It’s being reported that some Lenovo Legion Go owners have encountered a problem in which their gaming handhelds are getting bricked, and that this happened right after it updated to the latest BIOS N3CN42WW. The update ends with the same result: the console shows a black screen while the light on the power button, controller LEDs, and internals are still working.

Lenovo has confirmed that the BIOS N3CN42WW update is the culprit and that it contains a fault. For the record, the BIOS was released a few months ago, back on 10 April of this year. One owner said that their Legion Go worked fine prior to the updates being installed. Once downloaded and prompted to install it, the device then stopped working. They noted that they had left the console plugged in with its original charger, and connecting the console to an external display did not yield different results.

Lenovo Legion Go BIOS Update N3CN42WW bricked my device – Repair quote: €237.16
byu/mherold11 inLegionGo

At wit’s end, the Legion Go owner then sent their affected handheld to the brand’s service centre to get it sorted out. However, and arguably unfortunate for them, their warranty had expired. Perhaps the most infuriating part of this was the amount the company was charging the user; for a simple firmware fix, Lenovo charged the user €237.16 (~RM1,119).

To be fair, other affected Legion Go owners who encountered the same issue sent their handhelds back to Lenovo to be fixed, and the company did so without charging them a penny, as their warranty was still active at the time.

Recovered my bricked Legion Go after N3CN42WW BIOS update using CH341A and N3CN40WW
byu/Brave-Rabbit-3303 inLegionGo

Another affected Legion Go user successfully managed to fix the BIOS update issue, but they at least had the technical know-how to flash the system to an earlier BIOS for the handheld. They did give some form of instruction, but they’re told in broad strokes.

At the time of writing, Lenovo hasn’t released any warning or statements acknowledging the reports of the N3CN42WW BIOS flaw.

(Source: Reddit [1] [2] [3], Videocardz)

Updated 5:36 pm, Tue, 4 August 26