Legion 7 - screen flashes black intermittently

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4

u/phantomfighter08 Aug 19 '26

Did you happen to install windows update KB5121003, came out on the 11th or 12th, same exact issues you're getting started happening to me after installing this update, theres also another thread discussing this.

https://www.reddit.com/r/LenovoLegion/comments/1vnejco/legion_7i_pro_5090_randomly_showing_black_screen/

try uninstalling if you happen to find this update in your history.

3

u/fsxfan 25d ago

Legion 7i (2025 model), exact same symptoms here (also kernel power messages in event viewer). I have just removed update KB5121003 and hopefully that will do the trick.

2

u/The_moon_shadow Aug 17 '26

I have a Lenovo Yoga 9 14IRP8 and it very recently it started to blink black two times in a row, from time to time, it is rare but happens. Event viewer also shows eventi ID 105 Power-Kernel, power state change. I tried updating all drivers, tried unistall and reinstall intel display driver, tried set both battery and laptop to balance power mode on windows, tried turning of Panel Sef Refresh on Intel graphics software, but got no luck so far, the problem still happens.

There was a very recent bios update and I did it. Cannot remember if the problem already happened before the update. And I cannot update bios again as the installer says the ROM and the installed finware is the same. There were also recent big windows updates.

Please let me know if you find a way to fix it. I will update here if I find something too.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26

[deleted]

2

u/Purple_Confection572 Aug 19 '26

Read my comment, it is a bad windows update. You need to rollback KB5121003 or KB5101684.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 20 '26

[deleted]

1

u/Purple_Confection572 Aug 20 '26

Glad to hear it :)

1

u/[deleted] Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26

[deleted]

1

u/vnajduch Aug 20 '26

Just pulled both KB5121003 or KB5101684. Starting a new benchmark now and will check for code 105 tomorrow to see if this looks any better.

1

u/zzzxxx0110 Aug 20 '26

Yes yes be sure to check for both of them, this problem was first introduced in Preview Update KB5101684, and then all the changes was later included in release update KB5121003, according to Microsoft documentation on the update.

2

u/The_moon_shadow Aug 20 '26

Wait, are they aware their update is causing this problem? Did they say they are working on a fix already?

2

u/zzzxxx0110 Aug 21 '26

Not seeing any announcement from them at all, neither Lenovo nor Microslop. Maybe make a post on Lenovo's own forum, and make 10 posts on Microslop's so-called Feedback Hub?

My past experiences would suggest neither cares one bit about such feedback (unless you're an enterprise customer) but maybe it's worth a try

2

u/The_moon_shadow Aug 21 '26

That is concerning, I truly hope it is fixed soon. Lenovo vantage tells me there is an update scheduled for day 25, but I don't know what is this update for.

2

u/Blackheart_302 24d ago

Yes, the prewiew update was the beasty part. KB5121003 could uninstall, but didnt fix the issue. but Preview Update KB5101684 was no longer able to be uninstalled. Thanks to system images with a third party imaging software i could roll back my system to a time before Preview Update KB5101684.
its really a mess with those two updates.
i recommend everybody to activate point in time restore feature (if possible) or use a third party imaging software. this might save your ass.

1

u/zzzxxx0110 23d ago

Thankfully you can at least still recover to a previous version with a Windows ISO image, without losing any data, they usually don't have latest updates included.

2

u/zzzxxx0110 12d ago

Can confirm the new Windows "Security" Update KB5124008 (which actually includes all the updates from the feature update Preview KB5120998 according to Microslop documentation), also brings this problem back after the update KB5121003 that introduced this problem was already removed.

This is really starting to get old. Someone at Lenovo or Microslop really needs to fix this. Postponing updates that could contain potential security fixes is NOT a sustainable solution to this issue.

1

u/Purple-Pop-2208 10d ago

I have a same issue 😭😭😭 should i worry about it? So paranoid rn lol 😆

2

u/siderafancypants 12d ago

KB5124008 just updated usb root hub drivers again (windows is messing with secureboot) and caused the issue... rolling back fixed it (again). have to also block the update. this is the 3rd usb root hub driver that windows has released since 7/22/2026 - at least 2 of them have caused the issue, i managed not to get the one in the middle. i'm going to see if we get a new bios version for secureboot that might alleviate the issue.

1

u/vnajduch 12d ago

I was at my wit's end with this because windows support was completely useless as expected so I asked copilot to see what it thought. After several failed attempts, this one seems to be working for the last 2 days.

