I can not find a way to have yast install the nvidia driver for suse 10.1. I did a manual nvidia driver install for fedora once and would prefer an easier way. With suse 10.0, nvidia was one of the yast online updates. Why is the option not available with 10.1?

You can go to:

http://en.opensuse.org/Additional_Ya...e_Repositories

and pick a repo and add it to the yast installation source.
Then you can install the driver from yast.

Control Center - Yast - Online update. Select patch category 'installable and intalled'. Deleselect all updates except the nvidia driver. Finish the installation.

In future, if you do an online update that includes a kernel update, you will probably have to re-install the nvidia driver.

I find that using "tiny-nvidia-installer --update" is the easiest method. You don't do this with the X server running, so you need to log out of KDE or GNOME first and switch to "init 3" as root. This will download the latest nvidia driver and start the installation. You usually just answer yes to all the questions, and then run "sax2" if needed after the installation completes.

There is a problem. I was able to get the driver, but I had to update the kernel as well. On re-boot, I saw the suse splash screen, then the text screen that ended at logon:
I am able to log on, but the kde desktop does not appear. The last two lines during boot are:
runlevel 5 has been reached
skipped services in runlevel 5.
It looks like the pc boots to runlevel 5, but kde does not start. After logging on, I typed 'kde' and read several errors and then ran a shut down script and I was back at the command prompt. Do I need to edit a configuration file to get kde running again?

I tried sax2 and let it accept the configuration. After what seemed like an unusually long reboot, I was able to get the the kde desktop, however, not all the programs picked from the menu will run. I tried a 3d game and had audio, but a black screen. I was unable to get out of it so I hit reset. I then had a reboot with a black screen. I hit ctrl-alt-backspace several times and was able to log in the graphic way. I am afraid to proceed further, not knowing if I am doing good or bad. I am going to let the pc idle in suse linux so I can fix whatever needs tweeking. I do not think that the nvidia driver properly loaded. I did not see the nvidia splash screen. Let me know if there is a log file to cut/paste for trouble shooting.

Did you update the driver before updating the kernel. I wonder if you are back to using the nv driver instead of the nvidia driver. Whenever I update the kernel, I re-run "tiny-nvidia-installer --update". If you have the most recent driver, it will probably run the one you already have.
I will also rebuild my ndiswrapper rpm's after a kernel download, because I use a version I built from source. I don't know why menu items aren't working anymore, unless they depend on 3d acceleration and it isn't enabled anymore.

There is a NVidia installer log you can look at. It is probably the same as the information you saw on the screen.
You can also check out the xorg log. Pick the one with the latest date. It will tell you which driver was used, and errors are marked (EE) making errors easy to search in "less" or to grep for.

You might also take a look at ~/.xsession.errors.

Ok, I have new info that might explain what went wrong. I ran the tiny installer and was presented with the following: The nvidia riva tnt2 model 64/model 64 pro gpu installed in this system is supported through the nvidia legacy linux graphics drivers. Please visit http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html for more info. The 1.0-9631 nvidia linux graphics driver will ignore this gpu.
Then the tiny installer could not find a kernal interface and tried to make one and then said: unable to find the development tool 'cc' in your path; please make sure you have the package 'gcc' installed. Do I need to install the gcc compiler and get an older driver to install and how is the driver manually installed?

I resolved my problem by reinstalling suse. Since I did not have much work on it, a reformat and install was the easiest way to get back to a good starting point. To avoid the same mistakes I made earlier, what should I have done first? I updated the kernel because the 'nvidia-gfx-kmp-"kernel flavor" ' was outdated with my stock kernel. Nvidia has the latest legacy driver for download, but how can I be certain it is compatable with my card? I never had an nvidia issue before. I thought one driver fit all nvidia cards. If tiny-nvidia-installer and yast get the latest driver and I nedd a legacy driver, is a manual install my only option?