A shelf fell on my Chromecast , bent the HDMI connector on it and stopped working. I inspected the hdmi end of the Chromecast and about 7 pins inside that end had bent. I popped the case open, carefully wiggled the black plastic connector off of the pins. Then straightened the pins with a tweezers, carefully reloaded the pins back into the connector. Success! Now it is connected via the short HDMI cable that came with the Chromecast.
Better to be lucky than good.