Some unlucky Lenovo laptop owners (particularly those with
Legion) have apparently run into serious trouble after they
installed a BIOS update which was pushed via Lenovo’s Vantage
app. The BIOS update, which is available on both Windows 10 and
Windows 11, causes some nasty boot failures, according to
various reports.
It is worth noting that only some Lenovo Legion models are
affected, and that includes the Legion 5 and 7 lineup. The BIOS
update version GKCN53WW causes random Blue Screen of Death
Errors with a pretty vague stop code
“DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE”.
We’ve noticed various reports of issues on Reddit
and Lenovo’s own support forums or social media platforms like
Twitter and Telegram, with complaints of boot failure – lower
framerates or being stuck at a black screen after installing
the BIOS update version GKCN53WW.
“I thought I was the only one. I recently noticed the system
would crash at random times. I did all the troubleshooting I
could but none of them seems to have told me something
conclusively. I didn’t have this problem with the default
BIOS that came with my 15ACH6H,” one of the affected users
noted in the Reddit thread.
Another thread
on Reddit flags potential performance issues after installing
the BIOS update, with some folks claiming that their games are
running much slower than usual due to reduced FPS.
“I wanted to take care of my new Legion 7 by keeping it always
up to date. So, as per usual, I checked for updates in Lenovo
Vantage. I saw a “critical BIOS update” – GKCN53WW. I’m not
tech-savvy, so I (cluelessly) assumed updates can only help.
But indeed was I wrong,” another user complained of serious
performance issues.
We own one of the affected machines and we can confirm that
Lenovo’s Vantage app is using a pop-up alert that appears on
top of apps and games to recommend the faulty BIOS release.
As you see in the above screenshot, the pop-up clearly states
that “Lenovo recommends you to install these updates to
optimize your computer. Please note, the following updates may
require your system to reboot more than once.
- BIOS Update – Win10 [64]/Win11
The BIOS update is still being offered via the Vantage app and
Lenovo’s site, so if you’re mulling that upgrade right now, you
should avoid it. Make sure that you uncheck the BIOS update
option when checking for updates in the Vantage app.
We don’t know how many users are affected, but complaints are
all over the Lenovo Legion community. Reports of multiple
machines being and Lenovo’s silence on the matter are of course
worrying.
Also, this BIOS is marked as a critical update on Lenovo’s
website, so there’s a chance that many clueless users
installed it without doing any research.
How to uninstall Lenovo Legion BIOS update GKCN53WW on Windows
10 & 11
This BIOS update sounds like a nasty mess, but since we’re
talking about Windows, there is an apparent workaround.
As described on several of the above threads and confirmed by
us, removing and reinstalling the previous BIOS could resolve
the problem. However, this may or may not work for everyone, so
if you do give this workaround a whirl, you’re doing it at your
own risk.
To go back to the previous BIOS update, simply
download and run the stable BIOS version (GKCN50WW).
If you’re unable to downgrade BIOS directly from the setup,
make sure the device allows flashing of BIOS to a previous
version. To do this, enter the Lenovo BIOS Setup Utility from
the boot menu and look for an option related to rollback or
flashing of BIOS, and set it to “Yes”.
Press F10 to save the configuration settings and exit, and
perform the BIOS downgrade again. While downgrading the BIOS,
do not shut down the device in the middle of the process as it
can cause serious damage to the system.
Another option might be to wait for Lenovo to acknowledge the
mess and hopefully issue an emergency fix. This is assuming you
can deal with the described problem or you have a backup
device.
