I finally got it flashed successfully. Had to remove the battery between 13-2.VANILLA_PR_EMMC_MR0_ARM.bin and 36-2_PR_COMBINED_MR0_ARM.bin installation.
I'm just wondering why I was greeted with the correct time and date as the n900 started up again supposed to be a clean install.
Still I get "First steps" displayed...wondering where I can check if both have been installed successfully .bin's?