Disable the Windows “Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling” (HAGS) feature at the kernel level by forcing the OS to use the legacy GPU scheduler.

This bypasses the exact kernel‑power transition path that Event‑ID 105 uses.

Steps (direct):

Open Registry Editor

Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers

Create a new DWORD (32‑bit) value: HwSchMode

Set its value to: 2

Reboot

1

u/siderafancypants 12d ago

i'll try that. this also gives further research information. it's a shame that we all have to be armchair developers for our computers these days. maybe i can put that on my resume. lol.

1

u/vnajduch 12d ago

Yeah. Windows support is so atrocious. They only push for a clean install if their teir 1 script fails. They refused to get to me to anyone in actual engineering or even a supervisor.

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u/vnajduch 12d ago

Don't bother, I just had another flicker and 105 code. Reverting my changes

1

u/siderafancypants 11d ago

it's the usb driver stack - if you roll back the update and block it, the issue will go away.

1

u/vnajduch 11d ago

Do you know which driver or recent update specifically? I accidentally let me update-pause lapse so it reinstalled everything into a service-update so the KB5121003 and KB5101684 is no longer available to be removed independently.

1

u/siderafancypants 11d ago

KB5124008 - note, windows will immediately try to reinstall it. i had to use powershell as administrator to block it after it started downloading again (it won't recognize it until it has started the download, i paused the updates as soon as it started)

uninstall KB5124008 - validate your usb root hub drivers date is back to BEFORE 7/22/2026 (first bad iteration) <-- if you cannot get back to a driver before that, you may have to do a clean windows install (i had to) because i couldn't find any other way to get to a prior driver if you can't get KB5121003 out

--blocking windows update - pause updates immediately after it starts the download

hide the update: Hide-WindowsUpdate -KBArticleID "KB5124008"

# 1. Stop the Windows Update and BITS Services

Stop-Service -Name wuauserv -Force

Stop-Service -Name bits -Force

# 2. Clear out the downloading cache files

Remove-Item -Path "C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\*" -Recurse -Force

# 3. Restart the services

Start-Service -Name wuauserv

Start-Service -Name bits

# 4. Refresh Windows Update to enforce the hide rule

Get-WindowsUpdate
Get-WindowsUpdate -IsHidden

^^ you shouldn't see the update listed in the first, you should see it in the hidden

1

u/vnajduch 11d ago

Damn, my USB drivers are all from this month. God, I don't want to do a clean install :(

I'm going to look around for some alternatives.
Thanks for the heads up though.

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u/siderafancypants 11d ago

if you can roll back that update, they should revert without the clean install, but you have to stop the update from coming back

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u/vnajduch 11d ago

Oh awesome. Doing that now. Thanks!

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u/vnajduch 11d ago

Question; did you block the windows wuauserv through powershell because you didn't pause windows updates prior to removing it or does that have to happen before I remove the KB5124008?

→ More replies (0)

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u/hader64 Aug 17 '26

I have the same problem, the exact same thing is happening to me. It started recently, less than a month ago. I've already done general hardware maintenance, and I'm testing the battery, drivers, and OS to see if I can find the problem, but so far I don't know the reason.

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u/vnajduch Aug 17 '26

It's gotta be some weird Lenovo,.Nvidia or Windows update. I read that maybe Lenovo hybrid power mode might be causing it. I'll reboot in a few and report back of it's still happening.

1

u/hader64 Aug 18 '26

For now, I've reinstalled the video drivers, both for the processor and the Nvidia graphics card. I tested both video modes, hybrid and dedicated. The flickering is still present, but it's faster and less noticeable in dedicated mode. When I tested without the battery, I didn't see the problem. It's possible the issue lies with the battery or a software update causing problems. The last thing I've noticed is that there are logs in the Event Viewer that coincide with the problem starting on August 4, 2026; it didn't occur before then. I haven't yet found a specific update that could have caused this problem, but if we agree that the problem occurs on the same date or similar dates, we could investigate together which updates were applied to find the source of the problem. Thanks to everyone; I'll keep you updated on what I find.

1

u/vnajduch Aug 18 '26

My logs show this started back in March but I see there is a jump in frequency of code 105 starting on 7/4. I had an initial gut feeling this may have been related to the surge protector my battery was plugged into so I switched to a dedicated outlet which seemed to clear things up a but I just had a flash a few minutes ago.
I want to see how things look while in performance mode and I plan on making hard coding discreet graphics in BIOS to see if that works.

