My 40GB PS3 is around 18 months old and one day I noticed that it wouldn't turn on using the dualshock. The PS3 would start to power up and then beep and the yellow light would start blinking. But, I found out that if I turned the power switch on the back off and then back on that I could push the power button on the front and the system would boot normally.
I started having this problem around the time the last firmwarew (3.10?) was released, but I never put the two events together in my head. I read about others having PS3 problems, but none sounded exactly like my problem.
I finally bought UC2 last week and on the initial startup it wanted to download an update. I accepted and once the update was loaded, the PS3 works absolutely perfect! I've been using it for over a week and the yellow light has never blinked, it works like it did when I bought it new. Possibly the patch for UC2 fixed some problem my system had with the new firmware.
I see a lot of posts about YLOD and even though this really could be a fluke it is worth a try. Rent or borrow UC2, for a few dollars you might fix your PS3. I'm skeptical that it actually fixed anything, but nothing else has changed with the PS3 so it is the only thing I can think of.
