 152.728 ms * 152.666 ms
10 * * *
11 * * 104.18.34.20 (104.18.34.20) 190.695 ms
ben@media:~$ traceroute -4 app.plex.tv
traceroute to app.plex.tv (172.64.153.236), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
1 _gateway (192.168.0.1) 0.545 ms 0.503 ms 0.472 ms
2 121.228.88.1 (121.228.88.1) 2.582 ms 2.557 ms 2.922 ms
3 218.94.213.97 (218.94.213.97) 5.169 ms 5.145 ms 5.122 ms
4 58.211.25.161 (58.211.25.161) 7.183 ms 7.501 ms 7.474 ms
5 202.97.101.29 (202.97.101.29) 9.401 ms 202.97.74.121 (202.97.74.121) 10.080 ms *
6 * 202.97.94.237 (202.97.94.237) 7.693 ms 202.97.57.25 (202.97.57.25) 8.700 ms
7 202.97.50.193 (202.97.50.193) 11.418 ms 202.97.39.21 (202.97.39.21) 12.191 ms 202.97.51.241 (202.97.51.241) 8.713 ms
8 202.97.51.238 (202.97.51.238) 162.622 ms 202.97.71.198 (202.97.71.198) 154.632 ms 202.97.27.210 (202.97.27.210) 173.696 ms
9 * * *
10 * * *
11 * * *
12 * * 172.64.153.236 (172.64.153.236) 149.364 ms

Thank you - I have passed the curl and traceroute outputs to our operations team to look into

