tf101 connection issues topic

OK guys I have an issue
I now own a tf101 the issue I'm having is a connection issue
I recently purchased my tf101 used as a bargain price as our families 2nd tablet
The lady reset to factory before I purchased

After a couple days I began looking into rooting as an option to restore some functionality to this older tablet when connecting to my computer, I wasn't receiving any notification it was plugged in .... no new device detected ... no sounds..... nothing in device manager

It charges fine... and its an official Asus cord ( least it says Asus on it)
I also got the 40 pin to USB converter and it transfers data from a flash drive to the tablet fine movies pics etc...

I tried the cord on 3 different PC's, and 2 Macs nothing

Tried downloading and installing Asus sync and naked drivers neither helped
(Gonna get my friends cord this weekend see if it does anything)

I also tried most of all of this stuff in USB debugging mode , and toggling sync tool, as well in and not in apex mode

I tried a j5 wormhole USB to USB cord from the 40 pin converter still nothing...

I've read post after post about this topic however NONE have solutions

I had a friend suggest that it may have been rooted before she factory reset it and something got corrupted...

Some other info I'm sure I'll get asked about

Firmware version IML74K.US_epad-9.2.1.27-20120615

Kernel version 2.6.39.4 android@mars#1

Android version 4.0.3


Whenever I try to boot into any kind of recovery it shows a belly up android with red exclamation mark


Any help would be appreciated

Anyone know if I can root from usb