Wons – the solution is – wrong merlin image. The error of course doesn’t tell you this. I had previously been told that you can use the same image for both 3040’s that are PCoIP capable and ones that are not *even if you never use PCoIP*. So you must flash with image that is specifically for 3040’s that come from the factory able to use PCoIP (as evidenced by label on bottom), or not, depending on which 3040 model you purchased.
Curious whether this behavior will persist with whatever supercedes the 3040 as I hear they are EOL in January 2022.
Thanks for your suggestion. : )