According to this page, the Debian xserver-xfree86 package includes support for the Intel i815 chipset in the SRX87, so grab that using dselect or similar.

In dselect, install kernel-image-2.4.18-686. This will drag in all of the other required packages for a 2.4 kernel. It’ll suggest kernel-pcmcia-modules-2.4.18-686 as well. You might as well select this as well.

A page that I found recommends installing the spicctrl and sjog packages to get control over the LCD brightness and JogDial.

You’ll need to install the ACPI patches, and the ACPI daemon. Grab the patches from here, and apply them to the kernel:

First, you’ll need to recompile your kernel, with the following options:

Note: Caoilte wrote this. I’ve not had a chance to check it yet.

To get the DVD-ROM drive working, you’ll need to compile your kernel with the following options:

...

Note: This is a preliminary version of this document. I’ve not fully verified that the stuff in here works.

Debian provides a powerful utility called make-kpkg for compiling your own custom kernels. It integrates tightly with dpkg by making .deb files and you can even use this to prepare your kernel image on a faster system. Later on it will make complex operations, such as compiling in patches and modules, a snap.