hmmm yah i recommend just manual upgrade, cuz the auto thing sometimes has issues anyway. its a pain too cuz you must CHMOD 777 a bunch of random files, and then after wards every time, CHMOD them back to normal for security issues. i think its easier to just overwrite the proper files with the manual upgrade.
im not sure why the CHMOD aint working, mite be the security software we have on the new server. would you mind trying the manual upgrade?