For mine, yes, I can run it without the foot pedal (cool trick, but difficult to stop exactly where I want it). However, the 440 (I don't have) is the one where the hand's free stitching gets faster or slower depending on how fast you move the fabric. Mine's the 430, which when you turn on the hand's free, it goes at the same speed regardless of how fast or slow I move the fabric. There's a button where I can make it go faster or slower, but it works independently of me moving anything.
When I attach the foot and plug in the cord, "BSR" shows up on my machine display. I think they said that's all I need to engage it, but I'm not sure... It's a solid "BSR" not flashing or anything. Do I need to press something to make it engage??