After installing Suse 9.1 successfully I proceeded to the online update in YaST. It stopped downloading at an Open Office file, so I aborted the update. It completed the system re-configuration, but when I tried to start YaST again it wouldn't start. I tried it from the command line and got the following error:-

warning: the ncurses frontend is installed but does not work
You need to install yast2-ncurses to use the YaST2 text mode interface

How do I install yast2-ncurses if YaST isn't working or how do I do a complete reinstall of YaST?

Thanks.

Try with the repair tool booting from cd 1. I think that's the easiest way to fix it.

Unfortunately I have the downloaded installation ISO which only allows a new installation - no repair.

If you can find the package, you could use the "rpm" command.
rpm -Uhv <package-name>
to install the package.

Also, you might try "yast -i <package-name>" which might not need the curses library.

One other thing to try is to run the "SuSEconfig" script. Since you aborted the update, it probably wasn't run. Also try running the "ldconfig" command. It might be the case were needed libraries are installed but not entered in ld.so.cache.

A while back I had the same problem. I think it's the kdebase or kdelibs package that is the culprit. The yast interface is broken so you will need to download the files for kde then run as su:

rpm -Uvh kde*.rpm

Try the kdelibs package first, if that doesn't work then you'll need to download in order the other files and install manually. I remember this was quite a pain to get fixed due to several dependencies.

Good luck.

edit:
Okay I found a link I posted in another forum way back. This may help you too:
http://forums.suselinuxsupport.de/in...topic=4302&hl=

It's a hidden feature : http://portal.suse.com/sdb/en/2004/0...od_91pers.html

About the YaST problem, have a look here: http://portal.suse.com/sdb/en/2004/0...tafteryou.html

Excellent information, and handy to keep for the next time "you" drops the ball.

Many thnaks.