How to Fix “VLsub does not respond” Problem in VLC Media Player

One of the coolest features that VideoLAN VLC Media Player offers is the ability to download the subtitles from within the VLC media player window itself. This saves a lot of time that you would have spend in searching the internet for a subtitle website, finding the subtitle, downloading them and then loading them one-by-one in VLC player to see if they work with the video. We have previously posted about how you can download subtitles using VLC media player through an extension called VLSub.

But recently, I have been noticing a strange error with VLSub extension. It hangs all the time, if you try to search for the subtitles. It shows the error message – “Extension VLsub 0.9.13 does not respond. Do you want to kill it now?” And if you choose the “Yes” button, then it will close down.

VLC Download Subtitles Error

The problem seems to be the way the extension tries to connect with the OpenSubtitles web servers. You can easily fix everything yourself by editing the VLSub.luac file that can be located inside the folder C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\lua\extensions. In order to edit the file, you can use a hex editor like HxD.

VLC Download Subtitles Error

In the HxD editor, you have to open the VLSub.luac file and search (Ctrl+F) for the text string HTTP/1.1 and then replace it with HTTP/1.0 as displayed in the picture. You will find the text string two times and you have to modify it both times. Now save the file and restart the VLC Media Player and everything will work fine.

VLC Download Subtitles Error

If you do not want to edit the VLSub.luac file yourself, then you can download the modified VLSub.luac file from our website. The replace the original VLSub.luac file with the modified one. In both cases, the problem of freezing VLSub extension will be resolved and you would be able to search/download the subtitles like before.

UPDATE: You can download new version of VLSub from Github and install it, as we have explained here : https://www.trishtech.com/2017/04/how-to-update-vlsub-extension-in-vlc-media-player/.

UPDATE 2: New version of VLC media player (tested on version 3.0.4) does not have this problem anymore. So you can just install newer version of VLC media player in your computer.

16 comments

  1. I have had this issue (or a similar one) and solved it by registering to the website that VLC downloads the subs from, then giving VLC my credentials for said site.
    But now I’ve installed a skin (MinimalX) as shown in your other guide, and now VLSUB crashes my VLC Player.
    Can this be resolved somehow meddling with some config files?
    I love this new skin so much and don’t want to give it up, but VLSUB is my most used feature in VLC Player other than the play button.

  2. Hi,
    As of April 2020 it has to be done the other way around, replace all HTTP/1.0 with HTTP/1.1

    1. Make sure VLC player is closed before doing this. When you copy-paste the file, Windows will ask you to give admin access, enter your administrator password if needed to proceed. BTW, you can just install new version of VLC where this issue has been fixed.

      1. As of today, new version 3.0 still problem with vlsub it doesnt remove the problem. Any idea how to remove this issue of searching stil doesnt work.

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