>> -how much experience do you have with Linux?
I would say “advanced” : managing my own system since Suse 6.xx (and at that time it was a lot of hacking to make it work). But not “nerd” level 
>> -are you dual booting with any other operating system?
nope
(I did that in the past, but now using Vmware only for ppt’s :-)) and wine for a couple of stuff.
>> -the 11.3 you are on now, is it installed over an older version? or is
>> it a fresh format/install?
Fresh. But with an old “home” although I did remove all .kde/.kde4 and related instances to avoid inconsistencies. I also tried with a new user. No luck.
[Did originally try the usual upgrade - I always try for each new release -, and as usual I have to rely on a fresh start because upgrades are usually not robust (sorry…).]
>> -did you install from a live CD or DVD?
DVD. 64 bit. on a Latitude E64300 Dell.
>> -and did your install image come from software.opensuse.org or some
>> other place?
straight openSuse download.
>> -did you do this prior to installing? Picasa Web Albums - carl fletcher - 11.3 Slideshow if
>> not, do it now and if it reports any errors tell us about it…
Didn’t do it. But will report in a second post if something comes up. Since I updated the kernel (several times) + Factory KDE 4.5 since then I don’t expect this to be the cause.
>> -did you have this problem from the very first use? i mean, did you
>> have this problem before you moved to KDE4.5 ?
Never. (I would have posted something then But I often use shell-based commands in konsole/xterms so I am only now switching more and more to a dolphin/icons etc usage.
>> -in your first post you say “create a folder named “misc” anywhere on
>> your computer” but, you tell me how you create a folder ‘anywhere’
>> outside of your home folder? did you do that as root? how?
I tried as root and as a normal user. I do this in a shell (using tcsh as normal user, bash as root) as a std “mkdir misc”. Note that I am using my laptop using standard xterm/shell 95% of the time, and 5% of the time rely on dolphin (for pics, cp/mv, and a few other things). I used this misc directory for ages and just relink with “ln -s” every time I have a reformatting of the “/” partition for a new Suse/OpenSuse.
>> -did you (for example) log into your KDE4 system as root and then
>> create a folder in the root directory named “misc” that then fell into
>> place between /media and /mnt? or just how did you create the folder
>> and where did it land when first created?
I first create a “misc” folder (mkdir) under /home. Then did "ln -s /home/misc .’ with root so that /misc is linked to /home/misc. Never had a pb with this and I do this also with a couple of directories.
Note that if I create a “misc” folder somewhere else (just in case the pb is that link to “/”), without any ln-s link it reacts in the same way, doing this as a user or as root.
>> -then, did you pick it up in dolphin and drop it into
>> /home/[yourID]/misc is that what you did?
see above. I have another folder created in the same way “science” for which I have a link between /science and /home/science. Did drop it as an icon and it works with NO problem. When I click on the icon “science” it opens the folder “science”… But not with misc (and the icon gets a name “Miscellaneous” automatically).
>> -in another post you write “/misc is a link to /home/misc (ln -s)”
>> which really confuses me because:
>> --did you create it as a link? how?
>> --why is it a link to “/home/misc” and not “/home/[yourID]/misc”?
>> --or do you have a user named “misc”?
see above. “misc” is the name of the directory/folder. The username is my name. So to recap:
- I am user XXX, and I do, in a shell/konsole window (xterm) create a directory “misc” under /home. I then go to “/” and do (as root) “ln -s /home/misc .” which does create a link so that /misc == /home/misc. That’s all. It works for other folders (including the iconification on the desktop) but with that “misc” it creates an icon with the “system settings” logo and a link to Yast (although opening the setup of the icon it looks like all is ok and it even computes the size of the folder as it should…). Puzzling. (note that I have used that misc folder since ages, but I thought that using it so often I would create now an icon on the desktop… does not work out so far)
>> i think i’m beginning to get an idea of what is going on in your
>> machine there–i think it may be a classic PEBKAC or PICNIC…
I would be just happy to have the pb solved (also because it is puzzling/odd) and sorry if this is just a stupid mistake on my side.