# Plex not finding .SRT - subtitles

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-finding-srt-subtitles/540917>\
**Category:** Metadata & Adding Files\
**Tags:** server-linux, subtitles\
**Created:** [February 11, 2020, 3:39pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-finding-srt-subtitles/540917 "2020-02-11T15:39:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 19\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![gaygirlie\_hotmail.com](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/gaygirlie_hotmail.com/32/108728_2.png) [@gaygirlie\_hotmail.com](https://forums.plex.tv/u/gaygirlie_hotmail.com)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 3:39pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-finding-srt-subtitles/540917/1 "2020-02-11T15:39:21Z")

</div>

For the last couple of updates, something’s broken with PMS Linux: it just refuses to detect .SRT-subtitles. It used to work fine before and it works fine on my NVIDIA Shield TV using the exact same files, but the PMS Linux has recently stopped recognizing .SRT on any new media I add. It is **HUGELY** annoying and it is definitely a bug.

I am currently using PMS Linux version 1.18.6.2368.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 4:02pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-finding-srt-subtitles/540917/2 "2020-02-11T16:02:33Z")

</div>

Settings - Server - Agents -  
make sure the line ‘Local Media Assets’ is **not** disabled under any of the categories and subcategories.

And since this is Linux, make sure that these srt files are accessible to the user account `plex` .

---

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**Author:** ![gaygirlie\_hotmail.com](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/gaygirlie_hotmail.com/32/108728_2.png) [@gaygirlie\_hotmail.com](https://forums.plex.tv/u/gaygirlie_hotmail.com)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 4:07pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-finding-srt-subtitles/540917/3 "2020-02-11T16:07:34Z")

</div>

As I said, it worked fine before and it continues to work with PMS running on my Shield TV, so no, it’s not a permissions-issue and I have also not changed anything in Local Media Assets - settings.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ChuckPa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chuckpa/32/79710_2.png) [@ChuckPa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/ChuckPa)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 5:28pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-finding-srt-subtitles/540917/4 "2020-02-11T17:28:42Z")

</div>

Please provide a `ls -la` of the directory containing the movie and the SRT file

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![gaygirlie\_hotmail.com](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/gaygirlie_hotmail.com/32/108728_2.png) [@gaygirlie\_hotmail.com](https://forums.plex.tv/u/gaygirlie_hotmail.com)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 5:59pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-finding-srt-subtitles/540917/5 "2020-02-11T17:59:32Z")

</div>

> yhteensä 7,5G  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 350M marras 18 2018 ‘Charmed S03E01.avi’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 49K loka 16 2005 ‘Charmed S03E01.en.srt’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 350M marras 18 2018 ‘Charmed S03E02.avi’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 51K loka 16 2005 ‘Charmed S03E02.en.srt’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 350M marras 18 2018 ‘Charmed S03E03.avi’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 46K loka 16 2005 ‘Charmed S03E03.en.srt’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 350M marras 18 2018 ‘Charmed S03E04.avi’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 45K loka 16 2005 ‘Charmed S03E04.en.srt’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 350M marras 18 2018 ‘Charmed S03E05.avi’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 45K loka 16 2005 ‘Charmed S03E05.en.srt’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 350M marras 18 2018 ‘Charmed S03E06.avi’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 47K loka 16 2005 ‘Charmed S03E06.en.srt’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 350M marras 18 2018 ‘Charmed S03E07.avi’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 44K loka 16 2005 ‘Charmed S03E07.en.srt’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 350M marras 18 2018 ‘Charmed S03E08.avi’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 44K loka 16 2005 ‘Charmed S03E08.en.srt’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 350M marras 18 2018 ‘Charmed S03E09.avi’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 49K loka 16 2005 ‘Charmed S03E09.en.srt’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 350M marras 19 2018 ‘Charmed S03E10.avi’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 50K loka 16 2005 ‘Charmed S03E10.en.srt’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 350M marras 18 2018 ‘Charmed S03E11.avi’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 54K loka 16 2005 ‘Charmed S03E11.en.srt’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 350M marras 18 2018 ‘Charmed S03E12.avi’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 46K loka 16 2005 ‘Charmed S03E12.en.srt’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 349M marras 18 2018 ‘Charmed S03E13.avi’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 49K loka 16 2005 ‘Charmed S03E13.en.srt’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 349M marras 18 2018 ‘Charmed S03E14.avi’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 47K loka 16 2005 ‘Charmed S03E14.en.srt’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 350M marras 18 2018 ‘Charmed S03E15.avi’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 46K loka 16 2005 ‘Charmed S03E15.en.srt’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 350M marras 19 2018 ‘Charmed S03E16.avi’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 46K loka 16 2005 ‘Charmed S03E16.en.srt’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 349M marras 18 2018 ‘Charmed S03E17.avi’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 50K loka 16 2005 ‘Charmed S03E17.en.srt’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 349M marras 18 2018 ‘Charmed S03E18.avi’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 54K loka 16 2005 ‘Charmed S03E18.en.srt’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 347M marras 18 2018 ‘Charmed S03E19.avi’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 49K loka 16 2005 ‘Charmed S03E19.en.srt’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 350M marras 18 2018 ‘Charmed S03E20.avi’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 47K loka 16 2005 ‘Charmed S03E20.en.srt’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 350M marras 18 2018 ‘Charmed S03E21.avi’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 44K loka 16 2005 ‘Charmed S03E21.en.srt’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 349M marras 18 2018 ‘Charmed S03E22.avi’  
> -rw-rw-rw- 1 nita nita 46K loka 16 2005 ‘Charmed S03E22.en.srt’

