running on a powweb server
phpinfo reports an x86 processor
glibc c level is 2.3.2
install script recommends linux tar file
using x86 2.2 linux server

extension_dir is "./", not sure why the installation script suggests it not be; not sure I can find the absolute address to the php directory on this server anyways.

Error message follows:

/path_to_file/dbg.so-5.2.x: failed to map segment from shared object: Operation not permitted

if an operation is not permitted, you may want to check the permissions, check the file consistency and check if you have correct line that's supposed to load the extension and finally check if you have php 5.2, otherwise select debugger module for your php version.

I thought I'd provide a copy of the phpinfo output.
Sorry for the size, but not sure what you might need and lost some formatting with the cut and paste

PHP Version 5.2.2

System Linux cgi0903.int.bizland.net 2.6.23.14 #1 SMP Mon Feb 11 11:38:56 EST 2008 i686
Build Date May 4 2007 12:36:21
Configure Command './configure' '--prefix=/usr/local/lib/php-5.2.2' '--without-apache' '--with-mysql=/usr' '--with-mysqli' '--with-gd' '--with-jpeg-dir=/usr' '--with-png-dir=/usr' '--with-tiff-dir=/usr' '--disable-debug' '--enable-discard-path' '--enable-inline-optimization' '--enable-mbstring' '--enable-mbstr-enc-trans' '--enable-memory-limit' '--with-regex=system' '--with-zlib' '--enable-ftp' '--enable-sockets' '--enable-magic-quotes' '--with-gettext' '--enable-wddx' '--with-gdbm' '--with-db4' '--with-freetype-dir=/usr' '--with-curl=/usr' '--with-mhash' '--with-xsl' '--enable-calendar' '--with-mcve' '--with-dom' '--with-iconv' '--with-xmlrpc' '--with-mcrypt' '--with-bzip2' '--with-ming=/usr' '--with-pspell' '--with-openssl' '--with-ttf' '--with-freetype-dir=/usr' '--enable-gd-native-ttf' '--with-imap' '--with-kerberos' '--with-imap-ssl' '--enable-bcmath' '--enable-dbase' '--enable-exif'
Server API CGI
Virtual Directory Support disabled
Configuration File (php.ini) Path /usr/local/lib/php-5.2.2/lib
Loaded Configuration File redacted/php5/php.ini
PHP API 20041225
PHP Extension 20060613
Zend Extension 220060519
Debug Build no
Thread Safety disabled
Zend Memory Manager enabled
IPv6 Support enabled
Registered PHP Streams php, file, data, http, ftp, compress.zlib, https, ftps
Registered Stream Socket Transports tcp, udp, unix, udg, ssl, sslv3, sslv2, tls
Registered Stream Filters string.rot13, string.toupper, string.tolower, string.strip_tags, convert.*, consumed, convert.iconv.*, zlib.*

This program makes use of the Zend Scripting Language Engine:
Zend Engine v2.2.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2007 Zend Technologies
with Zend Extension Manager v1.0.11, Copyright (c) 2003-2006, by Zend Technologies
with Zend Optimizer v3.2.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2006, by Zend Technologies



