dsPIC33FJ256GP710 explorer 16 – Newbie help ?

I have the explorer16 board with dsPIC33FJ256GP710 installed – board runs fine with other applications. I have compiled and programmed in the dsPIC demo – all messages look OK but nothing is happening on the explorer 16 board. LCD does not show anything. all LEDs are dark. One thing I did notice was that when I built the demo I did not get any messages about memory usage etc as I usually do when I build other projects.  Any suggestions much appreciated