Big Sur boot hangs ALF old data swfs_pid_entry

Hey all,

I have a Comet Lake Hackintosh that's been running very well but have recently been having WindowServer crash on me, necessitating a reboot. Pretty similar to this issue, this issue, and this other issue.

In trying to debug the issue – namely if it's software or hardware – I've tried to install macOS Big Sur 11.2.3 onto an external USB disk. Previously with Catalina this was really easy and I was able to get Big Sur to successfully install to the external disk; but once I try to actually boot it, I run into the following error:

Waiting for DSMOS... ALF, old data swfs_pid_entry <ptr>, update rules_msg <ptr>, updaterules_state <ptr> 

Hardware:

• Intel i9-10900K
• ASRock Z490 Phantom Gaming ITX/TB3
• 64GB 3200MHz CL16 RAM
• Sapphire Pulse RX 5600 XT
• 8TB M.2 Storage (multiple drives)

My EFI: https://gofile.io/d/guevPN

Anyone have an idea about this boot error and how to correct it?
Thanks for any help and ideas!
Cheers

https://preview.redd.it/ax9fux56qmt61.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=be17d6bf545719261ca0d6b227495a96d07d1313