connect by 10.2.0.2/3 - any workaround?

Hello All

One of our queries using CONNECT BY & START WITH and it runs very slow. Was not the case with 9.2.0.6; I took a
look at the following Metalink Notes:

Note:5211863.8 Subject: Bug 5211863 - Poor plan for CONNECT BY Note:5872956.8 Subject: Bug 5872956 - Slow or Wrong Results on CONNECT BY queries with constant predicates

Applying opatch 5211863 to the 10.2.0.2 did not help much.

alter session set optimizer_features_enable="9.2.0" was not of any use. So is setting optimizer to rule.
The query did not exit at all after running for hours and had to kill it.

alter session set "_OPTIMIZER_CONNECT_BY_COST_BASED" = FALSE also did not help. It is fixed in 11g but you know it is not released yet.

Any workarounds would be appreciated.

TIA
GovindanK

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