How To Use Asrock Easy Driver Installer

The manual warns about using 2.5' HDDs in the N3000 because it has no fans for cooling. But that should not cause the drive to not be detected. It is suggested to orient the N3000 case vertically when using a 2.5' HDD, for better cooling. That means put it on its side so the bottom panel vents are exposed, which allows better air flow and movement of hot air out of the case.
I agree the VESA mounting option seems to block the vents on the bottom of the N3000 case. If both could be modified to create a one inch gap between the VESA bracket and the N3000, that would help to keep if cool.
Using a SSD would not have the heat problem that might occur with a HDD. I know, SSDs are much more expensive than HDDs for the same capacity. Just saying..
The Easy Driver Installer is looking for a USB flash drive to copy the driver installation programs to. The USB flash drive is then used to either copy the driver installation programs to a drive on the PC, or be run from the flash drive. Drivers cannot be installed until after the OS is installed.
When installing a 2.5' drive, the special combined SATA data and power cable is connected to the 2.5' drive. The other end of the cable is then connected to the mother board. There are separate connectors for the mother board on the other end of that cable, the SATA data and power connections. Both of course must be connected to the board.
Since the drive is not seen in the BIOS, but you can seem to hear it, I would check the data cable connection to the mother board. It may have moved out of position when you put it all back together. If possible, try using a small piece of tape to hold the data cable onto the mother board. SATA data cables all tend to fit rather loosely, and are easily unplugged.
Besides verifying the cable connections to the board, which is a must, sometimes on new PCs it is not uncommon for drives to not be detected when you start the PC. I've seen it take two or three restarts of the PC before the drive is recognized.
The drive will be recognized in the BIOS even if it is new and not formatted. If the drive is not detected in the BIOS, either the cables are not connected, the cable is defective, or the drive is bad.
A HDD can spin up and still not work correctly. Was the HDD shipped to you? If so, did it seem to be packaged safely? The last HDD I bought and had shipped did not work when I first tried it. It spun up but made bad noises. Somehow the replacement HDD survived shipping. I would only buy HDDs from a regular store and carry it home myself.