965P-DS3 Optical Audio/Toslink

I'm running Windows XP MCE 2005 32bit.

I'm having an issue getting sound out of my SPDIF connection. I'm using a Toslink cable that goes from my computer to my receiver. When I plug the Toslink into my computer it does not give recognition that anything has changed, whereas when I plug the analgo connection in it recognizes the connection. The Toslink cable also seems to attatch extremely loosley (i.e. there's not that satisfying "snap" into place you get with other connections).

Am I missing some sort of setting? Has anyone else had this issue? Should the connection with the Toslink cable be so loose?