<3 you're so close I feel, and maybe you just identified where the issue is! Let's see.

Uninstall your whirlpool, reinstall, and let's start from scratch.

When you first initialize whirlpool gui after install:

Select: standard standalone gui.

Then it should ask you for a payload (essentially, this is linking your samourai wallet to the whirlpool gui). You get this from your samourai wallet ( top right corner 3 little dots. Settings, transactions, pair to whirlpool gui). Enter that payload in to the whirlpool gui.

Then, you need to make sure you enable tor (its a tiny little slider in the whirlpool pool gui)

Then click initialize. This should Then prompt you for a password (this is your samourai wallet password you setup when creating it).

Here is a good resource that isn't too technical too!! https://docs.samourai.io/whirlpool/desktop

Goodluck!!!