Incorrect flash memory writing Opensuse 10.3

I struggled hard to find a solution to the following problems on my own, but to no avail. So here are 2 problems that might be related.

  1. When writing to most external flash memory devices such as USB keys, SD cards, media players, etc., progress bar / percentage indicator works incorrectly. When a moderately large file is being written, the progress indicator rapidly moves to about 50% showing ridiculously high write speed. Then visual progress indicators slow down to a crawl, then completely stop. In similar “jerks” (their number depends on the size of a file) the transfer finally reaches 100% and (usually) ends successfully. But sometimes not so successfully.

  2. More often than not I cannot write anything to my 4 GB Apacer MicroSDHC card (tested via different card-readers) even when root, though the card itself is fine&tested. I get “cannot copy” errors. After a reboot the problem may disappear completely only to come back a couple of days later to persist for a week and then to vanish again. Reading from the card always works though.

Any thoughts on the subject would be greatly appreciated, thanks.