Ecto & WP2.0.2 image upload permissions problem

When I upgraded from 1.5.2 to 2.0.2 my ecto image uploads started failing with an error 500 “Could not write file XXX”.

This fails with permissions of 755 or 775. My temp workaround is to set permissions on the ‘upload directory’ to 777.

Possibly the problem is related to my Options/Misc/Store Uploads option, which is set to “wp-content/uploads”. The files are actually being uploaded to ~/pix/ at root of blog. That’s where I’ve been uploading images thru many WP versions. Danged if I can locate in either ecto or WP where that ~/pix/ directive is stored:-)

If I change the Options/Misc/Store Uploads option to “pix” or “/pix” same error 500 [with permissions less than 777].

My hosting folks at luxsci.com are also stumped. Any suggestions mucho appreciated!