After installing GNU/Linux in UEFI Secure Boot mode (where supported), the installation must be marked as trusted from the Setup menu accessible by pressing and holding F2 while powering on the system.

The touchpad may not work until it is placed in Basic mode from the F2 Setup menu.

The Acer Aspire ES1-523 works on GNU/Linux, but the following features do not work without non-free firmware:

• Accelerated graphics. All graphics will be software-rendered via llvmpipe in Debian 8 and Trisquel 7.0.
• Backlight Dimming. Screen is permanently set on maximum brightness.
• Suspend. The device is unable to resume from suspend.
• WiFi. 802.11 Wireless LAN connectivity is not available.

The following devices still work without non-free software:

• Audio Playback (3.5mm audio jack works)
• Bluetooth (Bluetooth Module for PulseAudio recommended if using Bluetooth for audio)
• CPU reclocking and fan speed control
• SD Card Slot
• Touchpad
• USB Ports (2.0 and 3.0)

This is a list of devices on a stock system, as reported by lspci, lsusb, and lscpu on Debian 8.7.1 with the 4.9.0-0 kernel.

00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device [1022:1566]
	Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:108a]
00:01.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Mullins [Radeon R3 Graphics] [1002:9850] (rev 45)
	Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:108a]
00:01.1 Audio device [0403]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Kabini HDMI/DP Audio [1002:9840]
	Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:108a]
	Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
00:02.0 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device [1022:156b]
00:02.2 PCI bridge [0604]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 16h Processor Functions 5:1 [1022:1439]
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:02.3 PCI bridge [0604]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 16h Processor Functions 5:1 [1022:1439]
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:08.0 Encryption controller [1080]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device [1022:1537]
	Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:108a]
	Kernel driver in use: ccp
00:10.0 USB controller [0c03]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB XHCI Controller [1022:7814] (rev 11)
	Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:108a]
	Kernel driver in use: xhci_hcd
00:11.0 SATA controller [0106]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SATA Controller [AHCI mode] [1022:7801] (rev 39)
	Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:108a]
	Kernel driver in use: ahci
00:12.0 USB controller [0c03]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB EHCI Controller [1022:7808] (rev 39)
	Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:108a]
	Kernel driver in use: ehci-pci
00:13.0 USB controller [0c03]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH USB EHCI Controller [1022:7808] (rev 39)
	Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:108a]
	Kernel driver in use: ehci-pci
00:14.0 SMBus [0c05]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SMBus Controller [1022:780b] (rev 42)
	Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:108a]
00:14.2 Audio device [0403]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH Azalia Controller [1022:780d] (rev 02)
	Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:108a]
	Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
00:14.3 ISA bridge [0601]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH LPC Bridge [1022:780e] (rev 11)
	Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:108a]
00:14.7 SD Host controller [0805]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] FCH SD Flash Controller [1022:7813] (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:108a]
	Kernel driver in use: sdhci-pci
00:18.0 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device [1022:1580]
00:18.1 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device [1022:1581]
00:18.2 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device [1022:1582]
00:18.3 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device [1022:1583]
	Kernel driver in use: k10temp
00:18.4 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device [1022:1584]
	Kernel driver in use: fam15h_power
00:18.5 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Device [1022:1585]
01:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller [10ec:8168] (rev 15)
	Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:108a]
	Kernel driver in use: r8169
02:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Qualcomm Atheros Device [168c:0042] (rev 31)
	Subsystem: Foxconn International, Inc. Device [105b:e0a1]
	Kernel driver in use: ath10k_pci

Bus 004 Device 004: ID 0489:e0a3 Foxconn / Hon Hai 
Bus 004 Device 003: ID 04f2:b47f Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd 
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 0438:7900 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. 
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 003: ID 0bda:0129 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTS5129 Card Reader Controller
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 0438:7900 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. 
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

Architecture:          x86_64
CPU op-mode(s):        32-bit, 64-bit
Byte Order:            Little Endian
CPU(s):                4
On-line CPU(s) list:   0-3
Thread(s) per core:    1
Core(s) per socket:    4
Socket(s):             1
NUMA node(s):          1
Vendor ID:             AuthenticAMD
CPU family:            22
Model:                 48
Model name:            AMD A4-7210 APU with AMD Radeon R3 Graphics
Stepping:              1
CPU MHz:               1000.000
CPU max MHz:           1800.0000
CPU min MHz:           1000.0000
BogoMIPS:              3592.96
Virtualization:        AMD-V
L1d cache:             32K
L1i cache:             32K
L2 cache:              2048K
NUMA node0 CPU(s):     0-3

As of April 2017, the following issues affect this device:

• WiFi and Bluetooth Kill switch (Fn+F3) does not work.
• Touchpad palm rejection is not enabled by default.
• In GNOME (3.14.1), the device is erroneously assumed to have a working tilt sensor. The orientation lock button appears but serves no function.
• In Trisquel 7.0, the volume controls routinely become unresponsive.