update, just used a usb c to a adapter and tried a different port and it worked??!?! the port isnt damaged cause it draws power and it definitely is supposed to transfer data, any ideas?
Basically, anything. The most basic step is seeing if your computer knows the device has been plugged in. If you see anything new in dmesg it means there's a data connection going on and you can read the output and diagnose from there. If you don't see anything after plugging, it's probably a hardware issue with the port.