7i96 pncconf issue?

That's really unfortunate. I think shipping and duty cost me almost as much as the card. Thanks for your help!

Did you buy the card from a EU dealer? If so you should be able to
get a replacement from them.

One other thing to try is to just use the STEP-/DIR- pins

so

Drive Step+ <-- 5V
Drive Dir+ <-- +5V
Drive Step- <-- 7I96 Step-
Drive Dir- <-- 7I96 Dir-

Bought it from the US store.mesanet.com but I'm based in Canada which is where the duty comes into play.

so right now I have step-, step+,dir-, dir+ then the step and dir go to the phases on the drivers

You're saying wire 1 phase to the step- and Gnd and the second phase to dir- and 5v on the 7i96? this leaves no wires into the step+ and dir+.

I'll try that shortly and let you know.

No, nothing is connected to GND

Wiring would be
Drive Step+ <-- +5V
Drive Dir+ <-- +5V
Drive Step- <-- 7I96 Step-
Drive Dir- <-- 7I96 Dir-

7I96 step+/dir+ pins left open

You would never connect 7I96 step or dir, + or - to ground or 5V

I didn't pay any duty charges when I sent mine back on a repair. Just write '\for repair" on the package, or the RMA number.
I also didn't pay any duty when it came back (or came in in the first place)