It's too bad you're having USB issues from the start. I've had a GEM45 for about 2.5 years, and absolutely love it. I set it up and take it down almost every night I use it, and the light weight is easy on my poor old body. I would contact your vendor and ask for a replacement- it should be covered by warranty. Or, if they want you to pay for shipping, you can try an alternative approach, as it sounds like you have a problem with the main USB board.
I have had to replace the main power/USB port circuit board twice due to USB connectivity issues- perusal of online forums shows that USBs are a known problem with this mount- both the driver and the actual port. In my case, everything worked for about a year and then the mount began to disconnect from my ASIAir Pro (and later Plus) in a very intermittent fashion, eventually becoming unable to connect without a lot of USB/power cable gymnastics. The solution is pretty simple- replacement of the board for the main power/usb connections. Changing the board is super easy, and Ioptron provides a pdf with pictures showing how to do so- takes maybe 5 min. I had to do this a second time about 15 months after the first replacement- the replacement board was by then out of warranty but a new one cost me something like $30 or $40. Again, replacement solved my issues. The mount to me is worth the occasional board issue. I consistently get 0.5-0.8 arcsec RMS guiding with either a C8 Edge at 2030mm focal length with an OAG, or a 105mm refractor (735mm FL) with a guidescope, using a mono setup in Bortle 7 skies. Hopefully you'll get things sorted out to your satisfaction. Clear skies !
