Linux Newb - CDRW/DVDRW isn't recognized - Please help

[Raspberry]

I'm still pretty intimidated by Gentoo. I love it, but still learning how to find/install non-buggy programs that i need (such as frostwire) and fixing glitches that come up like this Cd/dvd drive issue or programs not running properly.

Will it be a very complicated fix? I'm willing to give it a try!

I feel like if I stick with Gentoo, I'll need to go buy a bunch of linux/Gentoo books and twist my brain into knots, lol . I just got a huge external HD, so I could give it a whirl and try to learn it and simply keep all my goods on the ext HD if it doesn't work out .

I know windows can have the same problems, and gentoo tends to be simpler with the no spam/spy ware/adware junk. More stable.. if you know how to fix it .

Any books you might recommend for learning gentoo and basic stuff like installing new programs/software, updating, fixing driver issues, learning commands? Or just pester people on here for a while? Hehe

[Segfault]

http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/list.xml

No need to buy.

[Raspberry]

Awesome. Thanks!

The main motivation behind fixing the Cd/DVD drive glitch with Gentoo before removing Gentoo is to get my music files off the hard drive. Tried plugging my ext HD in via USB but same problem, isn't recognized by Gentoo.

[Segfault]

It may be recognized by Gentoo. You should understand Linux is modular. There is practically unlimited number of possibilities to put it all together. Whether a device is recognized or not is best seen in system log. The device, even if recognized, may or may not to show up on your desktop. There may be a problem with your desktop configuration, whatever that is. Do you know what desktop environment you are using?

[Raspberry]

Ok, going to start deleting partitions/drives. Just wanted to make really sure I'm doing this right before taking the plunge.

So I opened root prompt via terminal.. entered fdisk -l to show drives/partitions. It shows:

device/boot start end blocks id system
/dev/sda1 * 1 12 96358+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 18663 19457 6385837+ 5 Extended
/dev/sda3 13 3051 24410767+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 3052 18662 125395357+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda5 18663 19457 6385806 82 Linux swap / Solaris

So I need to delete all of these listed partitions (5 total) before rebboting with the windows operating reinstall disc?

Or do I delete all the "linux" ones and leave the system named "extended"?

Thanks for everything!

[MikeTbob]

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=1

Will delete everything on that drive...including partitions.