Well, here's a new wrinkle. It would connect after I flashed the a new rom, so I thought maybe it was because I took the battery out after the flash. So I tried it, and it worked the first time I turned the phone on and then plugged in the USB. I didn't do a hard reset, just turned it back on. Maybe it was luck or just happened to be the occasional time that it did connect. dunno, but thought I'd pass it along.
Pete