Sony takes the prize for cool but odd laptops. ANY suggestions for fixing this situation would be appreciated:

symptoms (below linux icon) during boot:
Welcome to the KNOPPIX...
Enabling DMA acceleration...hda [TOSHIBA MK6412MAT]
Enabling DMA acceleration...hde [TOSHIBA CD-ROM XM-1902B]
Accessing KNOPPIX CDROM at /dev/scd0...
Total memory found: 191244 kB
Creating /ramdisk (dynamic size=147904k) on shared memory...Done
Creating directories and...Done
Starting init process
INIT: version 2.78-knoppix booting
---system hangs here and requires power off to restart---

specific info:
booting with: knoppix ide2=0x180,0x386 pci=off

general info:
problem is identical with knoppix 3.4 and 3.6 CDs
same problem with knoppix26...
same koppix 3.4 and 3.6 CDs boot fine on desktop PCs
debian 3.0r2 CD1 and w2k pro install CD boot fine on viao
knoppix CDs can be fully "explored" with w2k running on viao
no increase in progress using: nodma, nousb, nopcmcia, failsafe, etc.

additional oddness:
CDROM drive is labeled PCGA-CD51, but knoppix lists XM-1902B???