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Most of the hardware of the Acer TravelMate 252LM_DT is supported by Linux.
The notebook utilizes the following components:

CPU

Pentium 4 2,6 GHz

# cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor       : 0
vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 15
model           : 2
model name      : Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.60GHz
stepping        : 9
cpu MHz         : 2598.784
cache size      : 512 KB
f_bug           : no
hlt_bug         : no
f00f_bug        : no
coma_bug        : no
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 2
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 sep mtrr pge mca cmov
 pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe cid
bogomips        : 5144.57

RAM

2x 256 MB

# sensors
eeprom-i2c-0-51
Adapter: SMBus I801 adapter at 1880
Memory type:            DDR SDRAM DIMM
Memory size (MB):       256

eeprom-i2c-0-50
Adapter: SMBus I801 adapter at 1880
Memory type:            DDR SDRAM DIMM
Memory size (MB):    256

sensord: Adapter: SMBus I801 adapter at 1880
sensord: Algorithm: Unavailable from sysfs
sensord:   Memory type: DDR SDRAM DIMM SPD
sensord:   Memory size (MB): Invalid 13 9 2 4
sensord: Chip: eeprom-i2c-0-50
sensord: Adapter: SMBus I801 adapter at 1880
sensord: Algorithm: Unavailable from sysfs
sensord:   Memory type: DDR SDRAM DIMM SPD
sensord:   Memory size (MB): Invalid 13 9 2 4

Harddisk

The harddisk is a Seagate ST94011A, it supports UltraDMA mode5.
To activate UDMA mode try this:

hdparm -c1 -d1 -m16 -u1 -X 69 /dev/hda    # UDMA100 (UltraDMA mode5)

DVD Drive

The DVD drive is a Toshiba DVD-ROM SD-R6112, it supports UltraDMA mode3.
To activate UDMA mode try this:

hdparm -c1 -d1 -u1 -X 67 /dev/hdc         # UDMA66 (UltraDMA mode3)

The drive supports this formats for writing:

format	speed
DVD-R	2x
DVD-RW	1x

Have a look at my /etc/hdparm.conf.

Infrared Interface

The IrDA chip is an IBM SC 20H2987, it supports SIR and FIR mode.

Probing with findchip -v -d gives this results:

[...]
Probing for EFER at 0x0370 ...
hefras = 0xff
EFER seems to be probed at 0x0370
chip id = 0xff, revision = 0xff
Wrong device ID = 0xff
[...]

SIR mode didn't work for me, so I tried FIR.
First you have to disable the serial interface connected to the IR controller:

setserial /dev/ttyS1 uart none

Have a look at my /etc/serial.conf.
Load the kernel module:

modprobe nsc-ircc io=0x2f8 irq=3 dma=1 dongle_id=0x09

To be able to communicate with my Sony Ericsson T68i, I've tuned some values via procfs:

echo 115200 > /proc/sys/net/irda/max_baud_rate
echo 2000 > /proc/sys/net/irda/max_tx_data_size
echo 1000 > /proc/sys/net/irda/min_tx_turn_time
echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/irda/max_tx_window

Then attach the kernel module to the network interface:

irattach irda0 -s

Check, if attachment was successful:

irdadump

You should see the traffic on the interface.
To establish a serial connection over the IR link using /dev/ircomm0 you have to load this:

modprobe ircomm-tty

Audio Interface

The soundcard is an Intel Corp. 82801DB AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 03).
It utilizes the sound chip Cirrus Logic CS4299 rev 4,Silicon Laboratory Si3036/8 rev 7.
The soundcard is supported by the ALSA snd_intel8x0 kernel module.

I have configured the soundcard using the utility alsaconf.

The JACK audio daemon also works. It should be started by an ordinary user (not root):

jackd -d alsa -r 44100

Graphics Interface

The graphics interface is an Intel Corp. 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device (rev 02).
It is supported by the XFree86 i810 driver.

Check my /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 for details.

Ethernet Interface

The network interface is a Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10).

eth0:  Identified 8139 chip type 'RTL-8101'

It works fine with the 8139too kernel module.

Modem

The modem is an Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 03).
The modem diagnostic tool of Microsoft Windows detected an Agere Systems AC'97 Modem. Here is the full modem log.

The modem is supported by the Smart Link Soft Modem for Linux, developed by Smart Link Ltd. It provides full-featured 56K Voice Fax Modem. This is implemented as a generic application (slmodemd) and a set of hardware specific kernel-space drivers (slamr, slusb). We will use one of the ALSA modem drivers instead of proprietary ones.
ALSA has the built-in modem drivers included in 'alsa-driver' >= 1.0.2 and in Linux kernel >= 2.6.5. Currently there is an 'intel8x0m' (snd-intel8x0m) modem driver, which supports ICH based AC97 modems (MC97).
To build the application 'slmodemd' with ALSA support, do:

cd modem
make SUPPORT_ALSA=1

cp /usr/local/src/slmodem-2.9.x/modem/slmodemd /usr/sbin

Config modem country.
Use AT+GCI= command to setup country.
Also you can setup default modem country by passing command line parameter '--country=MY_COUNTRY' to program 'slmodemd'.
See output of 'slmodemd --countrylist' for a list of supported country names and T.35 country codes (see also 'slmodemd --help').
Note: Command ATI7 shows currently installed country setting.
Use option '--alsa' when running 'slmodemd' and ALSA conventional device name ('hw:0' or 'hw:1' for instance). If modem support in the kernel was enabled as module module 'snd-intel8x0m' should be loaded.

/usr/sbin/slmodemd --country=GERMANY --alsa hw:1 &
SmartLink Soft Modem: version 2.9.x  Oct  4 2004 08:15:39
symbolic link `/dev/ttySL0' -> `/dev/pts/24' created.
modem `hw:1' created. TTY is `/dev/pts/24'
Use `/dev/ttySL0' as modem device, Ctrl+C for termination.
[1] 14048

ln -s /dev/ttySL0 /dev/modem

Here is my /etc/init.d/slmodemd

Touchpad

The touchpad is a Synaptics touchpad, hardwired to an internal PS/2 port.
It is supported by the XFree86 synaptics driver.
To install the synaptics driver do

apt-get install xfree86-driver-synaptics

I also have a Logitech M-BJ69 Optical Mouse connected to an USB port.
Both can be used together as pointing devices in XFree86.

Have a look at my XF86Config.

Cardbus Controller

The cardbus controller is an Texas Instruments PCI1520 PC card Cardbus Controller (rev 01)
with 2 ports.
It is directly supported by the PCMCIA Card Services.

USB2 Controller

The USB2 controller is an Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 03)
with 4 ports.

Multimedia Keys

There is an kernel module called acerhk, but the multimedia keys are not supported.
The brightness keys [Fn] + [Left] and [Fn] + [Right] work without a driver.
The volume keys [Fn] + [Up] and [Fn] + [Down] work with the gnome-keybinding-properties.
[Fn] + [Up] sends scancode 0xb0, [Fn] + [down] sends 0xae.

ACPI

ACPI version 20040326 is used.
Sleep modes S0 S3 S4 S5 are supported.

You can check the following acpi devices via procfs:

AC adapter
battery
lid button
power button
sleep button
embedded controller
event
processor
thermal zones

The events are supported through acpid.

SMBus Controller

The SMBus controller is an Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBM (ICH4) SMBus Controller (rev 03).
Not tested so far.
To use the SMBus controller the lm_sensors package is needed.

Debian GNU/Linux on Acer TravelMate 252LM_DT

CPU

RAM