thanks

We need to establish if this is a Cloudflare issue in china

could you now try these 4 tests - these should not go through cloudflare

curl -v -L plex.tv
curl -v -L -4 plex.tv
traceroute plex.tv
traceroute -4 plex.tv
ben@media:~$ traceroute plex.tv
traceroute to plex.tv (54.75.123.118), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
 1  _gateway (192.168.0.1)  0.589 ms  0.499 ms  0.462 ms
 2  121.228.88.1 (121.228.88.1)  2.523 ms  2.859 ms  2.827 ms
 3  218.94.213.97 (218.94.213.97)  4.658 ms  4.628 ms  4.595 ms
 4  61.155.144.181 (61.155.144.181)  4.538 ms  5.152 ms  5.120 ms
 5  202.97.72.157 (202.97.72.157)  9.686 ms  9.654 ms 202.97.72.201 (202.97.72.201)  10.548 ms
 6  202.97.57.25 (202.97.57.25)  11.992 ms  10.730 ms *
 7  202.97.50.193 (202.97.50.193)  9.261 ms 202.97.39.37 (202.97.39.37)  9.336 ms 202.97.85.34 (202.97.85.34)  7.376 ms
 8  202.97.63.26 (202.97.63.26)  212.789 ms  212.760 ms 202.97.43.38 (202.97.43.38)  181.485 ms
 9  81.173.20.54 (81.173.20.54)  205.668 ms  181.383 ms  204.804 ms
10  * * *
11  * * *
12  * * *
13  * * *
14  * * *
15  * * *
16  * * *
17  * * *
18  * * *
19  * * *
20  * * *
21  * * *
22  * * *
23  * * *
24  * * *
25  * * *
26  * * *
27  * * *
28  * * *
29  * * *
30  * * *
ben@media:~$ traceroute -4 plex.tv
traceroute to plex.tv (54.228.172.122), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
 1  _gateway (192.168.0.1)  0.293 ms  0.239 ms  0.206 ms
 2  121.228.88.1 (121.228.88.1)  2.546 ms  2.513 ms  2.878 ms
 3  221.224.104.153 (221.224.104.153)  6.194 ms  6.163 ms  6.131 ms
 4  58.208.77.137 (58.208.77.137)  4.981 ms  4.890 ms  4.856 ms
 5  * * *
 6  202.97.50.170 (202.97.50.170)  19.478 ms * 202.97.66.254 (202.97.66.254)  13.693 ms
 7  202.97.50.193 (202.97.50.193)  9.229 ms 202.97.39.49 (202.97.39.49)  9.430 ms 202.97.85.234 (202.97.85.234)  7.833 ms
 8  202.97.63.26 (202.97.63.26)  211.490 ms 202.97.95.206 (202.97.95.206)  171.623 ms 202.97.63.26 (202.97.63.26)  210.683 ms
 9  81.173.20.54 (81.173.20.54)  209.792 ms  180.273 ms  209.730 ms
10  * * *
11  * * *
12  * * *
13  * * *
14  * * *
15  * * *
16  * * *
17  * * *
18  * * *
19  * * *
20  * * *
21  * * *
22  * * *
23  * * *
24  * * *
25  * * *
26  * * *
27  * * *
28  * * *
29  * * *
30  * * *
ben@media:~$ curl -v -L -4 plex.tv
*   Trying 54.75.123.118:80...
* TCP_NODELAY set
* Connected to plex.tv (54.75.123.118) port 80 (#0)
> GET / HTTP/1.1
> Host: plex.tv
> User-Agent: curl/7.68.0
> Accept: */*
>
* Mark bundle as not supporting multiuse
< HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
< Location: https://plex.tv/
< Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2022 14:19:06 GMT
< Content-Length: 17
< Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
<
* Ignoring the response-body
* Connection #0 to host plex.tv left intact
* Clear auth, redirects to port from 80 to 443Issue another request to this URL: 'https://plex.tv/'
*   Trying 63.35.173.94:443...
* TCP_NODELAY set
* Connected to plex.tv (63.35.173.94) port 443 (#1)
* ALPN, offering h2
* ALPN, offering http/1.1
* successfully set certificate verify locations:
*   CAfile: /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
  CApath: /etc/ssl/certs
* TLSv1.3 (OUT), TLS handshake, Client hello (1):
* TLSv1.3 (IN), TLS handshake, Server hello (2):
* TLSv1.3 (IN), TLS handshake, Encrypted Extensions (8):
* TLSv1.3 (IN), TLS handshake, Certificate (11):
* TLSv1.3 (IN), TLS handshake, CERT verify (15):
* TLSv1.3 (IN), TLS handshake, Finished (20):
* TLSv1.3 (OUT), TLS change cipher, Change cipher spec (1):
* TLSv1.3 (OUT), TLS handshake, Finished (20):
* SSL connection using TLSv1.3 / TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
* ALPN, server accepted to use h2
* Server certificate:
*  subject: C=CH; ST=Nidwalden; L=Stans; O=Plex GmbH; CN=*.plex.tv
*  start date: Sep 14 00:00:00 2022 GMT
*  expire date: Sep 23 23:59:59 2023 GMT
*  subjectAltName: host "plex.tv" matched cert's "plex.tv"
*  issuer: C=US; O=DigiCert Inc; CN=DigiCert TLS RSA SHA256 2020 CA1
