I'm having a freezing issue and it started right after Firmware 3.10. I used the update via internet option and did it by wifi. I feel asleep and while the process took place. later that day I was watching some vids I had stored on my HDD and I went to rewind to a part I had missed and my (original) 60GB PS3 froze suddenly. I reset it and a message appeared right after the PS3 logo boot up. It said that I had not turned off the PS3 correctly and gave me two optiona as to how it should be turned off. 1. By using the dualshock3 and the other by holding the power button for 2 secs.
Ok we all know that, so I continued to watch my video on my HDD nothing happened for the rest of the day. The next day I turned it on and was watching a another movie. I had to make an errand run quick so I didn't bother to turn off the PS3. It's set two turn off by itself if left idle for 3 hours even if its playing a movie or has a game loaded up. When I got back the console was flashing RED. When I hit the turn on button I "think" (cause it happened so fast) I saw a flicker of a yellow light while the system was turing back on. It was like a milli sec. So from that day on for the past two weeks its been freezing up everytime I leave a video or a game idle for more than, I say 20 minutes. When i go to pause,rewind,fastforward,bring up the video menu,or press the PS button it freezes. It doesen't shut off, the image stays frozen and the sound stops.
So I thought it might have been too much dust build up. I took my PS3 apart. It was already out of warranty, remember this is an original U.S. 60GB system with Full B/C with all (98%) PS2 games. Even if I sent it to Sony they would just give me a new or refurbished console....I don't think so....my 60GB is worth way more than that even if it has the YLOD. Plus I also have the 20GB launch version PS3. So both of my PS3's have full B/C which makes them the ultimate PS3's ever :) But anyway back to the problem.
So I opened up my 60GB and took everything apart. I've done this before with my 20GB PS3 and nothing went wrong as was the same case here. I cleaned all the dust out washed and dried the covers, put it all back together, did a system restore with full HDD format....(yes I backed everything up on a 1.5 TB external HDD). After all that was done 9 hours later I put in COD4 and played online. Everything seemed to be going perfect, then after the 1st match was over it froze again during the loading lobby screen. I reset the PS3 and tried again. This time it froze while searching for a game. So I have come up with two theories....
Theory 1: I'm about to get the YLOD if I keep stressing the console out.
Theory 2: The update (FW3.10) didn't install correctly
Theory 1 explained: Some say that cpu and/or gpu of the motherboard has to be fixed. They call it reflowing, its a process where you heat the chips to melt back on the board and placed right again. Some people have made vids with a heat gun being used to do this. The BBC had a watchdog special where they used a special microwave oven to melt the chips and motherboards back together without even taking the PS3 apart! :)
Theory 2 explained: I have a Linksys wireless G router, sometimes it needs to be reset because my cable company that provides my internet sends secret wave signals to people connections to try and detect illegal chips people have in their cable boxes for (of course) all free premium channels. They mostly do this around midnight and it sometimes causes my router to stop functioning right. Maybe this happened and the PS3 didn't download complete code of FW3.10 and it installed wrong or something. I know it's less likely to happen than theory 1 but hey it could be possible. Also my 20 GB did freeze once during the same period of all this happening and when I rebooted it (turned it back on) a message appeard saying that I could send a report back to Sony letting them know of this problem. I'VE NEVER GOTTEN THIS MESSAGE DURING PROBLEMS I'M HAVING WITH MY 60GB! NOT ONCE. My 20GB only froze once that triggered the message to apperar after it booted back up, which was probably my fault anyway because I was going from XMB to in game checking my trophies.
So thats why I feel it could be that the update didn't install correctly also. I just got my heat gun and I'm gonna try to repair it myself, but only after I determine that I must go that way for sure. I'm sorry for the rant lol, i know some of you don't like to read. But I hope this clears some things about this issue. I see a lot of people posting about it but not giving much detail about how it really started. There's a lot of you that are in the same boat as me too.