headless, not headless, same issue. Tried both ways: instant killing desktop an go on with the guide over SSH from the beginning and on the other hand following the guide on Desktop environment.
I used Inaba's guide to install Ubuntu 11.04, 2nd post for 2.4 APP, by skipping ssh & it worked/working for me.
http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=7514.0Then installed 11.6 with help from many (Ubuntu 11.04 comes with 11.5) & created this thread.
http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=22855.0Hope these 2 helps you.