After blasting Novell and SuSE for releasing a terrible product, I have to apologize to them. Somewhat.

Background: I've been using linux since before the kernel hit v1.0 status. I've been using SuSE linux long enough I can't even remember what the first version I used was. I've used RH and other distros (most recently Ubuntu) at one point or another. Prior to updating to 10.0, I'd been using SuSE 9.2 (I mistakenly wrote 9.3 in earlier posts). I've dealt with Novell networking products in the past and, as a result of those experiences, refuse to use them (and wouldn't start with Novell/SuSE if I hadn't already been a SuSE user).

Updating to 10.0 on top of 9.2 was a disaster. Where 9.2 was occasionally given to some problems, 10.0 on top of 9.2 killed my sound apps (they matter to me) and the system was generally unstable. I kept getting messages that included the phrase "Novell does not support..." when trying to install drivers for sound cards listed as being in support. I did a fresh install to a new HDD and... the sound sort of came back but the system was highly unstable, usually lasting no more than about 20-30 minutes before failing with a frozen screen but, usually, the cursor could still be moved with the mouse.

I replaced RAM (and went from .5G to 1G) and tried a second (newer) HDD (now 80G vs 15G). I disassembled and cleaned the entire system. Nothing changed - the system was remained even less stable than my much-hated WinME install. Through a series of experiments and writing errout to files, I found an error message which seemed to be tied to the system freezing. Googling on that lead me to the nvidia site's forums and I found a thread which related directly to what I was experiencing. Cutting to the chase, replacing my FX5500-based video card with an FX6200-based card cleared all of the problems up save for one (see below). The system has now been up (as I write) for 2.5 days non-stop, a little better than the 20-30 minutes of uptime I saw before...

The only loose end is a DNS issue, caused by my ISP, Comcast, who insists I use DHCP for even DNS. For some reason, I cannot, in my LAN, resolve back to the linux box (192.168.1.71) by name, even though the name (wxsat.pinefields.com wxsat) is in resolv.conf. Using its IP addy, 192.168.1.71, does work and, since the instances where I need the name are very limited, at least for now I'll just IP addy and let it go at that.

Bottom line: many of the problems reported here were, in fact, tied to a single video card which had worked well prior to the upgrade. However, even the usual fixes (e.g., fresh install), didn't work. The card itself seems to be electrically intact but something in 10.0 triggered a problem within the BIOS. So, in that regard, I owe Novell/SuSE an apology.

Nice to know there are some other people around too that have been using Linux from it's early days

I think I'm having a similar type of problem, but the cause is unknown; I'm only able to install very vew selected Linux distributions on a certain PC (the kernel will hang in most cases). I've tried different kernel configurations, but so far only Fedora Core 3 and 5 and Knoppix have worked. I first thought it was some hardware Linux cannot comprehend, but now it seems there's a kernel module missing in most of the regular installations of distributions that prevents the system to load (there was this one distribution, can't really remember which one, that I managed to install through a lot of work, but it didn't boot). That's a problem I've been unable to solve to these days, as I don't want to reinstall the system 10 times every day, nor spend money on hardware.

By the way, have you had a chance to try the "bad" video card on some other new Linux distribution; is it just SuSE 10.0 problem or a kernel version problem?

As best I can figure out from reading the posts on nvidia's forum site (try this link), the problem is probably mostly an X.org problem. It seems that both Radeon and Nvidia chipsets have the problem of a system being very unstable and crashing after 20-30 minutes. The first (and cheapest) solution is re-flash the VBIOS for your video card. I found a difference in my card's VBIOS; whether it was an error or simply a difference in, for example, version numbers (although I was able to match version numbers between the "new" ROM image and the one on the card) is unclear. The point is moot: re-flashing didn't fix the problem.

I didn't spend time on trying any other distros except a "live system" CD from Ubuntu, which seemed to work well for the time it was running. However, since my linux box is a production machine, I didn't (and don't) really have the time to play with other distros "to see what happens". I did try a Ubuntu install at one point but it failed because of the HDD configuration here (I had to put the system on /dev/hdb because /dev/hda had the current [sort of working] SuSE install - Ubuntu simply couldn't cope with booting from /dev/hdb).

