It should work in any USB port really, although I find OTG ports are more likely to be powered up properly in vendor u-boot. The SD card slot should also work fine (checked before USB normally). The main issue from your description was pressing buttons after power-on; it needs to be pressed and held before power is applied, then released.
So.... unfortunately this is not the case with mine...
I've tried:
- Button hold -> power = Does not power up
- Button hold -> power -> release = long thinking and Android
- Power -> button hold = MiniX first logo loop
- power -> button hold for 6-ish seconds = long thinking Android
Could it be a firmware thing?
I am able to boot into a Android recovery, so at least the hardware is working.