I updated the BIOS because I was told that it would fix the double-boot issue (which, interestingly enough, it did not). I flashed the BIOS after this problem, so I don't think that's the issue (I wish it were that simple).
However, I'm running a hard drive with Windows on the same machine, and it's working properly. I was planning on re-installing Ubuntu anyways, but with the problem of my CD-rom not working, I'm dead in the water.
Perhaps I can pull the drive out of another computer and give it a shot.