In the end, all I can suggest is to at least borrow another video card and see what happens, if anything. Past that, what can I say? The one thing, out of the many things I tried (RAM changes, HDD changes, updating BIOS, fresh install on a brand new HDD, even replacing cabinet fans), that resolved the problem was a new video card. If I was was only one person with this problem, I'd say "eh, some part fried on the board - get over it". But the "'screen frozen, but mouse pointer moves' bug" thread tells me I was far from the only person with this problem.

What I find puzzling is that every upgrade I've done to date, save this one, has not had big driver problems. Fundamental hardware (video, sound, IDE, PCI, serial and parallel ports) has functioned as it should. With the move to SuSE 10.0, sound stopped working as it should and in fact seemed to stop and start for no obvious reason. Video problems have already been discussed. DNS/DHCP issues are still up in the air. In general, despite some advances in efficiency and security, this has been a step backwards in terms of both actual reliability and a general sense of belief that the system will work as it should. When I came into this office this morning, I was amazed to see the system was still up. This is ordinarily my reaction to Windows systems and not to a system that, in the past, delivered a half year of uptime.

YMMV, prices slightly higher west of the Rockies, batteries not included, some assembly required, not available in all stores. etc.

An update, FWIW:
Before shutting down the system while I was away on vacation, I managed 5 days of continuous uptime. While my personal record is 180 days and this is 175 days short of that, it's well in excess of what I was experiencing when things stopped working.

Added:
The DNS thing was brain-burp on my part. The fresh install meant, of course, a fresh /etc/hosts. As soon as I plugged in the appropriate entries, that problem evaporated. Doh...

One curious problem does remain, however. My PS2/USB MS Explorer trackball "goes away" (along with the cursor) after several hours of idle time. Unplugging it and plugging it back in "revives" it and the cursor. Maybe it's a flakey port, maybe it's a flakey device, maybe it's... For now, at least, I'll just leave darn thing alone and unplug and plug in as needed.

I use ATI cards with nvidia chipset mobo's on slackware, or suse and no problems here and I'm overclocked to the gills.

The comments of ATI and nvidia not compatible are simply lies that you are reading and accepting as factual.

These manufacturer's build to known standards, and so long as the card or board is built right then you are fine.

If there is no firmware upgrades on ATI's site for your card or at firmware updates for your nvidia motherboard manufacturer the problem is SUSE messing you up, there's no other way to put it. Remember that SAX2 is now involved and was not on older versions of suse, and the sax is taking over where xorgconfig was. Quite possibly it messed you up with frequencies, etc and pushed your card to far.

for the record I'm in suse right now and not a suse hater, but not necessarily the happiest suse user either.

Whoa... slow down and read the stuff I cited. The bottom line is something's not right in the X.org world; the problem is not tied to any one manufacturer's cards or to any one distro. Card design age does seem to be a factor (i.e., old stuff tends to have the problem more often than new stuff) but that's no surprise in the computer world.

For the record, no ATI here and never was.

As for SuSE, if I didn't like it, I wouldn't have gone through as many revs as I have. Novell... hated 'em when I first got into the consulting business thirty years ago and nothing much has happened to change my opinion of them for the better...

Hi RBE

Yeah I've noticed xorg get's really wierd on one pc I have with 'pci video' card, it's very akward on the eyes.

I'm not happy with the way the SAX-2 in suse play's with and tries to detect video cards to be honest. It seems very rough on the hardware in it's detection and preview/test that it offers when you make changes to your settings.

Personally, I only have SuSe on my pc because it has alot of software pre-loaded in it, I try them out and then decide if it is worth putting onto my daily linux of slackware. I simply cannot use Suse, it is well.... broke to put it nicely.

But I chose suse as my guinea pig as it follows many common BSD style workings like slackware does. As long as I've got cli I can use Suse. Open yast and it's anyone's guess what is going to happen, or if I'll ever get back into Suse after a reboot down the road.