While trying to update through zen-updater I am getting the following error :
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"Transaction failed: Can't provide /var/cache/zmd/web/files/ftp.skynet.be/pub/ftp.suse.com/suse/update/10.2/rpm/i586/file-4.17-25.i586.rpm from http://ftp.skynet.be/pub/ftp.suse.com/suse/update/10.2/"
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I have noticed that everytime I try to update through zen-updater I get such errors while if I use Suse Updater applet (opensuseupdater) then it works but take a lot of time (more than 40-45 minutes).

I feel if zen-updater can update then it will be much faster. Please advise.

Zmd is working well for me - miraculously, perhaps, because I hear a lot of those complaints. Maybe you could look into smart? That does work far better although I think it rather convenient, it divides the software in so many categories that I don't know where to look first. But maybe it's just a matter of hanging on long enough.

Btw, have you got any idea what could be causing these issues? Do you ever get messages that indicate incompatibility with your other software or something like that?

No while downloading the updates it gives certain ftp error. I am not an expert so forgive my imaginations but I feel may ZMD is not retrying while downloading from ftp sources. On first fail it's quitting. May be this is the reason.

Can you please elaborate on Smart. Where do I find it?

Something of a mystery there. I use the same mirror and things do go a lot faster here.

I've had a look a the mirror in question and the rpm is definitely there so that's not the problem. Have you checked whether the mirror is on or off under yast>software sources? And are you sure this is the right repository for you? By which I mean: you are using a Suse repository (skynet.be/pub/ftp.suse.com/suse/update/10.2/), not an opensuse mirror. This may make it unusable. You may want to have a look at this one instead:
http://ftp.skynet.be/pub/software.opensuse.org/
If that still doesn't help, it may be worthwhile deleting the mirror and adding it again.

smart is simply an alternative to zmd; it can be downloaded from the repositories. I think you also need to download smartgui or whatever it is called because smart may not have a GUI component itself. Of course, if the problem is a misconfigured/incorrect mirror, it won't be any more helpful than zmd.

Yes there were problems in the source repository links. I changed them and now it's working.