OpenSuse custom keyboard shortcuts not working

Simple answer: Disable desktop effects

Long answer: I didn't even know compiz was my window manager!, I thought it was "gnome", somewhere in the configuration I saw "gnome-wm" listed as the "window manager", but I just found out that this is just a script to load the actual window manager

There's also an environment variable WINDOWMANAGER=/usr/bin/gnome

so I guess this raises more questions for me, how do I know which display/desktop manager, window manager, is actually active? well I actually know the display manager is gnome, because that was part of the installation

anyway, for anyone else having the same problem, open up the control center, go to "look and feel", select "Desktop effects" and uncheck the box "enable desktop effects"

a quicker way to get to the same dialog is to run the command simple-ccsm (from the run application dialog, gnome-do, or the terminal).

now, that (I think) I know that I have compiz as my window manager, I also tried going into the gconf-editor/apps/compiz/general/allscreens/options and set my shortcuts there, but that didn't work (did try logging out and back in again)

You do not have to disable Compiz completely. I had the same issue, but it affected specifically the "Run Application Dialog" and "Open Main Menu". The problem is that Compiz Fusion takes control over some keyboard shotcuts to keep compatibility. This can be configured through the Compiz plugin "Gnome Compatibility" and other areas of the Compiz Panel.