Pinephones

[TheForteanDentist]

I may be asking the wrong people here. If so, I apologise
I had a problem with my Pinephones (2), since resolved using the nuclear option of reinstalling Danctnix; the Pinephone version of Arch for Arm.
What happened was that the two phones became progressively less functional. E.g. The “Software” and “Settings” icons no longer functioned. (There were other problems) The wheel spun and then I got the wallpaper.
Now Arch in it’s original form on computers has never let me down. I assumed two things.
1) that Danctnix was a rolling distribution, like full Arch
2) that I should update it daily using pacman
I have had it suggested that I should use the “Software” function to update. In my case, of course, impossible latterly.
If it is a rolling distribution why did re-installing the OS fix it when updates just made it get progressively worse?
Further: I did try to use the update option in “Software” in the restored OS and the wheel just spins for evermore. Pacman is fine as is “yay”.