@wynn1212 Thank you for your detailed reply. I was using Ubuntu 24.04.2 with Kernel Linux 6.8.0-57-generic both on and old AMD desktop first then on a Windows Surface Laptop (running same Ubuntu version) with a USB2.0 to USB C cable. Next I tried a USB C to USB C cable on a Dell laptop (also running latest Ubuntu version) and after 2 or so attempts the flash was successful (not clear why).
However today, I did the same procedure with another new FP4 using the Dell Laptop and USBCtoC cable and it again failed initially. When I connected the phone (already in fastboot mode) and restarted the bootloader from fastboot when installer was asking to manually switch the phone to fastboot, I was successful.
This is quite frustrating because it still is not clear to me how to exactly reproduce this issue. It is definitely not the cable or the computer used. I agree this must be an interaction between the Ubuntu version and/or kernel and the phone. It almost looks like a timing issue, restarting bootloader at the right time lets the process go through.
I could not test on Windows because I only have a work laptop running windows which does not allow starting non-certified appimages.