RHEL 6, MySQL 5.6.14, Apache 2.X, PHP 5.6.X - The images directory is on a SAN device with a mapped directory to this server. I have lots of other admins that do this so I know that's not the issue.
I had to modify the code to deal with the load balancing behind an HTTPS port even though my local Apache installations are all HTTP. The admin is loading just fine. I use rsync to sync up the rest of my code for the site, but the DB and images directories are shared by all the apache sites.
Beyond that, it worked when first installed but like yours has wiped the ability to upload images to the local filesystem.
I went back and reapplied the permissions that they specify during the installation just to be sure it wasn't that something had changed in that regard but that seems to have made zero difference. The documentation is horrific, and I really wish someone with some knowledge of the code would respond with assistance since I'm not a code person beyond very rudimentary skills.