Could not create directory. /public_html (yes, I've looked everywhere)

Hey guys,

I’ve looked everywhere. All of the suggestions that people have given have failed on other websites. What I have done so far:

Changed ALL directories from public_html and up to permissions of 777.
Deleted the upgrade folder, re-created it, and gave it permissions of 777.
Changed the upload folder under Settings > Media to wp-content/uploads/ (before it was blank, and after that I tried wp-content/uploads and it didn’t work either. Should I try this again or is wp-content/uploads/ good enough?)
Tried logging in as root instead of my usual username and it just comes back to me and says that the username or password is incorrect when I am positive that it isn’t. My usual username does indeed login, but I’m obviously having this problem.

Please, help me :(.