dot matrix MAX7219 doesn't respond

WWouter:
Turns out the dot matrix wasn't attached the right way, I had to take it off and put it back again, now it's working like a charm.

That figures. A good proportion, if not most of the problems here, are due to faulty connections, and that is your situation.

Do you mean the matrix module was inserted upside down? Who inserted it in the first place anyway?