Legion Go owners report black screen issues after BIOS update, Lenovo quotes €237 to repair bricked handheld
You may want to stay away from a recent BIOS update for the original Legion Go. Users have recently reported issues with the patch bricking their device. The official N3CN42WW update is a driver for the debut model, codenamed the Legion Go 8APU1, and is still available via Lenovo’s support website. It’s a tiny update, consisting of just one fix related to a Windows power state.
For those without the technical know-how to resolve such an issue, it means turning to Lenovo support. Well, according to a Reddit user whose device was bricked after installing the update, the repair quote comes to a whopping €237.16 (without warranty). The affected user says their Legion Go “became completely unusable” immediately after updating the BIOS with the official patch.
Legion Go handhelds are being bricked by the N3CN42WW update
The report, posted by u/mherold11 on Reddit earlier this week, says the BIOS update was performed correctly – following Lenovo’s guidelines by ensuring the original charger was connected during the process, and the update was not interrupted.
Prime Day may have ended, but that hasn't stopped major retailers slashing prices on popular tech hardware. Below, we've listed some of the best deals available today.
- AMD Ryzen™ 9 9900X 12-Core - was $499 now $328
- CORSAIR 4000D PC Case - was $124.99 now $75.99
- Hisense 65" Class E6SR - was $549 now $377.99
- Apple 2026 MacBook Air - was $1,999 now $1,799
- Skytech Gaming PC Desktop (9850X3d) - was $4,299 now $3,799
- Apple Magic Mouse - was $79 now $59
- MSI Prestige 16 Flip - was $2,149 now $1,899
- Kotin 9700X Gaming PC - was $2,399 now $2,199
Prices correct as of October 9th, 2026.
Even still, after the patch, the user encountered either a black screen after the BIOS update reboot or a complete failure to boot, and only the power button and controller LEDs were working. Attempts to run in Crisis Mode (the emergency recovery or BIOS self-healing mode) failed to resolve the problem, too. The user sent the device in for repair; unfortunately, their warranty had “recently expired”.
An even earlier post on the Legion Go subreddit last month had warned of the N3CN42WW update. User Brave-Rabbit-3303 said they were able to recover their bricked device using a CH341A programmer to flash the device with an older version of the BIOS, named N3CN40WW; we were unable to find a download link for this version online, as Lenovo’s support drivers list the latest version, which was released on June 17.
It’s safe to say we recommend against updating your BIOS to this version. A moderator on the r/LegionGo subreddit has now said they will contact Lenovo for an official statement on the issue, but there has yet to be an update.
About the Author