Update: I got the flash to pop back up by applying a slight amount of pressure. The switch I thought I had reset was not properly setup. I fixed it and put the flash back down. Pushed the button to pop it back up and somehow the flash bulb itself breaks... I removed the bulb and covered the end of the hv leads with heat shrink. Camera now recognizes when flash is up or down. Now I can put it down and go above 1/500! Before, the camera thought the flash was up and would try to fire it when down.

I am using a bower external flash for when necessary, it is working fine so far.