As you can see, there’s nothing wrong with the permissions.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ChuckPa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chuckpa/32/79710_2.png) [@ChuckPa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/ChuckPa)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 6:13pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-finding-srt-subtitles/540917/6 "2020-02-11T18:13:56Z")

</div>

Try the 3 letter codes not 2. We’ll see if something slipped in either the local `locale` or in PMS.

```auto
[chuck@lizum Lucy (2014).498]$ ls -la
total 20517016
drwsr-sr-x 2 chuck chuck 4096 Aug 21 14:29 ./
drwsr-sr-x 283 chuck chuck 16384 Jan 2 21:08 ../
-rw-r--r-- 1 chuck chuck 3674 Nov 22 2014 Lucy (2014).eng.forced.srt
-rw-r--r-- 1 chuck chuck 21009351103 May 27 2018 Lucy (2014).mkv
[chuck@lizum Lucy (2014).499]$ 

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 6:31pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-finding-srt-subtitles/540917/7 "2020-02-11T18:31:39Z")

</div>

Actually, the ability to see external subtitles also depends on following the rules for folders and subfolders.  
Are these files located in a `Season 03` subfolder, underneath the main ‘Charmed’ folder?

---

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**Author:** ![gaygirlie\_hotmail.com](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/gaygirlie_hotmail.com/32/108728_2.png) [@gaygirlie\_hotmail.com](https://forums.plex.tv/u/gaygirlie_hotmail.com)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 6:57pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-finding-srt-subtitles/540917/8 "2020-02-11T18:57:22Z")

</div>

No difference.

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**Author:** ![gaygirlie\_hotmail.com](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/gaygirlie_hotmail.com/32/108728_2.png) [@gaygirlie\_hotmail.com](https://forums.plex.tv/u/gaygirlie_hotmail.com)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 6:57pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-finding-srt-subtitles/540917/9 "2020-02-11T18:57:42Z")

</div>

Yes, they are.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 7:07pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-finding-srt-subtitles/540917/10 "2020-02-11T19:07:26Z")

</div>

Could you post the _contents_ of the [Plex XML info](https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201998867-Investigate-Media-Information-and-Formats "Plex XML info") of one of these episodes?

---

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**Author:** ![gaygirlie\_hotmail.com](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/gaygirlie_hotmail.com/32/108728_2.png) [@gaygirlie\_hotmail.com](https://forums.plex.tv/u/gaygirlie_hotmail.com)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 7:08pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-finding-srt-subtitles/540917/11 "2020-02-11T19:08:44Z")

</div>

```auto
<MediaContainer size="1" allowSync="1" identifier="com.plexapp.plugins.library" librarySectionID="2" librarySectionTitle="Sarjat" librarySectionUUID="e1b274c7-10c1-43d4-886a-d5b9d555b698" mediaTagPrefix="/system/bundle/media/flags/" mediaTagVersion="1580813708">
<Video ratingKey="11566" key="/library/metadata/11566" parentRatingKey="11544" grandparentRatingKey="3907" guid="com.plexapp.agents.thetvdb://70626/3/22?lang=en" parentGuid="com.plexapp.agents.thetvdb://70626/3?lang=en" grandparentGuid="com.plexapp.agents.thetvdb://70626?lang=en" type="episode" title="All Hell Breaks Loose" grandparentKey="/library/metadata/3907" parentKey="/library/metadata/11544" librarySectionTitle="Sarjat" librarySectionID="2" librarySectionKey="/library/sections/2" grandparentTitle="Charmed" parentTitle="Kausi 3" contentRating="TV-14" summary="When the Halliwell sisters are exposed as witches on nation-wide television, they form a pact with The Source to reverse time and undo the damage. However, in the process, one of the sisters makes the ultimate sacrifice, placing the Power of Three in mortal danger." index="22" parentIndex="3" rating="7.7" year="2001" thumb="/library/metadata/11566/thumb/1580831180" art="/library/metadata/3907/art/1580831182" parentThumb="/library/metadata/11544/thumb/1580831182" grandparentThumb="/library/metadata/3907/thumb/1580831182" grandparentArt="/library/metadata/3907/art/1580831182" grandparentTheme="/library/metadata/3907/theme/1580831182" duration="2452224" originallyAvailableAt="2001-05-17" addedAt="1580831158" updatedAt="1580831180">
<Media id="21224" duration="2452224" bitrate="1182" width="640" height="480" aspectRatio="1.33" audioChannels="2" audioCodec="ac3" videoCodec="mpeg4" videoResolution="480" container="avi" videoFrameRate="PAL" videoProfile="simple">
<Part accessible="1" exists="1" id="21396" key="/library/parts/21396/1542550147/file.avi" duration="2452224" file="/mnt/Storage/Video/TV-Shows/Charmed (1998)/Season 3/Charmed S03E22.avi" size="365164544" container="avi" deepAnalysisVersion="4" requiredBandwidths="2297,1936,1650,1650,1650,1650,1650,1650" videoProfile="simple">
<Stream id="74143" streamType="1" codec="mpeg4" index="0" bitrate="990" bitDepth="8" chromaLocation="left" chromaSubsampling="4:2:0" codedHeight="480" codedWidth="640" frameRate="25.000" height="480" level="3" profile="simple" refFrames="1" requiredBandwidths="2105,1744,1461,1461,1461,1461,1461,1461" width="640" displayTitle="480p (MPEG4)"/>
<Stream id="74144" streamType="2" selected="1" codec="ac3" index="1" channels="2" bitrate="192" audioChannelLayout="stereo" requiredBandwidths="192,192,192,192,192,192,192,192" samplingRate="48000" streamIdentifier="1" displayTitle="Tuntematon (AC3 Stereo)"/>
</Part>
</Media>
<Writer id="14444" filter="writer=14444" tag="Brad Kern"/>
<Extras size="0"> </Extras>
</Video>
</MediaContainer>

