Just a follow up - looks like the cmd 8 needs to be initialialized, so the new function should read:
const char * LittleFS_QPINAND::getMediaName(){
uint8_t buf[5] = {0, 0, 0, 0, 0};
// cmd index 8 = read ID bytes
FLEXSPI2_LUT32 = LUT0(CMD_SDR, PINS1, 0x9F) | LUT1(READ_SDR, PINS1, 1)...