OpenSUSE Network :: Ethernet Not Working After Upgrade To 11.4?

system:
destop
openSUSE 11.4 KDE
single wired network connection
running as a headless server
upgrade from 11.1

Problem: I had a bunch network services running under 11.1 with KDE. Now after upgrade to 11.4 full network functionality is broken. I was using ifup but now is broken. Between ifup and NetworkManager I can demonstrate the full required range of functionality but not all at the same time (the union of functionality of each provides the full required functionality, but not individually). WOL does work in all cases.

With 'ifup', it seems that everything is 'working' as before, but services are broken when accessed from outside. eth0 up and fuctioning with statically assigned IP. Outgoing connections seem to work - I can browse the web. But trying to access services from outside is broken. VNC is rejected. Connecting to SMB shares reports login error. TFTP doesn't respond. SSH connection is rejected.

Although sometimes it will get in a state that everything except VNC works (connects but then is dropped upon login with "Error while waiting for server message") but I can't consistently reproduce this state other than it seems to happen after some extended period of time.

I have verified the firewall is off and apparmour is off.

On the other hand, everything works with 'NetManager' (both KDE and Plasmoid) with no other changes. The problem here is that it does not seem possible to set a static IP address - eth0 doesn't show up in the list of wired interfaces to be able to select and edit. That's problem 1 - I need a static IP. (I suppose I could reserve an address at the DHCP server, but a static IP works 100% to get the right address). The other problem is that neither NetManager starts at boot and only start _after_ login at the console - that won't work as I never log in at the console. (I suppose I could set it up to login automatically into a console or something but I would rather not)