Ok...I think I figured out my problem with my mysterious ALE oscillations in my 8031/373/EEPROM system. However, I'm not sure how to solve it.

I've isolated my problem to the 8031 part, and I built a test circuit. This consists of a 3-pin 16MHz Ceramic Resonator (with caps included), a simple RC reset circuit, and an 8031. I'm using a protoboard to wire up my circuit. These are all the parts I'm using at this time.

The resonator's outer two pins are connected directly to pins 18 and 19 of my 8031, and the center pin is grounded.

I got ahold of a digital 'scope and took a sample waveform of my /PSEN and ALE signal. They were almost normal, with the expected 2.66MHz 5V square wave "capped" with a 5V DC signal.

Out of sheer luck, I measured VCC with the 'scope and found it to be oscillating at 16MHz! This probably caused my ALE and /PSEN signals to appear as oddly as they did.

My question: What should I do to isolate my circuit so that my ceramic resonator doesn't corrupt everything?

Struggling Undergrad,
Phillip Rowold