CD-RW in linux

[woodi2259]

I recently started using slackware linux and have slowy been trying to get all my devices working. I was able to get modem and sound going eventually but ran into problems trying to steup printer and CD-RW. I tried to set up the drive following the howto's i found online but just got lost and had little success. I have attempted to rebuild the kernel for scsi emulation so my ide cd-rw drive will work as scsi but havn't had success. as for the printer it's an hp photosmart 1215 on my usb port can't seem to get usb warking. any help would be great thanks.

compaq pc (yeah i know it sucks)
amd athlon 4 1.3ghz
256mb ram
philips (oem) cd burner
dvd-rom (oem) (works fine)
dual boot windows xp/slackware linux