Geckodriver with webdriverIo giving session already started error - selenium

Question

I am trying to run automation on firefox browser. I am passing the following set of options:
const firefoxOptions = {
capabilities: {
browserName: "firefox"
},
services: [
"geckodriver"
]
}
I also have geckdriver running a separate terminal tab, which is giving out the following logs on execution:
mahimakh#88665a46834a Downloads % ./geckodriver --port=4444
1667519366314 geckodriver INFO Listening on 127.0.0.1:4444
1667519377223 mozrunner::runner INFO Running command: "/Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox-bin" "--marionette" "-foreground" "-no-remote" "-profile" "/var/folders/gv/yctv5ytx7yd7xbhcw5qz4v_40000gs/T/rust_mozprofilecZIetT"
2022-11-03 16:49:37.780 plugin-container[26937:1559502] nil host used in call to allowsSpecificHTTPSCertificateForHost
2022-11-03 16:49:37.781 plugin-container[26937:1559502] nil host used in call to allowsAnyHTTPSCertificateForHost:
2022-11-03 16:49:37.785 plugin-container[26937:1559502] nil host used in call to allowsSpecificHTTPSCertificateForHost
2022-11-03 16:49:37.785 plugin-container[26937:1559502] nil host used in call to allowsAnyHTTPSCertificateForHost:
2022-11-03 16:49:37.785 plugin-container[26937:1559507] nil host used in call to allowsSpecificHTTPSCertificateForHost
2022-11-03 16:49:37.785 plugin-container[26937:1559507] nil host used in call to allowsAnyHTTPSCertificateForHost:
1667519377786 Marionette INFO Marionette enabled
1667519377819 Marionette INFO Listening on port 51739
Read port: 51739
console.warn: SearchSettings: "get: No settings file exists, new profile?" (new NotFoundError("Could not open the file at /var/folders/gv/yctv5ytx7yd7xbhcw5qz4v_40000gs/T/rust_mozprofilecZIetT/search.json.mozlz4", (void 0)))
2022-11-03 23:49:44.448 plugin-container[26991:1560037] nil host used in call to allowsSpecificHTTPSCertificateForHost
2022-11-03 23:49:44.448 plugin-container[26991:1560037] nil host used in call to allowsAnyHTTPSCertificateForHost:
2022-11-03 23:49:44.472 plugin-container[26991:1560037] nil host used in call to allowsSpecificHTTPSCertificateForHost
2022-11-03 23:49:44.472 plugin-container[26991:1560037] nil host used in call to allowsAnyHTTPSCertificateForHost:
2022-11-03 23:49:44.473 plugin-container[26991:1560041] nil host used in call to allowsSpecificHTTPSCertificateForHost
2022-11-03 23:49:44.473 plugin-container[26991:1560041] nil host used in call to allowsAnyHTTPSCertificateForHost:
I have a selenium standalone server running on my local too:
16:55:35.665 INFO - Selenium build info: version: '3.5.3', revision: 'a88d25fe6b'
16:55:35.666 INFO - Launching a standalone Selenium Server
2022-11-03 16:55:35.695:INFO::main: Logging initialized #351ms to org.seleniumhq.jetty9.util.log.StdErrLog
16:55:35.756 INFO - Driver class not found: com.opera.core.systems.OperaDriver
16:55:35.797 INFO - Driver provider class org.openqa.selenium.ie.InternetExplorerDriver registration is skipped:
registration capabilities Capabilities [{ensureCleanSession=true, browserName=internet explorer, version=, platform=WINDOWS}] does not match the current platform MAC
16:55:35.797 INFO - Driver provider class org.openqa.selenium.edge.EdgeDriver registration is skipped:
registration capabilities Capabilities [{browserName=MicrosoftEdge, version=, platform=WINDOWS}] does not match the current platform MAC
16:55:35.829 INFO - Using the passthrough mode handler
2022-11-03 16:55:35.855:INFO:osjs.Server:main: jetty-9.4.5.v20170502
2022-11-03 16:55:35.878:WARN:osjs.SecurityHandler:main: ServletContext#o.s.j.s.ServletContextHandler#6f1fba17{/,null,STARTING} has uncovered http methods for path: /
2022-11-03 16:55:35.882:INFO:osjsh.ContextHandler:main: Started o.s.j.s.ServletContextHandler#6f1fba17{/,null,AVAILABLE}
2022-11-03 16:55:35.908:INFO:osjs.AbstractConnector:main: Started ServerConnector#5e853265{HTTP/1.1,[http/1.1]}{0.0.0.0:4444}
2022-11-03 16:55:35.909:INFO:osjs.Server:main: Started #564ms
16:55:35.909 INFO - Selenium Server is up and running
On starting the execution, even though firefox opens and performs a set of tasks, but initially it gives the following error:
2022-11-03T23:49:41.942Z INFO webdriver: COMMAND status()
2022-11-03T23:49:41.943Z INFO webdriver: [GET] http://localhost:4444/status
2022-11-03T23:49:41.945Z INFO webdriver: RESULT { message: 'Session already started', ready: false }
ERROR: checkStatus failed, Session Status Missing "build" Object!
1) Validate Retail Website Title
And later it fails with webdriver being null exception! Can anyone help me understand what i am doing wrong here?