It would be useful to see a picture, because we can't help you without knowing what you're doing. That being said, what you have described is correct, but you should see a green power LED on the solenoid breakout when the power is connected to it, even if it's not plugged into the cRIO.
What do you mean by solenoid block? Do you mean a valve, or the module that plugs into the cRIO? I'm assuming by the lights on the block, you mean the 8 green LEDs on the cRIO module.
If both breakouts aren't faulty, then the power isn't making it to the solenoid breakout. (just to clarify,
this is a breakout)
This could be because the power board isn't powered, you don't have the fuse in the right spot, the fuse is broken, the cable isn't inserted properly into the power board, the wires aren't in the wago connector the right way, or the polarity is flipped.