You didn't make an original contribution to a Roth. So, indicating a Roth contribution is the primary source of the problem you are facing. In fact, it sounds like you didn't make any IRA contributions, and just moved money to different accounts.
Under Federal Taxes- Deductions and Credits- IRA Contributions, keep the Roth box checked and proceed until you can remove the dollar amount indicated as a 2016 contribution. When you convert money from a Traditional IRA to a Roth, that is not treated as a contribution. A conversion is a distribution from one account that you place into another, whereas a contribution means you put "new money" into a Roth. A backdoor Roth is not considered a Roth contribution.
There's never such thing as your MAGI keeping you from having a distribution, but it is a problem with making an IRA contribution. Recharacterizing contributions doesn't get you around the problem of not having enough earned income/ MAGI. So, the resolution is not for you to recharacterize, its that you need to remove all indications of having made a Roth contribution.
When did you make the original Traditional IRA contribution? If you didn't do that in 2016, then there should be no indication of having made any IRA contributions. Based on your comment, I get the sense that no contributions were made in 2016, but that your account just got closed and moved in 2016.
All of that activity is handled under the 1099-R entry area (income)-
- Your 1099-R showing the money going from the rollover IRA to new (Roth) IRA. After entering this, you are asked if you took the money out or rolled into another plan. From here, you will indicated that you converted it to a Roth
