The only thing that I can think of is that you try to obtain the firewire connector from places like http://www.mouser.com/ or http://www.digikey.com/?curr=USD and solder it yourself. It may also possible that you can repair your current one if you know how to solder small pieces. I believe that the solder connection probably worked themselves loose or even broke. Not sure until you do a thorough inspection. Last resort you might have to replace the logic board which could be a challenge just to find one. You might try ebay.com or alibaba.com or check http://www.dhgate.com/wholesale/ipod+1st... and see if they have them. There are of course companies that will repair your logic board, for a price. http://pdasmart.com/products/AP08ipodpar... good luck to you and let us know how it is going.