Category Icons Plugin: Default Uploads Path Not Accessible

I’ve been trying for two days to figure out a problem I’m having, and would greatly appreciate any advice you all have to help me fix it. I’m using the Category Icons plugin, and it tells me the default uploads path in the settings, wp-content/uploads, is “not accessible.” I’ve made sure the permissions are set at 777 for both the wp-content and uploads directories, but for some reason, it’s still telling me it’s inaccessible. Can someone help? Thanks.

ADDITIONALLY, if I try to change info in the options-misc.php page (that was missing, so I copied it from the most previous version of WP), and then try to save the changes, it tells me “options.php” not found, but it is there when I look.