Uh.....after looking at those photos, I have to ask: How did you end up with such a mess?
How did you verify that you were soldering to the proper side of the resistors for SDA and for the ground of the address pads?
I'd be very concerned about some of the wires:
-
the SCL red wire on pin 14 shorting out to the the /INT signal on pin 13.
The insulation is peeled back quite a bit and there is nothing to prevent it shorting should the wire move around a bit. -
The red wire connected to hd44780 pin 2, (vcc) shorting Vo (contrast input) hd44780 pin 3
The insulation is peeled back quite a bit and there is nothing to prevent it shorting should the wire move around a bit.
Even if the header was broken, why couldn't you use the holes from the 4 pin header? or a trace leading to them over on that side of the board rather than soldering directly to components.
And if all else failed, a new board is less than $1 USD shipped to your house so why not get a new one?
--- bill