3) screwing up pads
4) screwing up VIAs
5) screwing up the PCB

Usually by overheating or misplaced tip.

Hello,
Two weeks ago I bought a good price N900 that had the broken micro-usb problem, I disassembled the N900 and found that pin #1 (+5 V) was damage on the board so it was impossible to solder that pin, but all the other pins were ok so I decided to solder the connector back to see if having the Data1 and Data2 was enough if I needed to flash it, but unfortunately when I connect the usb cable to the computer nothing happens, my only hope is doing the “cable way fix” posted by mipo and suggested to me by Dr. Marcial.
I want to ask if any body has done the “cable way fix” other that mipo? If yes, I appreciate any comments, what are the results? Did it work? What do you all think, the N900 work 100% the way it is, but if something happen is not possible to flash it and I have to charge the battery in a wall charger.

Thank you

Just happened to me!

Luckily I have an external charger already. I've just uninstalled midnight commander to reduce the chances I’ll be tempted to tinker and require a reflash.

I've done a fair amount of soldering in the past but looking at how utterly tiny the connections are I doubt that even if I obtained a suitably fine soldering iron I'd never have a steady enough hand. Sadly I may not be a member of the n900 club for much longer :'(

http://twitpic.com/696607

Noted that the N9 has a kind of plastic fitting around the USB connector.
My N900's USB connectors are still strong but now I have one that I need to open I will fit a plastic around the USB

well .. mine broke recently aswell. I managed to get a new port soldered onto it (took me 6 hours). It worked !!, i then decided that my solder work was a little to shabby and that there was not enough solder on the supporting structure that is soldered onto the pcb and proceeded to try and get more solder under the body of the connector. It turned out to be a BIG fail!. The port broke of from the pcb taking all copper islands with it.

I have now proceeded with another solution. I have used a prototype pcb and soldered pins onto it which touch the test islands for the usb port on the n900. It all works well, however i can can obviously no longer put the original casing around it. Iḿ looking for a solution for this too. anybody got any ideas.

Iĺl post some photos if anyone wants.

My USB hasn't failed yet but hearing all these stories a while ago, I used a toothpick to apply a small amount of epoxy adhesive (araldite) to the recessed area between the metal sleeve of the USB port and the plastic of the case. If you look at how the plug enters, you can see that there's always an air gap so it doesn't interfere with the operation of the plug.

I'm hoping that this has taken some of the strain out of day-to-day usage. It was a simple modification that didn't involve any soldering, although obviously sticking glue in your USB port carries a bit of risk.