The think in common with the wand and the HPIL is that they both have leads attached. There is the possibility of wires in these leads breaking, but I doubt that this would cause the ROM in the wand to disappear (I believe it's in the module part).
Does the HP-IL module also fail to display anything in cat 2?
Have a look at the contacts. They are springy contacts, and rely on the pressure they generate to get a good contact. Compare them with other modules. Do they seem further apart? Are they uneven?
Does the module look like it's been taken apart?
If you can get some contact cleaner (an electrical/electronic shop should be able to point you at some) then carefully clean the contacts. I would recomment using a small cotton swab to do this and the minimal pressure. If the cotton swab won't fit easily between the contacts, either use something smaller, or remove cotton stuff until it does. You DONT want to bend the contacts.
You also DONT want to get any of the contact cleaner in the module.
Read the instructions on the contact cleaner and make sure it's safe first!