Older case/New componenets - front panel audio trouble

Hey all,

I recently built a new pc:
cpu-intel i5 760 lynnfield
mb-GA-P55-UD3
vga-evga GTX 460 superclocked(factory oc
ram-g.skill ripjaws DDR3 dual channel 1600 2gig x 4 (8gigs)
psu-OCZ fatality 550w
hdd- sata seagate barracuda 80/ sata seagate barracuda 160 (8500rpm??)
cd- 2 nec dvd burners ide - primary & slave


The only things I salvaged from my old setup are the SATA drives & the Enermax ATX case.

Im having a difficult time connecting the front panel audio (1 headphone & 1 mic) to the mb. I have tried soooo many different combinations, and it just doesnt work. The case is from 2005-2006. I have no model number. Ill be honest, its not the greatest case in the world, but the price was right at the time.

Im at work, so I can give an exact descrition of labeling, but the labels certainly dont match up with the diagram for my new mb. Im 99.99% sure that it is HD and not AC97. My old mb was hd (abit aa8-3rd eye).

Some combos just dont work,
some combos will recognize when headphone is inserted into mic input,
some combos will cause windows 7 to crash upon startup (blue screen).

Could this be causing the problem?:
The front panel has 2 usb (working) iee1394(not connected/no input on mb) and the 2 audio ports.

I dont have the 1394 connector installed, because there are no pins on the motherboard. Is it possible that maybe an extra power lead is needed for the front audio to work properly, and that extra wire could be coming from the 1394 connector. it is the closest port to the 3.5mm jacks on the front panel. I cant really tell if they are sharing the same circuit board.