YOU error

hi there, i'm sure this is an obvious problem and a newbie issue...but i'll ask anyway after exhausting my online research as a last resort... i got suse 9 installed fine on my laptop, dual boot system. however, when i run Yast Online Update I get the following error... "error Unable to get './i386/update/9.0/patches/directory.3' or to read the directory (socket error: 111)." has anyone seen this before or know how to fix it? the research i've done hasn't produced any definitive answers. thanks in advance for you time and patience. -maria