Are you using Claws and are you confortable with xterm and becomeroot? If no please ignore the rest.. If yes could you do the following? Open an xterm. try to backup again choosing only 'settings' does it work now? Note that you can revert back to your previous configuration by doing the following: It seems for me this is the root of the problem which makes my backup-osso nuts and I would like to double check with others before filling a bug. Thanks.