I'm trying to use suse 10.0 but i can't get my gui to work and believe it is due to my ati radeon x600 drivers not being installed correctly (if at all). i need help with:
a. finding the driver i need
b. installing the driver (i'm a newbie and need some step by step help when it comes to using the console)

if anyone can lend me a hand that would be great. thanks!

So you have console but don't have gui. I assume this is true.

The first thing to check is if SuSe is using the correct driver. Log into the text console and do the following:
Type su and enter your root password
Type vi /etc/X11/xorg.conf
(This will open a command-line text editor. It will open the file with which Linux configures the gui)
By hitting the down key, look through the file for a line entitled "driver". This line will be under the section device. The driver the video card uses is listed at the right. It should say either radeon or fglrx. If it does not say either of these, do the following:
Hit the insert key (this allows vi to modify the text you see)
Change whatever it says to radeon
Hit the escape key (this will take vi out of text editing mode)
Hit the colon (:) key (this will allow you to give commands directly to vi)
Type wq and hit enter (this will save the file, close vi, and bring you back at the command line)
Type exit (this will log you back in as the original user; root is dangerous to use flippantly)
Type startx (this should start the gui)

If the above worked, then you will have a gui. However, if you intend to use SuSe for something that needs graphics power (such as a game), you must install the ATI proprietary drivers. This is complicated, and instructions are elsewhere within www.linuxquestions.org

alright, well i looked at the xorg.conf file and the "radeon" driver is already there and looks to be alright. any idea where to go from here?

www.ati.com, get the propietary drivers, get the fglrx for Xorg 6.8.2, which is what SuSE uses, and follow the New Installation Guide line by line. I mean it, line by line. Don't assume something is working, check it all, make sure it is. It will work after that. And trust me, it is step by step, it even gives a line by line of commands for the console to check on various things. ATI doesnt' allow direct linking, just go to their website, drivers and software/linux, and follow the links.

after looking through the ati website, i can't seem to find the download you mentioned. maybe its just not jumping out at me. is it on ati's site, or a third party site?

No no... it is ATI.

From their main page(damn I wish they allowed direct linking...)
Software and Drivers tab, pops up a heirmenu, select "Linux", the bottom entry.
Select "Linux Drivers and Software"
Pick "Radeon 8500 Series and Higher" for either x86 or x86_64, which ever applies to you.
Then "ATI Propietary Linux x86(or x86_64) Drivers for XFREE86 / X. Org Version 8.18.8"

There are now 3 things you need here. The "ATI Driver Installer"
Then you need an fglrx so of the 4, pick the XOrg 6.8, which applies to SuSE.
The very top link is called "New Installer Instructions" After downloading the first 2 things, open this, and follow the instructions.
The site would eb this, but those bastages hate direct linking: https://support.ati.com/ics/support/...e&folderID=300

I'm having the same problem. However on first boot after install it is telling me that there is a problem with Xorg.
If I login in failsafe I can start kde and use my laptop normally, but I have to type:

startx -- :1

everytime!!

It's driving me nuts!

alright, well i found those on the ati website, but i need to get to them in linux. i'm sure this is an extreme newbie question, but i can't download anything to linux because i can't see anything with out my screen working and i can't just transfer anything from windows to linux. can i burn a cd to do this? if so what are the steps? again, sorry, you must want to kill me for knowing nothing about linux.

You can burn a disk if you don't have a usb flash drive or something like that. Just insert the disk, and it should display some information about where it is (hdc...etc). If it doesn't automatically make it usable (it should), then mount it (mount /dev/<name of cd drive> /media/cdrom0. If you have to manually mount it you will need to be root.

I find it strange that SuSe can't use the radeon driver. I know the radeon driver works on the X700 Pro, so one would think it would work on the X600.

SuSE can, and it worked for me. It worked on the 9200 and the 9600.

Here we go... I worked it out.
Run the SUSE installation but choose Install without ACPI and that will fix it!