The XF86Config file hasn't changed from when it wasn't working, its still /dev/mouse. Something is changing in some other file other than XF86Config. The annoying part of this whole thing is that the only way to fix the problem was to log into X as root and let it auto-configure.
Sorry I wasn't clear, /dev/mouse is a link what does it point to?
ls -l /dev/mouse lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 Nov 12 15:23 /dev/mouse -> /dev/input/mice
That should work for a USB mouse. If it pointed to /dev/psaux (ps based mouse) or something that didn't exist...
I don't remember what the link pointed to when it didn't work. Normally in SuSE though, *should* running 'sax2 -a' fix any problems like this, or is it normal to have to log into X as root for it to fix itself? I'm a Red Hat user who's trying out SuSE, so I don't know the ins and outs of how SuSE works yet. Chris