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.
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.