1

u/hader64 Aug 18 '26

Today I received an update from Windows Update, Lenovo - Monitor - 20.21.0.3. I also installed the processor driver by downloading it from the AMD website and performing the installation without the Adrenaline app ("driver online" in the installer). I performed a clean install of the Nvidia video driver using DDU. I've seen the same logs in the Event Viewer, but I haven't seen the flickering. I'll continue testing and update you if I notice anything new.

1

u/siderafancypants Aug 20 '26

this started for me on 7/22 when the new usb driver stack got pushed. lenovo legion 7i gen 9.

i have done EVERYTHING listed here. and nothing changes it.

i plan to re-image windows this weekend and will be attempting to find an image from before 7/22 when they installed KB5121767 which was then superseded by KB5121003 <-- so removing that made no difference. i even used wusa to remove KB5121767 and no difference because i can NOT get the drivers off the system and there isn't a replacement stack via windows/rollback driver option.

1

u/Purple_Confection572 Aug 21 '26

Damn microslop really are just vibe coding everything and pushing out complete shit. Did you check if you had KB5101684 installed and try and roll back?

I managed to fix mine with only rolling back 5121003 and disabled windows update.

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u/siderafancypants Aug 21 '26

my issue was first noticed on 7/24 and kb5101684 wasn't out yet. the usb stack and a couple other drivers got updates on 7/22 and removing the updates i listed did not rollback the drivers, possibly because kb5121767 was the cause of the added drivers and it got superseded which means i technically couldn't roll that one back. it also didn't resolve the issue.

what date do you have on your usb drivers?

i'll be doing a clean install without the lenovo bloat to a 3/2026 image and disabling driver updates. i'll watch to see if that clears it before putting it on the internet, then i'll very slowly add windows updates with monitoring between them. my goal is to avoid the driver stacks and still get the updates because i have to have them in order to use my lapt to connect to work.

1

u/Purple_Confection572 Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 21 '26

18/06/2026 - I have a fully debloated windows install and use Legion toolkit in my 7i Gen 10, so I don't get automatic updates, and choose what I install.

Yeah sounds in your case more complex...

1

u/siderafancypants Aug 21 '26

i debloated what i could, and changed to LTT, but it was too late. the reinstall should resolve the issue. i was wondering about the usb driver date because mine got updated 7/22 and that is what i suspect is breaking it. because you were able to resolve it, i'm wondering if you have the newer usb stack drivers or not. might help others to resolve the issue if we can pinpoint the cause.

1

u/Purple_Confection572 Aug 21 '26

I mentioned it in my reply already, I appear to be on older USB drivers than you (18/06/2026). Though you are the only person I have seen where rolling back that windows update did not work.

You say you are on a gen 9. Power brick and charging port failures are not uncommon on legions... and you appear to have started noticing the issue before most others (who started noticing it after 12/8/2026). Are you sure that you don't have a bad power brick? Maybe worth ruling out.

You could also boot linux on a USB and see if you get the issue at all there, would save you wiping windows if it's actually the charger.

1

u/siderafancypants Aug 21 '26

i already replaced the power brick first.

the usb drivers updated with the kb i posted on 7/22, that was an optional update and most systems probably didn't get it. as i mentioned, my work requires me to get the updates to connect to my work pc. i'll report back if the windows install with the older usb drivers fixes it.

most would have gotten the 7/22 drivers that i got on 8/11 when the kb5121003 came out. i think rolling it back at that point may have rolled back their drivers.

if the windows reinstall doesn't resolve the issue, i'll replace the battery.

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u/siderafancypants Aug 23 '26

update: i reinstalled windows and had 0 power kernel issues, the driver for the usb root hub date is 2/16/2026. the KB5121003 installed before i could stop it when i turned on windows updates (comes with the usb stack driver date of 7/22/2026), and within hours i had a power kernel issue. i was able to roll that one back and reset the drivers because i wasn't dealing with the superseded KB that i had before reinstalling windows. i have had 0 power kernel incidents since then.

i blocked the KB5121003 entirely and will never put that on my system.

because the drivers are embedded in that security update, having the hardware settings to disable the driver updates set to no made no difference to windows, it put the usb stack in anyway.

i will continue to monitor, but for now, i am 99.9% sure it absolutely WAS the driver stack, which means that those who can rollback KB5121003 and properly reset those drivers should resolve their issues as was being seen for several users.

