Through usb

hey guys so after I connected a faulty thermistor into my board ( did know if it was broken at the time) the board connected with the thermistor plugged in fine and read an incorrect reading (Max Value) so I unplugged it and now I have come back a day later and the board, completely disconnected from all other components is lighting up all the correct lights and even makes the sound when I plug it into a computer but when I try to connect it gets stuck saying its "connecting" and never connects.. is it possible that the faulty thermistor could have blown my board??

which method do you think would be easier.. modifying the firmware (i would be very lost) or running commands through an Arduino

hey guys, first post here, as i said in the title i am looking to add a pneumatic extrusion for bio printing materials which would include control for a 24v air pump a pressure transducers (analog out put for pressure) and
a digital pressure regulator.
ideally i would like to be able to control these using custom g-code commands.
my background is primarily in ME but i have a background in python, can someone tell me if this is even possible or if i need a custom PCB that would be extremely helpful