Issue Cloning sites - Sitemap question

[grassfrog]

I just installed a fresh v 3.1 on a brand new site and when I go to edit settings (to change the password), I get the error message

"Error: Unable to continue: Unable to write the configuration file. CHMOD 755 or 777 the /data, /backups folders & sub-folders and retry."

Now, the folders are already 777 -R and when I edit the settings, the changes take, but nonetheless I would like to know what file this error message is triggering off of.

Running the following commands does NOT make the error message go away.

chmod -R 777 data
chmod -R 777 backups
chmod -R 777 admin

At this juncture, I have not done anything but FTP the 3.1 version up there, run install, rename the temp.gsconfig and temp.htaccess files and set the path on .htaccess. I have not added any plugins or themes or data, so it's a little bewildering why the system would be displaying an error at this point (and one that isn't relevant, since it is apparently keeping the changes I enter in settings.

Please help me to understand what's going on. Thanks.

p.s.
GetSimple Version

GetSimple Version 3.1 - Latest version installed
Server Setup

PHP Version 5.3.8 - OK
cURL Module Installed - OK
GD Library Installed - OK
ZipArchive Installed - OK
SimpleXML Module Installed - OK
Apache Mod Rewrite Installed - OK
For more information on the required modules, visit the requirements page.

Data File Integrity Check

/data/pages/index.xml XML Valid - OK
/data/other/404.xml XML Valid - OK
/data/other/authorization.xml XML Valid - OK
/data/other/components.xml XML Valid - OK
/data/other/pages.xml XML Valid - OK
/data/other/plugins.xml XML Valid - OK
/data/other/website.xml XML Valid - OK
/backups/users/grassfrog.xml XML Valid - OK
Directory Permissions

/data/pages/ 0777 Writable - OK
/data/other/ 0777 Writable - OK
/data/other/logs/ 0777 Writable - OK
/data/thumbs/ 0777 Writable - OK
/data/uploads/ 0777 Writable - OK
/data/users/ 0777 Writable - OK
/data/cache/ 0777 Writable - OK
/backups/zip/ 0777 Writable - OK
/backups/pages/ 0777 Writable - OK
/backups/other/ 0777 Writable - OK
/backups/users/ 0777 Writable - OK
.htaccess Existence

/data/ Good 'Deny' file - OK
/data/uploads/ Good 'Allow' file - OK
/data/users/ Good 'Deny' file - OK
/data/cache/ Good 'Deny' file - OK
/data/thumbs/ Good 'Allow' file - OK
/data/pages/ Good 'Deny' file - OK
/plugins/ Good 'Deny' file - OK
/data/other/ Good 'Deny' file - OK
/data/other/logs/ Good 'Deny' file - OK
/theme/ No file - OK