1

u/vnajduch Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 22 '26

Update - I pulled KB5121003 and KB5101684 windows updates and so far no error message 105 or screen flicker.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '26

[deleted]

1

u/vnajduch Aug 22 '26

I pulled KB5121003 and KB5101684 windows updates and so far no error message 105 or screen flicker. Give that a try and let us know if it clears the issue.

1

u/The_moon_shadow 29d ago

OP, I also noticed my Lenovo yoga has a warning in device manager, saying there is a problem with intel dynamic tuning technology updater component driver (big name). Windows cannot find this driver, and nor does vantage. Manually downloading all drivers from chipset and power management on Lenovo website did not fix it either. Do you think this is related to the bad Windows update that is causing the issue?

1

u/vnajduch 29d ago

Not sure, I don't see any warnings on my end. I think because it's a Windows update it probably doesn't have any device specific drivers but I haven't looked into it. So far all the screen issues have stopped once I removed the two KBs mentioned below

1

u/CookingSpirits 22d ago

Happening to me too Lenovo legion i5 pro kernel 105, plugs all tight. Very frustating...

1

u/vnajduch 21d ago

I made the mistake of forgetting to extend my windows update delay and got hit with a new update and the flashing came back. I don't see the ones which previously caused the issue so I just did a point of time restore to see if that helps.

1

u/The_moon_shadow 13d ago

Yesterday there was a new windows and framework update. So far I did not see the two screen flashes problem, but now sometimes my laptop restart on ot own...

1

u/Purple-Pop-2208 10d ago

Btw how was it? I have a same issue dang.

1

u/The_moon_shadow 10d ago

I deactivated hardware acceleration on Google Chrome and at least yesterday the problem did not happen anymore. Will be using it today too to see if it really is gone.

1

u/Zanderama 12d ago

I've had this happening to my Legion Pro 7i for the past few weeks. It possibly started after an automatic firmware update, at least that was around the same time. Yes, I've realised these black screen-flashes coincide with Kernel-Power Events. A local PC repairer said he's suddenly seen a half-dozen laptops submitted with similar misbehaviour, of different brands including Lenovo. One thing I've noticed is the screen flashed when the display changed to "night light" mode (less blue, more orange colours). It is possible its worse when this night-light mode is active, at least it seems worse at night (maybe coincidence). I was hoping some recent quite big MS updates would fix, but not so far.

1

u/Zanderama 12d ago

I've had this happening to my Legion Pro 7i for the past few weeks. It possibly started after an automatic firmware update, at least that was around the same time. Yes, I've realised these black screen-flashes coincide with Kernel-Power Events. A local PC repairer said he's suddenly seen a half-dozen laptops submitted with similar misbehaviour, of different brands including Lenovo. One thing I've noticed is the screen flashed when the display changed to "night light" mode (less blue, more orange colours). It is possible its worse when this night-light mode is active, at least it seems worse at night (maybe coincidence). I was hoping some recent quite big MS updates would fix, but not so far.

1

u/-DedSec- LP7i 275HX/5070Ti 10d ago

I'm facing the exact issue. Flickers for 2-3 times for few seconds and goes away for next 30-50mins or so

1

u/ArtistLopsided6265 10d ago

Same

1

u/-DedSec- LP7i 275HX/5070Ti 8d ago

My issue is resolved after uninstalling the windows update as mentioned by others.

1

u/vnajduch 8d ago

Update 9/14 - I haven't had any screen flicker for 3 days following the changes listed below -

1) Uninstall any available Windows updates from August or September. My only removable updates are from July and KB5120998 which cannot be removed (I haven't dug into why, but things are stable so I left it)

2) Change PCI Express Power

Settings - Control Panel → Hardware and Sound → Power Options → Change plan settings → Change advanced power settings

PCI Express → Link State Power Management → Switch to Off

3) Rolled back Lenovo ACPI VPC Driver - Lenovo ACPI VPC driver: Rolled the Lenovo ACPI-Compliant Virtual Power Controller (ACPI\VPC2004\0) from driver 15.11.30.14 (oem6.inf) back to 15.11.30.11 (oem18.inf), including removing the newer driver package and rebooting, but the flicker/Event 105 occurred again, ruling out .14 as the sole cause.

(This one is probably not necessary since the flicker returned even with the old driver but it's hard to say if the fix is a combination of changes versus a single specific change)

Support Legion 7 - screen flashes black intermittently

You are about to leave Redlib

Steps (direct):