[newbie] USB CD-writer

[Mafiajoe3]

hi,
    does anyone know of a way to get an HP CD-writer plus 8200i USB CD
writer working without having to recompile the kernel. i have tried
recompiling and have not been able to boot correctly. i had the CD writer
working well with redhat 7.1, but i don't like red hat, i was just trying it
out. so i am now back to mandrake 8.0 and was wondering if anyone else knew
of a way to get this device to work.
thanks,
JOE