*  SSL certificate verify ok.
* Using HTTP2, server supports multi-use
* Connection state changed (HTTP/2 confirmed)
* Copying HTTP/2 data in stream buffer to connection buffer after upgrade: len=0
* Using Stream ID: 1 (easy handle 0x55dce20902f0)
> GET / HTTP/2
> Host: plex.tv
> user-agent: curl/7.68.0
> accept: */*
>
* TLSv1.3 (IN), TLS handshake, Newsession Ticket (4):
* Connection state changed (MAX_CONCURRENT_STREAMS == 250)!
< HTTP/2 302
< cache-control: no-cache
< content-type: text/html; charset=utf-8
< date: Fri, 28 Oct 2022 14:19:06 GMT
< location: https://www.plex.tv/
< referrer-policy: origin-when-cross-origin
< set-cookie: _my-plex_session_32=NzU3dWhPdmEzQTlFa1FGVDhrR3F1cDBmcGpxcmdrb2IzTkhxNTNlYmZGTWVaOTVsSjA3YXM1bG9jVVVTa05UOWZzZGVyaytSOHpERm0wRzNRTWViakxzSmZWdVNCaEhtcGJQYXpNcngzQWJudUw4Tkh3NjBubVlsbUV2QkFXTGRXVU51Z09abXAzekJGQWdRdVVhNFVXdCtEZjB5MVJMYzlJcm9qWHFZcFFJPS0tODR2V2IyU1BBcGxqL1RKSkxWV24vdz09--0424914b7c4fae066197d33c8f0dcf3ae64802a5; path=/; HttpOnly; secure
< strict-transport-security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload
< vary: Origin
< x-content-type-options: nosniff
< x-frame-options: SAMEORIGIN
< x-request-id: 4c43f829-846f-4c32-ac19-5d052fc656f7
< x-runtime: 0.007643
< x-xss-protection: 1; mode=block
<
* Ignoring the response-body
* Connection #1 to host plex.tv left intact
* Issue another request to this URL: 'https://www.plex.tv/'
*   Trying 172.64.153.236:443...
* TCP_NODELAY set
* connect to 172.64.153.236 port 443 failed: Connection timed out
*   Trying 104.18.34.20:443...
* TCP_NODELAY set
* After 84425ms connect time, move on!
* connect to 104.18.34.20 port 443 failed: Connection timed out
* Failed to connect to www.plex.tv port 443: Connection timed out
* Closing connection 2
curl: (28) Failed to connect to www.plex.tv port 443: Connection timed out
ben@media:~$ curl -v -L plex.tv
*   Trying 54.170.225.127:80...
* TCP_NODELAY set
* Connected to plex.tv (54.170.225.127) port 80 (#0)
> GET / HTTP/1.1
> Host: plex.tv
> User-Agent: curl/7.68.0
> Accept: */*
>
* Mark bundle as not supporting multiuse
< HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
< Location: https://plex.tv/
< Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2022 14:24:48 GMT
< Content-Length: 17
< Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
<
* Ignoring the response-body
* Connection #0 to host plex.tv left intact
* Clear auth, redirects to port from 80 to 443Issue another request to this URL: 'https://plex.tv/'
*   Trying 54.75.123.118:443...
* TCP_NODELAY set
* Connected to plex.tv (54.75.123.118) port 443 (#1)
* ALPN, offering h2
* ALPN, offering http/1.1
* successfully set certificate verify locations:
*   CAfile: /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
  CApath: /etc/ssl/certs
* TLSv1.3 (OUT), TLS handshake, Client hello (1):
* TLSv1.3 (IN), TLS handshake, Server hello (2):
* TLSv1.3 (IN), TLS handshake, Encrypted Extensions (8):
* TLSv1.3 (IN), TLS handshake, Certificate (11):
* TLSv1.3 (IN), TLS handshake, CERT verify (15):
* TLSv1.3 (IN), TLS handshake, Finished (20):
* TLSv1.3 (OUT), TLS change cipher, Change cipher spec (1):
* TLSv1.3 (OUT), TLS handshake, Finished (20):
* SSL connection using TLSv1.3 / TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
* ALPN, server accepted to use h2
* Server certificate:
*  subject: C=CH; ST=Nidwalden; L=Stans; O=Plex GmbH; CN=*.plex.tv
*  start date: Sep 14 00:00:00 2022 GMT
*  expire date: Sep 23 23:59:59 2023 GMT
*  subjectAltName: host "plex.tv" matched cert's "plex.tv"
*  issuer: C=US; O=DigiCert Inc; CN=DigiCert TLS RSA SHA256 2020 CA1
*  SSL certificate verify ok.
* Using HTTP2, server supports multi-use
* Connection state changed (HTTP/2 confirmed)
* Copying HTTP/2 data in stream buffer to connection buffer after upgrade: len=0
* Using Stream ID: 1 (easy handle 0x563512b6d2f0)
> GET / HTTP/2
> Host: plex.tv
> user-agent: curl/7.68.0
> accept: */*
>
* TLSv1.3 (IN), TLS handshake, Newsession Ticket (4):
* Connection state changed (MAX_CONCURRENT_STREAMS == 250)!
