I have a similar problem after upgrade to 11.04: gnome-settings-daemon still runs, and there is no indication of any crash in logs. However all programs fail to apply GNOME themes, until gnome-settings-daemon is killed and started again.
** Changed in: gnome-settings-daemon (Ubuntu) Status: New => Confirmed -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/521766 Title: Theme not applied on startup -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs