Run the command cat /proc/bus/input/devices | grep -i touchpad to see if the system recognizes your touchpad. If the output looks similar to the following, it indicates that the touchpad is recognized ...

I'm trying out a copy of SuSe 9.0 (I'm a long time Debian user myself, but I'm curious to see what I'm missing). However, I can't for the life of me get my scroll wheel to work! I don't understand ...