You almost run through all the issues I had with my DX4000s. Right USB stick (2.0), diskpart clean (without any further operation) before re-creating raid, re-create the USBs after every attempt, suitable router and valid ISO image (at least this is the only one I skipped). These units in case of failures or need of re-install requires a level of skill which is beyond any reasonable level.
We do not use anymore these units as main server (moved to Synology) but they are still ok for backup purposes and in general once configured they are pretty reliable. Pity they do not work with hard disks > 4Tb so with RAID 5 the limit is 12 Tb.
Yes I have seen times when for whatever reason some thumb drives will not work. WD say’s usb 3.0 will not work but I had one that did. So I guess trial and error.
Yes, each time you run create you have to re-do the thumb. It actually deletes a file when run. I figured WD did this in case somehow it booted to it at some point by mistake it would wipe out the box.
You can use the same thumb drive if desired. The restore thumb does not have to be re-done each time. Also note both thumb drives will have informative log files on them.
Yea, I duno why some PC’s work and some do not unless as I mentioned perhaps SMB v1
