My iPod Touch 4G cannot be turned on and is not recognized.

Okay, so, this is a long story, but I registered on this forum just to share it with someone, see if anyone had a similar problem.

A month or two ago, the home button on my iPod Touch 4G broke. Okay. So I started using that assistive touch feature. The one with the home button on the screen. Well, that's the background of this story. Let's get into the real meat.

This morning, there I am, waiting to get into class, watching a documentary on my iPod Touch. I grab my two-year old charging cable, plug it up on the PC I always use in class and move it around- it's so old, it needs to be at that right spot to charge up. Well, it starts charging, but once I unplug it and plug it again... something weird happens. With the PC. It gives me a "USB Device not recognized" error.

I thought the cable had finally gone pfft. Not a problem, I had a newer, better one back home. So I go back to watching my documentary- the device is working fine- and when it comes time to class, I press the lock button and put it back on my backpack. Fast forward five-six hours. Lunch time. I pull out my iPod Touch, press the lock button and... nothing.

Black screen. Nothing happens. No sound, no video. Okay, weird. I press the lock button again and again, and still, nothing happens. Maybe I need to turn it on? I hold onto the lock button, but it doesn't turn on or off. Maybe it needs to charge? I borrow a friend's cable, plug it up to a wall charger- the one from Apple- and... nothing happens. I take that cable, plug it up to a PC, and nothing happens. Except for the "USB Device not Recognized" error.

So that's where I am. I can't go to DFU mode cause my home button's borked up. Charging, pressing the lock button, reinstalling iTunes, nothing works. It just sits there. But I know it's not bricked up, because when I plug it up, it gives me that "USB Device not recognized" error.

I'm probably taking it to technical assistance tomorrow, but I'd at least like to hear if anyone had the same problem. All my stuff's there: my Things app with my homework stuff, my TV Show Tracker app, and while I did back app data to the iCloud, I'm not sure I can just put that data on my brother's iPod Touch. Help?