Chosen Solution
The two usb2 ports in the side of my MacBook Pro 15" have become “sloppy” and do not always read devices (flash drives and some other accessories). Its becoming more annoying! A simple solution seems to be to replace the internals of the sockets… Can they be replaced? If so, how? Thanks!
Sadly this is not an easy fix. The best solution is to visit an Apple Store and letting them replace the logic board for you (cheapest solution). If that is not an option you could try replacing the logic board your self or if you have a friend that can deal with repairing logic boards he might be able to replace the sockets from a junker.
That’s a real crappy answer! Not that its not correct, but that its NOT what I wanted to hear, for sure! I have the same issue, except that they DONT work far more often than they do! Mike, what did you end up doing?
You may be able to take a dental pick or equivalent and gently free up the spring strips on the outer shell of the UBS port. Specifically, put a little more flex into the retaining spring strips that are a part of the outer ground shield in the USB port instead of replacing them, if those have become flattened due to hard use. If the inner connector is broken or cracked, then it’s logic board replacement time.
