i downloaded the 5 iso's and installed on my IBM t20 laptop. there was one problem during installation about a file with 586 in the title. the installation went ahead fine, everything detected etc. i installed the gnome desktop.

For some reason the mouse keeps freezing, only for about one or two seconds but it happens often enough to be extremely frustrating. it doesn't happen straight away when i log in, only after i have 'done something'
i first played the puzzle bobble game, i noticed this was freezing with the same consistency so i thought it may be that nut after i close it the mouse pointer started hanging. anybody know whats causing this? how can i fix it?

will it make a difference if i switch to the kde desktop?

it shouldn't matter if you switch to kde and the file with 586 in the title could be anything, since i'm assuming suse is i586. i would try to see if you can upgrade or reconfigure X through yum. I've never used suse so i'm not sure where or how it configures X, but that sounds like the problem.

x? yum?
this is the third distro i have tried, red hat 9 was the first, it worked fine but i was told it was outdated, ubuntu didnt detect my network card so i couldn't get online, now suse 10 is hanging. are these all common problems that can be resolved easily? or is it a case of finding a distro that just 'works'? i'm totally new to linux so im not sure what to expect.
I am currently re-installing suse which im hoping will magically fix the problem!
if it doesn't im lost!

This file you had a read error in the installation, could be a problem. I wish you have wrote down it's name.... Try to reconfigure the display to a lower resolution. Start Menu/System/YaST/Hardware/Graphics Card and Monitor. In YaST/Hardware/Mouse Model you can select another model if the current one doesn't match the one you have (or even it matches, but you can try a generic model instead).

I hope this message gets to you before you start again, which is unlike to be a solution.

oddly enough the error didnt occur on reinstallation (i installed KDE this time instead of Gnome)

I have installed Suse 10 without any problems. however sometime after i have logged in (am using KDE) the mouse 'sticks' and occasionally goes what i can only describe as 'crazy'. also if i play any of the games (that dont use the mouse) they freeze as well.
i tried to change the mouse type, but the one i use isn't listed. (im using an Ibm laptopo with a nipple type pointer)

I also have a copy of the latest ubuntu that i have tried but it didnt detect my network card so i couldn't connect to the web, but it seemed okay other than that.

could someone help me out with either of these? anybody know which will be the easiest and quickest to solve, as i am losing patience and m laptop is headed for a trip down the stairs!!! i just want it to work!

joshd1982, I have merged two of your threads as they describe the same situation. Together they make the situation more clear.

Have you looked into X and/or system logs to see if there are any errors? Look into /var/log/messages.