Uno + R3 shield - DIR A unresponsive?

I just got my first stepper motor setup. I'm running an Arduino Uno, with a R3 motorshield, and i'm attempting to power a 6-wire Applied Motion Nema17 stepper motor. The specs on the motor are here: http://www.applied-motion.com/sites/default/files/5017-013_RevE.pdf

From the diagram at the bottom, I attempted putting Grn & Grn/Wht into A+ and A-, with Red & Red/Wht into B+ and B-

from there i tried putting White into DIR A, and Black into DIR B. I have switched the order of many of the wires (even keeping the previous setup with just putting White into DIR B) and i can't get the LEDs next to the motor input wires associated with the wire i put into DIR A to blink at all. Whether i have Grn and Grn/Wht in A or B, when i put Wht into DIR B i get a response. The same with Red & Red/Wht.

First of all, is my assumed connection schematic correct?
Second, i'm guessing the blinking lights mean that the shield has recognized the motor. is this true?
and third what could possibly be going wrong with the DIR A socket? do i have a bad shield/Uno?

Thanks for your help!