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 7:11pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-finding-srt-subtitles/540917/12 "2020-02-11T19:11:45Z")

</div>

OK, this confirms that you have successfully matched this show with TheTVDB agent.  
Now please go to  
Settings - Server - Agents - Shows - **TheTVDB**  
and see if there is a line called ‘Local Media Assets’ at all.  
And if it’s there, whether it has a check mark in front of it.

---

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**Author:** ![gaygirlie\_hotmail.com](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/gaygirlie_hotmail.com/32/108728_2.png) [@gaygirlie\_hotmail.com](https://forums.plex.tv/u/gaygirlie_hotmail.com)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 7:17pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-finding-srt-subtitles/540917/13 "2020-02-11T19:17:10Z")

</div>

Yes, there was “Local Media Assets” and it was checked. I unchecked it, then checked it again, refreshed library and then refreshed metadata, after which Plex seems to have found the missing subtitles. Some sort of a UI-bug or something?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 7:21pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-finding-srt-subtitles/540917/14 "2020-02-11T19:21:27Z")

</div>

I cannot know that. Maybe the last Refresh of Metadata was aborted before it could scan for external subtitles.  
Maybe it was indeed something wrong with the configuration of the metadata agent combination, which your toggling of the LMA appears to have fixed.

Were the server data perhaps backed up and restored from a different machine? In this case, something like this has been reported previously.

---

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**Author:** ![gaygirlie\_hotmail.com](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/gaygirlie_hotmail.com/32/108728_2.png) [@gaygirlie\_hotmail.com](https://forums.plex.tv/u/gaygirlie_hotmail.com)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 7:24pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-finding-srt-subtitles/540917/15 "2020-02-11T19:24:45Z")

</div>

No, I haven’t had to do anything like that with the data. I have so far (knock on wood) managed to avoid any server-mishaps that’d require restoring from backups.

Well, anyways, it was just a hunch: over the years I’ve had SO many Windows-, Linux, Android- and web-apps randomly have similarly buggy checkboxes, where they claim to be checked but apparently aren’t, so I thought to just give it a go and it seems to have worked. Could even be Firefox that messed it up, instead of PMS, I guess. Just glad it got fixed!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ChuckPa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chuckpa/32/79710_2.png) [@ChuckPa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/ChuckPa)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 7:25pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-finding-srt-subtitles/540917/16 "2020-02-11T19:25:30Z")

</div>

So I can check the box, “Scan files” was executed on that library section?

---

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**Author:** ![gaygirlie\_hotmail.com](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/gaygirlie_hotmail.com/32/108728_2.png) [@gaygirlie\_hotmail.com](https://forums.plex.tv/u/gaygirlie_hotmail.com)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 7:27pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-finding-srt-subtitles/540917/17 "2020-02-11T19:27:44Z")

</div>

Not just that section, but the whole library. I did originally try refreshing the library, refreshing all metadata, analyzing everything – none of it got the subs to show up. Unticking and then ticking the checkbox and then refreshing library didn’t work, but then following that with refreshing metadata worked, so something was a bit wonky. I wouldn’t know what.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ChuckPa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chuckpa/32/79710_2.png) [@ChuckPa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/ChuckPa)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 8:01pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-finding-srt-subtitles/540917/18 "2020-02-11T20:01:54Z")

</div>

I’ve not seen that behavior before. I will definitely keep my eyes open for it occurring.

There are times , even in desktop linux (Ubuntu 18.04 + Gnome is an example) when an apparently active setting isn’t active.

---

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\
**Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 8:01pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-finding-srt-subtitles/540917/19 "2020-05-11T20:01:56Z")

</div>

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