Claude,
Definitely flying blind as far as seeing the signals but it'll be a while before I get access to a scope - I'll try to get access to the uni labs. I have been suspcious about my construction because-after browsing google groups-I noticed that a lot of people said that their Xilinx-bought cables worked fine on most computers (without modification of circuit).
1) I used the 1N4148s b/c some book I used at the store said it was equiv to the suggested diode. Do you think I should make an effort to find the diodes and replace them?
2) You understood perfectly. I'm sorry I wasn't too clear, upon rereading my post I noticed a few words missing, I should proof read before posting
But, anyway, that's gone now...I'm using a cheap transformer that's feeding the 78L05 directly now. I measured the VCC for the 74HC125, it's 5V
3) I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I am testing using XC9572-15PC44C, my layout is:
44pin-PLCC socket--wires-->programmer--wires-->parallel port
The wires are extremely short as I mentioned before, I'm using a seperate board for the PLCC socket because I've wired every pin in order to a pin of a normal machined IC socket that's also on the same board. That way I can easily access all the CPLD pins for testing after programming. Please let me know if I haven't explained this clearly enough. I'm feeding the CPLD 5V directly from the "clean" 78L05.
4) Exactly, I was just wondering if you had direct experience software bugs in the WebISE tool. I should test it with an inverter, so far I've been using a 10input AND gate...I'll post as soon as I do this...
Thanks for the great advice, as usual
Avital