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Configuration
PHP Core
Directive Local Value Master Value
allow_call_time_pass_reference On On
allow_url_fopen On On
allow_url_include Off Off
always_populate_raw_post_data Off Off
arg_separator.input & &
arg_separator.output & &
asp_tags Off Off
auto_append_file no value no value
auto_globals_jit On On
auto_prepend_file no value no value
browscap no value no value
default_charset no value no value
default_mimetype text/html text/html
define_syslog_variables Off Off
disable_classes no value no value
disable_functions no value no value
display_errors On On
display_startup_errors Off Off
doc_root no value no value
docref_ext no value no value
docref_root no value no value
enable_dl On On
error_append_string no value no value
error_log no value no value
error_prepend_string no value no value
error_reporting no value no value
expose_php Off Off
extension_dir ./ ./
file_uploads On On
highlight.bg #FFFFFF #FFFFFF
highlight.comment #FF8000 #FF8000
highlight.default #0000BB #0000BB
highlight.html #000000 #000000
highlight.keyword #007700 #007700
highlight.string #DD0000 #DD0000
html_errors On On
ignore_repeated_errors Off Off
ignore_repeated_source Off Off
ignore_user_abort Off Off
implicit_flush Off Off
include_path .:/usr/local/lib/php-5.2.2/lib/php .:/usr/local/lib/php-5.2.2/lib/php
log_errors Off Off
log_errors_max_len 1024 1024
magic_quotes_gpc On On
magic_quotes_runtime Off Off
magic_quotes_sybase Off Off
mail.force_extra_parameters no value no value
max_execution_time 30 30
max_input_nesting_level 64 64
max_input_time 60 60
memory_limit 128M 128M
open_basedir no value no value
output_buffering 0 0
output_handler no value no value
post_max_size 8M 8M
precision 12 12
realpath_cache_size 16K 16K
realpath_cache_ttl 120 120
register_argc_argv On On
register_globals On On
register_long_arrays On On
report_memleaks On On
report_zend_debug On On
safe_mode Off Off
safe_mode_exec_dir /usr/local/php/bin /usr/local/php/bin
safe_mode_gid Off Off
safe_mode_include_dir no value no value
sendmail_from no value no value
sendmail_path /usr/sbin/sendmail -t -i /usr/sbin/sendmail -t -i
serialize_precision 100 100
short_open_tag On On
SMTP relay-hosting.secureserver.net relay-hosting.secureserver.net
smtp_port 25 25
sql.safe_mode Off Off
track_errors Off Off
unserialize_callback_func no value no value
upload_max_filesize 2M 2M
upload_tmp_dir /tmp /tmp
user_dir no value no value
variables_order EGPCS EGPCS
xmlrpc_error_number 0 0
xmlrpc_errors Off Off
y2k_compliance On On
zend.ze1_compatibility_mode Off Off


bcmath
BCMath support enabled


calendar
Calendar support enabled


cgi
Directive Local Value Master Value
cgi.check_shebang_line 1 1
cgi.fix_pathinfo 1 1
cgi.nph 0 0
cgi.rfc2616_headers 0 0


ctype
ctype functions enabled


curl
cURL support enabled
cURL Information libcurl/7.13.2 OpenSSL/0.9.7e zlib/1.2.2 libidn/0.5.13


date
date/time support enabled
"Olson" Timezone Database Version 2007.5
Timezone Database internal
Default timezone EST5EDT

Directive Local Value Master Value
date.default_latitude 31.7667 31.7667
date.default_longitude 35.2333 35.2333
date.sunrise_zenith 90.583333 90.583333
date.sunset_zenith 90.583333 90.583333
date.timezone no value no value


dba
DBA support enabled
Supported handlers gdbm db4


dom
DOM/XML enabled
DOM/XML API Version 20031129
libxml Version 2.6.16
HTML Support enabled
XPath Support enabled
XPointer Support enabled
Schema Support enabled
RelaxNG Support enabled


exif
EXIF Support enabled
EXIF Version 1.4 $Id: exif.c,v 1.173.2.5.2.19 2007/02/27 03:04:40 iliaa Exp $
Supported EXIF Version 0220
Supported filetypes JPEG,TIFF


filter
Input Validation and Filtering enabled
Revision $Revision: 1.52.2.39 $

Directive Local Value Master Value
filter.default unsafe_raw unsafe_raw
filter.default_flags no value no value


ftp
FTP support enabled


gd
GD Support enabled
GD Version bundled (2.0.34 compatible)
FreeType Support enabled
FreeType Linkage with freetype
FreeType Version 2.1.7
GIF Read Support enabled
GIF Create Support enabled
JPG Support enabled
PNG Support enabled
WBMP Support enabled
XBM Support enabled


gettext
GetText Support enabled


hash
hash support enabled
Hashing Engines md2 md4 md5 sha1 sha256 sha384 sha512 ripemd128 ripemd160 ripemd256 ripemd320 whirlpool tiger128,3 tiger160,3 tiger192,3 tiger128,4 tiger160,4 tiger192,4 snefru gost adler32 crc32 crc32b haval128,3 haval160,3 haval192,3 haval224,3 haval256,3 haval128,4 haval160,4 haval192,4 haval224,4 haval256,4 haval128,5 haval160,5 haval192,5 haval224,5 haval256,5


iconv
iconv support enabled
iconv implementation glibc
iconv library version 2.3.2

