My FreeRunner’s USB port still works for power, but not data?

[Brolin Empey]

Brolin Empey wrote:
>Now my FreeRunner’s USB port works for power, so I can
> still charge the battery, but not for communications, so I think a
> solder connection must have come undone. I need to try disassembling my
> FreeRunner to check the connections for the USB connector so I can ask
> someone at work to fix (resolder) the connection, but I have not yet
> done so. It must be a hardware problem because QtMoko can still charge,
> but nothing happens when I connect USB devices to my FreeRunner: no
> kernel modules are automatically loaded, there are no kernel messages.
> Manually loading the kernel modules (e.g., dm9601 for my USB→Ethernet
> adapter) for the USB device does not help. It is not because of the
> electrical/logical USB host/device setting because I checked that; I
> know how to use sysfs to change it.

Update:  I disassembled my FreeRunner;  everything looks OK.  I did not 
try using a digital multimeter to test the continuity between the data 
pins in the USB socket and the connections between the USB socket and 
the PCB, though.  I noticed pin 4 (ID) of the 5-pin mini USB F connector 
(socket) does not appear to contact pin 4 on the male connector (the 
plug on the cable).  Is this normal?

I have fully reassembled my FreeRunner;  it still works, except for USB 
data.  However, now I really think this is a hardware problem because 
the behaviour is the same when my FreeRunner is running U-Boot from NOR, 
U-Boot from NAND, or QtMoko from NAND.  When I connect my FreeRunner to 
my Windows 7 laptop, Windows 7 displays a balloon notification saying 
“USB Device Not Recognized:  One of the USB devices attached to this 
computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it.”.  When I 
connect my FreeRunner to a tower PC running Ubuntu v8.10 Desktop Edition 
i386, Linux detects a new full-speed USB device, but does not 
specifically detect a FreeRunner.  lsusb lists no connected devices. 
This is normal because this PC is headless, but it should still list the 
FreeRunner if Linux detects the FreeRunner specifically instead of 
detecting only a generic full-speed USB device.

I called SDG Systems in Pennsylvania since I bought my FreeRunner from 
them in July or August 2009, but they told me my FreeRunner is not 
covered by warranty because the manufacturer’s warranty is only 2 weeks 
(!).  They do not even sell FreeRunners anymore unless a customer wants 
to order 10 or more because the FreeRunner was not profitable for them. :(

Does anyone have any more ideas?  Should I ask on the Openmoko hardware 
list?