Jo,
try running transaction SIAC_PUBLISH_ALL_INTERNAL I had the issue with the non-stop spinning wheel and this corrected that.
As far as the Role and Technical Settings not sure what you are referring to. I set my role and Instance (Launchpad) in the details of my Reports node in my role as displayed below.
All my other settings come from the individual report settings in the Launchpad entry.
Hope this helps with your question?
Thanks,
Martha.