It looks like they used a two-part gap filler, which generally don't reuse well. When the sensor is plugged into the PC, it doesn't enumerate, so something on my board must be broken (in addition to the now broken bond wires). There are no electronics in the USB plug. I originally suspected a bad USB cable, but once I got into it, I was able to check the cable, and it was fine (cable is soldered to a flex circuit on the top, which comes down to the connector on the board). Some of mine look to have gotten mangled (not sure if I put the knife through them, pushed plastic into them, etc). the bond wires to the image sensor are RIGHT behind the plastic and completely unprotected. Also, specifically be VERY careful on the end where the cable points out of. there's a lip, which you can cut to, without the knife blade going into the electronics). After opening it, I can see that the bottom goes inside the top (i.e.
The mistake I made was cutting closer to the top of the flat spot (side that the cable goes into) instead of bottom (side that says "GENDEX"). It's small, so you'll want some magnification (I did it under a microscope). In this case, it's sealed, so you need to carefully cut around the edges and sorta pry it apart (I used a sharp new X-acto knife blade). To get into the sensor, you can see a flat spot on the side where you'd expect the two halves to join together. So, I'll post my thoughts/advice/pics for anyone else (or the future me, if I come across another really cheap sensor).
I ended up getting this open, though it wasn't exactly a success.
Could it be as simple as changing the serial number on the calibration file name to match that of the sensor in order to fool the software to work (I know the cal files won't be correct and the image won't be as clear, but just to test the sensor with the OEM gendex software)? Does anyone have cal files for any gendex size 1 or 2 sensor that they could post so I could have a look at them? They should be named (where the numbers are the unique sn of the sensor): 012345678_dark.flf 012345678_dfm.dfm 012345678_flat.flf There's a tool to reprogram the sensor eeprom(if corrupted) and serial number, though I'm not using it except as a last resort to get a sensor working.
I strongly suspect that what they've done is found a way to either change the serial number on the calibration file or the serial number on the sensor to allow them to use a calibration file for a different sensor with the one they are selling. The pictures they post that the sensor took look resonable, though not perfect. They claim to have "third party calibration files" but say that although they allow the sensor to work, the image is not perfect, though they will send the third party files along with the sensor. I have been talking to some Chinese sellers on ebay that are selling gendex sensors. I have a few of these sensors and am trying to get them to work.