PS3 to Bravia issue, Please help

[Spyder-97]

OK, here's the equipment: 46VL160 Bravia, Sony STR DG600 receiver, 60GB PS3 with 320GB internal HDD upgrade.
The PS3 is connected to the TV by HDMI and to the AV receiver by optical.

Sometimes when I boot up the PS3, I get no sound from the TV speakers. I'll manually or automatically set my PS3 "Sound Settings" to HDMI out, and then the TV will not produce audio from the console. Then I go to TV input watch some channels with sound and no problem. I go back to the PS3 input and there's still no audio. However, if I start a game, I get the sound back.
Keep in mind, the optical audio works fine, no problem, and the issue started before 3.0 update and after 2.8 update. Just to clarify, I didn't have this issue with PS3 2.8 firmware + Vizio TV I had before.

This forum is probably the best forum to post this issue. HAS ANYONE ELSE
EXPERIENCED THIS? Please help