Outboard Firmware Updates - ESP32 Errors

I have been working on releasing a fleet of devices utilizing outboard DFU with ESP32 Unexpected Maker Feather S2 as a host and a Notecard on a Notecarrier-A and noticed some odd conditions occurring.

Some of my devices can receive Outboard DFU updates as expected but some devices are giving
the following error “outboard DFU of esp32 firmware: esp: cannot connect to target (2)”. The reason this is strange is because the Host communicates properly with the Notecard up until the point where the firmware update has been downloaded to the Notecard then attempts to upload to the Host.

Once device has even went from a state of operating correctly in the office and once deployed to the field, the Host lost all communication with the Notecard.

Has anyone been utilizing Outboard Firmware updates and noticed these types of conditions occurring?

I had previously believed this issue to be a binpack issue from not including the bootloader and partition files but it turns out the issue was related to the Host MCU being jarred loose from the feather sockets in transport.