External Stylesheets not working anywhere!

[eluser]chaderick[/eluser]
Alright, I've read through the forum topics for several days now, and I still can't seem to fix my problem. No matter what I do, my external CSS files just aren't working.

I've tried putting the css in different places:
--public/css/test.css
--system/application/css/test.css
--system/application/views/test.css

And then I've tried each of those using the various linking methods:

Code:

// in the controller:
$data['testcss'] = base_url().'test.css';

Code:

// and in the view
<link href="<?= $testcss ?>" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />

OR

Code:

<?= link_tag($testcss); ?>

Yes, I have short tags enabled. Yes, the base url is set correctly. In each instance I have viewed the source to check that the css link was being put on the page. It's there. The path is correct. I've even checked file permissions on my server to make sure the files were accessible. They are.

I've included the html and url helpers as well.

To make sure I had the css written correctly, I pasted it inline and viewed the file again. The css does work inline, just not externally.

Does anyone have any clue what might be going on here?

I've been working in PHP for several years but am new to Code Igniter.

Thanks!