Cannot Detect CD-ROM computer with no OS

[stupidenator]

Hi everyone,
I have a computer with no operating system on it. I have been trying to put one on for a long time. The computer recognizes the floppy drive and so I got some generic CD-ROM drivers, put them on a floppy, and stuck it in the machine. The program runs and then aborts because it says it does not detect any CD-ROM. I have switched out the CD-ROM itself and rotated between three different ones (two of which I know were working). Would this have anything to do witht he jumper settings or the ribbon cable layout? (e.g. hooked to its own or sharing with the hard drive) I know that when the computer boots, it the BIOS cannot even find a primary master. It then runs a RAID and detects the hard drive as the primary master, nothing for the primary slave, the CD-ROM for the secondary master, and nothing for the secondary slave. Thank you for any help you can give me!
Nick