For closure this is how I freed the CDROM problem referred to in my 6/25/05 post.
Using i386 Knoppix CD 3.2.8, Linu kernel 2.6.11 beginner installed to a non-bootable external USB drive partition (uba4). Two ATAPI cd drives on the secondary IDE channel (/hd[cd]). Boot from knoppix-cd on /dev/hdc

From pivot_root install directions (changes in RED, my comments added):
# sudo su #gives superuser priveleges.
# mkdir /mnt/new_root #Any name e.g. usbroot will do.
# mount /dev/uba4 /mnt/new_root #Makes the file system on uba4 accessible
# cd /mnt/new_root #Working directory from RAM root to uba4
# pivot_root . /mnt/new_root/mnt/old-root #Switches root to uba4 from RAM with a copy of the RAM root put in the /mnt/old_root subfolder on uba4. The /mnt/old_root subfolder was mkdir on the initial boot-up and could have been named anything e.g. oldramroot.
# mount -t proc /proc /proc #Mount all active processes of type proc to the /proc subfolder.
# echo 0 > /proc/sys/dev/cdrom/lock #unlocks the cdrom eject button
# umount -dl /mnt/old_root/cdrom #Force unmount of old root access to cdrom
# eject #ejects the Knoppix-CD. Complains the drive is not referred to as /cdrom.
# /etc/init.d/autofs start #make automount active! In /etc/auto.master we comment out aotomount.sh and remove the comment to use auto.mnt
# init 5