[Nexus 7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] GedBlake:
I think you're SOL - Every which way I think about this... It always comes down to having a working USB connection:(.

Hi, ndhusn....

I've been thinking about your situation all day... and I can't think of anything that would work.

The "traditional" way of rooting the Nexus 7 is...

** fastboot flash a custom Recovery (CWM or TWRP)...

** Using that Custom Recovery, flash Chainfire's SuperSU root package.

But with a knackered USB port, you obviously can't fastboot flash anything:(.

Looking into alternative options... there is something called CF-autoroot...

http://autoroot.chainfire.eu

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2025272

I've never used this means of rooting myself... but it has been mentioned several times on this forum. It's chief advantage, it seems, is it doesn't require the fastboot flashing of a Custom Recovery first.... so I thought this might work for you. But upon closer examination, it appears you

still

have to hook up your Nexus 7 to a PC via USB in order to run it:(.

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Without CWM or TWRP installed, I can't think of any way of rooting your Nexus 7.

The irony here is... that there

IS A WAY

of flashing a Custom Recovery without recourse to fastboot (and the need for a USB connection) using the

Flashify app

. But you need root to do it. You can even flash a Custom Recovery via a terminal shell, with...

$ su
# dd if=/sdcard/recovery-image-file.img of=/dev/block/platform/sdhci-tegra.3/by-name/SOS

...but as you can see from the initial su command, root already needs to be available.

You're stuck in a 'chicken and egg' situation! You can't root without a Custom Recovery... and you can't install a Custom Recovery without root.

--------------------------------------

Even a 'root exploit' requires a USB connection... like the old

'motochopper exploit'

which would root the Nexus 7 even with a LOCKED bootloader. Anyway, that 'exploit' now no longer works, since Google 'blocked' such exploits as of Jellybean 4.3 onwards.

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If the USB port is that damaged, such that you have to use the dock to charge, then presumably this precludes the possibility of trying another, different USB cable... with the intent of fastboot flashing TWRP or CWM.

Sometimes, it's just the USB cable at fault... and not the USB port itself. Anyway, just a thought.

--------------------------------------

I'm sorry to say, that without a working USB port on your Nexus 7, I don't think you'll be able to root it... or at least, I can't think of anyway of doing so.

Rgrds,

Ged.

*** Edit & addendum - WARNING ***

Whilst tinkering around with various methods in order to acquire root, will likely not hardbrick your Nexus 7... but they

may

cause softbrick/bootloop situations.

Normally, these are relatively trivial to resolve... but in your situation, they could be permanent.

Without a Nandroid backup created with a Custom Recovery, you won't be able to restore back to a previously known 'good' version of Android.

And without a working USB port, you won't be able to fastboot flash a Google factory image.

So... tread carefully.

Better a working Nexus 7 without root, then a Nexus 7 perpetually locked in a bootloop. It's unlikely, but be aware that you're recovery options are limited.