@jeff - Thanks. the script in /etc/rc2.d worked perfectly for me.

@linuxrebel - Thanks but I already tried that and it didn't work for me. Probably because despite some serious searching I couldn't find one example of what the modprobe.conf file is supposed to look like. IMO, the manpage seems to assume that I already know a lot about modprobe, which is kinda ******ed. No fault of yours though, and thanks for the suggestion.

@penguinbait - Thanks to you too, but that sounds like overkill. A four line sh script (including the shebang) was plenty to get the job done. But since you brought it up, if I were to install your file, where do I insert DVD's into this thing?? I've looked all over it and can't get a CD/DVD tray to slide out anywhere. There must be a button I'm overlooking.