Can't Update Files

My update icon has turned into a yellow triangle and i get this message:

Unable to check for patches and updates because /usr/sbin/zypp-checkpatches-wrapper helper programm is not set SUID root. This problem might be solved by setting "File Permissons" in YaST "Local Security" tab to "easy" or by modifying /etc/permissions.local

I can't log in as su in a terminal to add commands to fix the problem. Is there a work around for this? Any suggestions?

Did your sysadmin change something then?

Using the following command to set SUID root corrects the issue:
# chmod u+s /usr/sbin/zypp-checkpatches-wrapper

Did your sysadmin change something then?
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I don't know. I was trying to install updates in synaptic and one of the updates seemed to hang up, but I couldn't tell which file it was. When I try to go to su in the terminal I get "user permissions may be too restrictive for the database" and incorrect password.

Hmm, you may have corrupted files on your system. This is worrying, since this is usually associated with disk errors.

Hmm, you may have corrupted files on your system. This is worrying, since this is usually associated with disk errors.
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Do I need to reinstall suse 10.3?

Boot to single user mode by adding the word single to the boot options at the splash screen and check the partitions for errors.

fsck -A