< HTTP/2 302
< cache-control: no-cache
< content-type: text/html; charset=utf-8
< date: Fri, 28 Oct 2022 14:24:49 GMT
< location: https://www.plex.tv/
< referrer-policy: origin-when-cross-origin
< set-cookie: _my-plex_session_32=ejRWRG9PT21sRmkyOUNsU0dMckFqMFJzQkh5Yk4rYlcweW10aTVTTEpKamRUSXVNRHNvN3d4RExCaG16NW0vcWFSOUJ3RFZ3Y1FmN3d2dnNVZTQxU2IrdTdteC9tVFRkTzRwZkJPQjRBVmUrUWJEcGRBTzgybEhNNHoySldSSjB0enIyMjZkSXRPd3MzRW9tRDR5WTlOK2xKMGx2Mmh1TXA3Q1MxVGZlZTRzPS0tNFgxRW9hM3NpODZqcmVVSHFWK1QzZz09--5f08ed627b70e4032ccb9e87822bc91dd42c6179; path=/; HttpOnly; secure
< strict-transport-security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload
< vary: Origin
< x-content-type-options: nosniff
< x-frame-options: SAMEORIGIN
< x-request-id: 84b1ba43-bea9-4c3d-9cbc-fe1908b37c36
< x-runtime: 0.004980
< x-xss-protection: 1; mode=block
<
* Ignoring the response-body
* Connection #1 to host plex.tv left intact
* Issue another request to this URL: 'https://www.plex.tv/'
*   Trying 172.64.153.236:443...
* TCP_NODELAY set
* Connected to www.plex.tv (172.64.153.236) port 443 (#2)
* ALPN, offering h2
* ALPN, offering http/1.1
* successfully set certificate verify locations:
*   CAfile: /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
  CApath: /etc/ssl/certs
* TLSv1.3 (OUT), TLS handshake, Client hello (1):
* TLSv1.3 (IN), TLS handshake, Server hello (2):
* TLSv1.2 (IN), TLS handshake, Certificate (11):
* TLSv1.2 (IN), TLS handshake, Server key exchange (12):
* TLSv1.2 (IN), TLS handshake, Server finished (14):
* TLSv1.2 (OUT), TLS handshake, Client key exchange (16):
* TLSv1.2 (OUT), TLS change cipher, Change cipher spec (1):
* TLSv1.2 (OUT), TLS handshake, Finished (20):
* TLSv1.2 (IN), TLS handshake, Finished (20):
* SSL connection using TLSv1.2 / ECDHE-ECDSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305
* ALPN, server accepted to use h2
* Server certificate:
*  subject: C=US; ST=California; L=San Francisco; O=Cloudflare, Inc.; CN=plex.tv
*  start date: Sep 21 00:00:00 2022 GMT
*  expire date: Dec 20 23:59:59 2022 GMT
*  subjectAltName: host "www.plex.tv" matched cert's "*.plex.tv"
*  issuer: C=US; O=Cloudflare, Inc.; CN=Cloudflare Inc ECC CA-3
*  SSL certificate verify ok.
* Using HTTP2, server supports multi-use
* Connection state changed (HTTP/2 confirmed)
* Copying HTTP/2 data in stream buffer to connection buffer after upgrade: len=0
* Using Stream ID: 1 (easy handle 0x563512b6d2f0)
> GET / HTTP/2
> Host: www.plex.tv
> user-agent: curl/7.68.0
> accept: */*
>
* Connection state changed (MAX_CONCURRENT_STREAMS == 256)!
< HTTP/2 200
< date: Fri, 28 Oct 2022 14:29:11 GMT
< content-type: text/html; charset=UTF-8
< vary: Accept-Encoding
< vary: Accept-Encoding
< vary: Accept-Encoding,Cookie
< x-content-type-options: nosniff
< x-frame-options: SAMEORIGIN
< x-xss-protection: 1; mode=block
< referrer-policy: strict-origin-when-cross-origin
< content-security-policy: frame-ancestors 'self'; default-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline' 'unsafe-eval' https: data: blob:; img-src 'self' http://cps-static.rovicorp.com https: data:
< strict-transport-security: max-age=31536000; includeSubdomains; preload
< link: <https://www.plex.tv/wp-json/>; rel="https://api.w.org/"
< link: <https://www.plex.tv/wp-json/wp/v2/pages/20202>; rel="alternate"; type="application/json"
< link: <https://www.plex.tv/>; rel=shortlink
< x-powered-by: WP Engine
< x-cacheable: SHORT
< cache-control: max-age=600, must-revalidate
< x-cache: HIT: 5
< x-cache-group: normal
< cf-cache-status: DYNAMIC
< server: cloudflare
< cf-ray: 76145cb92f0c24d6-SJC
<
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en-US" class="no-js no-svg">
<head>
        ...
</html>
* Connection #2 to host www.plex.tv left intact

It is probably cloudflare being blocked in China

You could try to get support from them

See https://support.cloudflare.com/hc/en-us/articles/200169566-Troubleshooting-Cloudflare-domains-blocked-by-China

ok, thank you

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