>>> I am still not sure of what your problem is.

I think it was clear: No matter what gain I set to rtl_fm with the -g switch, the tuner is ALWAYS at its lowest gain.

>>> It looks to me like the tuner gain is getting set.

For me too

>>> Does any other program work with that dongle?

>>> Perhaps the tuner chip is fried.

No it isn't. It works just fine with GQRX or SDR#. The problem seems related to rtl_fm only.