As per subject, I notice that connecting my phone to my computer no longer has the desired effect. The phone charges, but neither USB debugging nor MTP nor any other connection becomes available. I also don’t see anything in syslog (of my laptop), neither does “adb devices” report that any device is present. I have tested three different cables, which all work on other devices.
I suspect a physical damage to the USB connector. Anyone around with similar symptoms? What was your experience?
Which operating system do you have on your laptop? If it’s windows, see if the Fairphone shows up in the Device Manager (can be found through System Control). (It is not necessarily named Fairphone, but could have a Chinese name, since the Fairphone 1 uses a Chinese design.)
I’m currently using Arch Linux. Whatever, usually when a USB device is noticed by the OS, this is reported in the system log, however, as noted above, there is absolutely nothing there, which is really unusual. Even if you connect a bricked or semi-bricked device the kernel usually reports something.
Also the phone itself reports no USB connection, USB tethering is not available. Also, again, as noted above, ADB does not detect any device, even though USB debugging is enabled.
The red charger LED is on, though. Again, I suspect a hardware fault, but I wonder whether I’m the only one seeing this.
On Fedora Linux I can only see the Fairphone if I use Gnome desktop-environment. If I use the XFCE desktop-environment I can’t see the Fairphone. Perhaps is something similar applicable with Arch Linux.
No. This is not about how a particular desktop environment handles the phone but about what the kernel reports. As I wrote, I have been checking what events syslog reports and it does not report anything when I connect the phone. Same on Windows btw, I haven’t ruled out yet that the cable is faulty. However, I have tested at least one cable which works fine for other devices, where I see no response at all from the Fairphone. There is no visible physical damage to the Micro USB port, however, I have no idea whether that means anything.
You might have to solder the USB socket again. Here is how to do it:
Thanks Stefan. I totally, and I really mean “totally” suck at soldering. Given what they write in the thread you linked, I fear this is a lost cause, unless I find someone near me who is really skilled at this. That’s kind of disappointing I have to admit. It was already quite a blow to hear that Fairphone doesn’t get any new android versions. Now it appears the hardware is not nearly as durable and repair friendly as advertised…
Why don’t you just contact Support and let FP handle it? 
Also learned that the hard way. Anyways, thas Paul and Stefan pointed out, support will be there to help you. Their repair/replacement policy seems to be very fair - I already had my device repaired twice.
Just FTR, since you seem capable and knowledgable in -ix as well as Win OS: would you see somewhere in some log if the phone gets recognised when a device is found and lost again if you would wobble the connector a bit, due to a loose contact? ( 
Wackelkontakt)
Hi Johannes and others
I have just experienced exactly the same problem: the charger works, but I can’t use the usb function.
Honestly I would be suprised if it is because I have ruined the usb pin, but I will try with an other and see if it works.
Best wishes,
Julie
Hello,
I got the exactly same problem with the usb connection.
The red LED is on (‘charging’), but there is no usb connection to my laptop (windows 7).
I updated my phone this morning to 1.8.5.
Maybe there is a correlation between this two things…
Does somebody else do have this problem?
best regards,
Rosi
@Rosig & @JulieMejse: I guess that you already checked if a message popped up in the notification area?
Please also check if you have enabled or disabled USB debugging (in the developer options), and try to switch this option on or off, depending on the state it’s in. See if something changes.
Also, check if the device drivers show up on your computer (if you are using windows, check the device manager). I can see my FP in the portable devices category (Win7x64).
@humorkritik: Thanks for the tip, but unfortunately nothing changes: the red light is on, I get the message on my phone that my phone is connected as USB, MTP, PTP or ‘charge only’, but I can’t find it on my computer (a mac) - and I have been able too earlier whitout the slightest problem.
Any other tips anyone?
Thanks
Julie
Hi Julie,
see here for info about connecting your FP to a Mac:
Thanks kgha! It helped me some of the way: I can now see a FP1 box with a list of folders (ringtones, music and so on) - but when I click on ‘Pictures’ the folder is empty. And I do have a lot of pictures on my phone - which I would very much like to save and use on my computer.
Best wishes,
Julie
Hi Julie,
can you find a folder named DCIM? For some reason all digital cameras (including the ones in mobile phones) store all pics in a folder with that name (most often in a subfolder named “Camera” or something like that), and when you take pictures with your phone, that’s where they end up.
Wuhuuu, that was the trick! Now I have found the pictures - thanks a lot 
Hello @humorkritik,
thanks for your tipps.
Unfortunatly they did not helped.
My phone is still just charging altough there connected via USB to my windows laptop.
I could not find it in the device manager either.
Seems like I should contact the support…
Thanks for your answer,
Rosi
Hello everyone,
I just wanted to add, that I’ve got the same issues since I updated to 1.8.5…
