Richard,

Well, initializing the bit high then low and reading in high and low only tells you that the input is high. You only see the real input level of an input pin after that pin is output with a high (does this on chip initialization too).

So, if you merely stopped when you saw this, set the pin high and continue by clocking the shift register and look for low and high states to be presented. I'd suggest alternating the dip switch pattern and rock them cleanly into position; many dip switches don't make good contact.

If you went on but never saw a transition, tell us more about the clock signal you are using on the shift register.

You might check the schematic for how the dip switches were wired. Except for the fact you said this was a commercial board, I would assume it was wired wrong (common among circuit hobbyists).

We need more information.

aka j