Any imager should work installing the HiveOS like Balena Etcher or rufus must be working there might be something you don't understand from the guide you are following.
If you can still reply here I can help you with every single issue you have in HiveOS I have been using it for a long time and decided to end it due to not being profitable.

If you can't make the SSD or harddrive to make it work I think the one thing you forgot is by adding the Farm hash or I think Rig ID and password will also work. In my experience, I use farm hash for all GPUs. If you finish adding this rig, it will show in your hive on dashboard there you can remote it and add the pool you want.