i've plainly given up on yast as far as updating packages goes!! i decided to use smart (the default one (0.41))and funny enough its working great!! i wish yast was as easy to use or at least a little faster!!
yikes!!
if any1 has the same problems that i had, please see this page
http://opensuse-community.org/Repositories/
there's lots of stuff. in my case (suse 10.1)-which is a very beautiful OS- i used the tut at
http://opensuse-community.org/Repositories/10.1
everything, and i mean EVERYTHING is there!!!
well, that's my 2cents worth
enjoy my friends