ok as an update:
since i started tinkering with this and realized perhaps this is the controller interface on the USB HDD and that the usb portion was integrated to the HDD its self i decided to get a 3.5 12TB WD mybook external HDD. this assures there is appropriate power as well as that i am able to actually shuck the drive from the enclosure if i so choose.
Upon trying a different drive i have attempted some of the steps above that i have already attempted with the other drive with the same results. so far this leads me to believe this has to do with booting from larger that 2TB drives (GPT vs MBR) as was assumed from the beginning of this thread.
once I started getting similar results from the previous drive i started dabbeling with the options that @Lolonois presented me with.
im not exactly certain what to make of the readout of the lsusb -t but i am going to post a picture of it and perhaps someone can help me.
Im going to set up SSH and boot raspberry pi OS with only my HDD plugged in to the usb ports so at least I know the readouts are only for the USB HDD and nothing else. This will perhaps eliminate some of the confusion with the readout (at lest for me)
I do know (and its also noted in the photo of my read out) that my rpi 4 is a board v1.4 so I should be safe from the previously mentions flaw in board rev. 1.1.
i started reading threw some of the usb-storage.quirks and am making a bit of sense out of it. I'm not exactly certain what to do with the information.
the section of quirks i am reading is:
usb-storage.quirks=
[UMS] A list of quirks entries to supplement or
override the built-in unusual_devs list. List
entries are separated by commas. Each entry has
the form VID:PID:Flags where VID and PID are Vendor
and Product ID values (4-digit hex numbers) and
Flags is a set of characters, each corresponding
to a common usb-storage quirk flag as follows:
a = SANE_SENSE (collect more than 18 bytes
of sense data, not on uas);
b = BAD_SENSE (don't collect more than 18
bytes of sense data, not on uas);
c = FIX_CAPACITY (decrease the reported
device capacity by one sector);
d = NO_READ_DISC_INFO (don't use
READ_DISC_INFO command, not on uas);
e = NO_READ_CAPACITY_16 (don't use
READ_CAPACITY_16 command);
f = NO_REPORT_OPCODES (don't use report opcodes
command, uas only);
g = MAX_SECTORS_240 (don't transfer more than
240 sectors at a time, uas only);
h = CAPACITY_HEURISTICS (decrease the
reported device capacity by one
sector if the number is odd);
i = IGNORE_DEVICE (don't bind to this
device);
j = NO_REPORT_LUNS (don't use report luns
command, uas only);
k = NO_SAME (do not use WRITE_SAME, uas only)
l = NOT_LOCKABLE (don't try to lock and
unlock ejectable media, not on uas);
m = MAX_SECTORS_64 (don't transfer more
than 64 sectors = 32 KB at a time,
not on uas);
n = INITIAL_READ10 (force a retry of the
initial READ(10) command, not on uas);
o = CAPACITY_OK (accept the capacity
reported by the device, not on uas);
p = WRITE_CACHE (the device cache is ON
by default, not on uas);
r = IGNORE_RESIDUE (the device reports
bogus residue values, not on uas);
s = SINGLE_LUN (the device has only one
Logical Unit);
t = NO_ATA_1X (don't allow ATA(12) and ATA(16)
commands, uas only);
u = IGNORE_UAS (don't bind to the uas driver);
w = NO_WP_DETECT (don't test whether the
medium is write-protected).
y = ALWAYS_SYNC (issue a SYNCHRONIZE_CACHE
even if the device claims no cache,
the example given is by the link:
quirks=0419:aaf5:rl,0421:0433:rc
now if I understand correctly the rl after the 0419:aaf5 for example are the quirks activate but what/were does the 0419:aaf5 come from? I'm guessing it is a device ID of some sort? how do i get this device ID as I did not see anything like it from the lsusb -t command (again see the photo)
I do know where to put these lines as I'm assuming there is a cmdline.txt in the fat/boot portion of the HDD/SD card where I add them and again guessing I add them at the very end of the txt file.
Anyway I'm back at this again and have not given up......just decided to go a different direction to try to mitigate some potential issues and give more more options that the propitiatory USB interface on the previous USB HDD offered.
where to go from here.
i know booting from a large hdd is possible I'm just not certain how to achieve it just yet.
here is a link to the photo:
https://ibb.co/DP1sjXvb