I know I'm giving an ancient post a long winded bump here, but here goes. (I might even get some shared solution cred?)
This broken pin issue is a issue with DIY-ers and MOD-ers... I just noticed that one of my USB 3.0 ports wasn't working and I checked the connector only to realize the VBUS pin that is next to the missing / not connected pin was broken clean off at the base, with only a tiny spec of metal showing at the very base. While I was searching for a fix, I stumbled across this post and I'm sure I'm not the first to find it while trying to figure out what other people have done to fix this problem.
LOL @ enzo matrix,
I've done the broken pin trick before. It was a P.O.S. Cyrix CPU I brought from "The Old TigerDirect.com" back around 2000-2001. There were about 30% of the CPU pins rolling around in the flimsy little box that it came in. I was actually able to get this system to boot on the first try! For whatever reason, the pins seemed to have not set into the die of the cpu, but there were deep enough pits from the failed pin setting that it fit like a glove before and after I locked it down.
As ccpyue mentioned (more or less), I've also managed to "fashion" a pin from the right sized wire if the broken header pin is unusable, vanishes completely (where do they go??) of gets stuck in the connector to the point of no possible recovery (often rendering the connector useless). It's VERY tricky to get the length right, and if you use too flimsy of wire, its just going to flex and/or break. I know it's tedious, but measuring is a VERY good idea. I would use something AT LEAST as rigid as solid copper wire. I have a few other ideas I've tried and worked, or some other proof of concept type things too.
I was hoping to find a "solder-less solution"; I was searching for something like a standoff to fit the original socket exactly, but with a brand shiny new pins to overlap the motherboard header pins, and an extra pin (or a few pins) to slip into the bottom of the standoff to replace the broken ones.
I've seen this sort of "repair kit" type thing before with USB 1.0 and 2.0 headers, and other header types too, but not for a awhile now. I guess with everything getting so cheap, people just buy new... or... Try to RMA the products, hoping no one will ever notice. You know who you are...
The newer USB 3.0 molex connectors are much larger and heavier than the old school multi-colored wires that connected to single pins. Does anyone else remember having to connect each wire to the USB v1 & v2 headers? Oi.
You all have inspired me. I have discovered a lot of interesting ways to solve this issue, as well as
a few theories about how to repair a bent or broken motherboard header pin that people may or may not think are of help. You can read some of them that I've tried or thought of before and let me know if any of them work for you.