As it turns out the buggy package is for sure the gnome-settings-daemon. I wasn't able to make the broken install work properly by downloading a deb with a different version, but I was able to break an install and the BETA LiveCD simply by updating this package.
Further, another clean install of the beta and then version locking the gnome-settings-daemon kept it alive even after all other updates were applied. I'm guessing I should file a new bug report on this package. Thanks for all the help and advice. -- [RV350] Desktop corruption – Screen only shows vertical bands https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/643118 You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu-X, which is subscribed to xorg-server in ubuntu. _______________________________________________ Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-x-swat Post to : ubuntu-x-swat@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-x-swat More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp