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
~OVERSTOCK~ 15.6" Lenovo ThinkPad Laptop: 8GB RAM 512 GB SSD Windows 10
$179.99
~CD/DVD DRIVE~15.6" Lenovo ThinkPad Laptop PC: Intel i5 16GB RAM 512GB SSD
$189.99
~OVERSTOCK~ 15.6" Lenovo ThinkPad Laptop: Intel i5 8GB RAM 256GB SSD Win 10
$169.99
Lenovo ThinkPad T480 14" Touchscreen Laptop i5 256GB NVMe 16GB RAM Win 11 Pro
$249.00
Lenovo - LOQ 15.6" Gaming Laptop FHD - Intel Core i5-13420H with 8GB Memory -...
$629.99
Lenovo 100e Chromebook Laptop 2nd Gen | 11.6" HD | MTK 1.7GHz | 4GB RAM | 32GB
$32.00
Lenovo Ideapad 1i 15.6" FHD Notebook Intel Core i5-1235U 8GB RAM 256GB SSD
$349.99
Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 11e 11.6" 2in1 Touch Intel Core i3 4GB RAM 128GB SSD Win10
$59.00
Notebook Lenovo Slim Pro 9 Laptop, 16" Glass, i9-13905H, GB, 1TB SSD
$1051.99
Lenovo ThinkPad 14" Laptop Computer Core i7 16GB RAM 256GB SSD Windows 10 Pro
$229.99