[opensuse] 10.2 Freezing On Boot

I have had 10.2 installed on one of my boxes since it was first released and until today it never given me any problems. When I turned this box on today the boot process started and froze at "Setting up the hardware clock". Tried several hardware resets and a few attempts at a "Safe Boot", but it continues to freeze at the same point. There is no problem booting into Win XP, or live CDs from 4 other distros where there does not appear issue with the date/time setting. Can anyone offer any thoughts or suggestions as to a possible cause and/or solution. TIA Dave