I found this on a website
A new update just rolled out from Sony for the PS3 which is giving many users their fair share of troubles including
bricked consoles.
Official firmware 4.45
just got released and according to many user reports its causing bricks and other issues. Users are reporting that after up****** the consoles, on boot, it gets stuck to the ribbon screen, and renders useless afterwards.
With no word from Sony yet, its in your best interest to wait. While this is not affecting everyone, it is taking a impact on a lot of people. A simple look at the PlayStation
forums shows that the problem is wide spread and not isolated or yet resolved. PlayStation Customer service is aware of the issue and are giving inflicted users the cold shoulder and a simple “wait it out” until a solution is found.
There isn’t any indications as to what is causing this phenomenon, but from my analysis it seems to be a problem relating to PS3s with upgraded or changed HDDs. But there could be a plethora of other things causing the problems.
It’s always best to wait until Sony releases a fix. Its better to be safe than sorry. Stay tuned for updates. Hopefully a hotfix is en route