Just playing this AM and I found that switching from gdm to lightdm with lightdm-gtk-greeter allows me to boot to a usable flashback (no effects) session so I added the gdm tag.
** Package changed: ubuntu-gnome-default-settings (Ubuntu) => gdm (Ubuntu) -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1245209 Title: Flashback (no effects) session unusable in Ubuntu GNOME Saucy To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gdm/+bug/1245209/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs