I’ increasingly becoming convinced there is ab issue flashing to ssd using etcher I’m on my second ssd now and using the standard flash procedure I get errors ranging from “waiting for cli” or "waiting for also noted this load of dependency failures.
Try it on a Windows PC. Not a fake PC running virtual on the same hardware that is giving you problems now. Look at all you have tried- is there anything in common with all of them?
You also didn’t say what kind of SSD you are trying to flash.
How many partitions are on your SSD after flashing? I vaguely remember a topic in the forums that was about multiple partitions being present after flashing but I can’t find it or the solution. I think you should only have 2 partitions after flashing, and the weird solution was to format the SSD with NTFS before flashing, but I can’t see how that makes any difference. And I may be mis-remembering
Aside from USB SSD enclusures not always being compatible with a Pi 4, also note that an usb-C powered Pi cannot provide enough power for most SSDs. So also try to place an externally powered usb hub inbetween - that may provide a solution for both possible causes.