Directive Local Value Master Value
iconv.input_encoding ISO-8859-1 ISO-8859-1
iconv.internal_encoding ISO-8859-1 ISO-8859-1
iconv.output_encoding ISO-8859-1 ISO-8859-1


imap
IMAP c-Client Version 2001
SSL Support enabled
Kerberos Support enabled


json
json support enabled
json version 1.2.1


libxml
libXML support active
libXML Version 2.6.16
libXML streams enabled


mbstring
Multibyte Support enabled
Multibyte string engine libmbfl
Multibyte (japanese) regex support enabled
Multibyte regex (oniguruma) version 4.4.4
Multibyte regex (oniguruma) backtrack check On

mbstring extension makes use of "streamable kanji code filter and converter", which is distributed under the GNU Lesser General Public License version 2.1.

Directive Local Value Master Value
mbstring.detect_order no value no value
mbstring.encoding_translation Off Off
mbstring.func_overload 0 0
mbstring.http_input pass pass
mbstring.http_output pass pass
mbstring.internal_encoding ISO-8859-1 no value
mbstring.language neutral neutral
mbstring.strict_detection Off Off
mbstring.substitute_character no value no value


mcrypt
mcrypt support enabled
Version 2.5.7
Api No 20021217
Supported ciphers cast-128 gost rijndael-128 twofish arcfour cast-256 loki97 rijndael-192 saferplus wake blowfish-compat des rijndael-256 serpent xtea blowfish enigma rc2 tripledes
Supported modes cbc cfb ctr ecb ncfb nofb ofb stream

Directive Local Value Master Value
mcrypt.algorithms_dir no value no value
mcrypt.modes_dir no value no value


mhash
MHASH support Enabled
MHASH API Version 20020524


ming
Ming SWF output library enabled
Version 0.3beta1


mysql
MySQL Support enabled
Active Persistent Links 0
Active Links 0
Client API version 4.1.11
MYSQL_MODULE_TYPE external
MYSQL_SOCKET /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock
MYSQL_INCLUDE -I/usr/include/mysql
MYSQL_LIBS -L/usr/lib -lmysqlclient

Directive Local Value Master Value
mysql.allow_persistent On On
mysql.connect_timeout 60 60
mysql.default_host no value no value
mysql.default_password no value no value
mysql.default_port no value no value
mysql.default_socket no value no value
mysql.default_user no value no value
mysql.max_links Unlimited Unlimited
mysql.max_persistent Unlimited Unlimited
mysql.trace_mode Off Off


mysqli
MysqlI Support enabled
Client API library version 4.1.11
Client API header version 4.1.11
MYSQLI_SOCKET /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock

Directive Local Value Master Value
mysqli.default_host no value no value
mysqli.default_port 3306 3306
mysqli.default_pw no value no value
mysqli.default_socket no value no value
mysqli.default_user no value no value
mysqli.max_links Unlimited Unlimited
mysqli.reconnect Off Off


openssl
OpenSSL support enabled
OpenSSL Version OpenSSL 0.9.7e 25 Oct 2004


pcre
PCRE (Perl Compatible Regular Expressions) Support enabled
PCRE Library Version 7.0 18-Dec-2006


PDO
PDO support enabled
PDO drivers sqlite, sqlite2


pdo_sqlite
PDO Driver for SQLite 3.x enabled
PECL Module version (bundled) 1.0.1 $Id: pdo_sqlite.c,v 1.10.2.6.2.2 2007/03/23 14:30:00 wez Exp $
SQLite Library 3.3.16


posix
Revision $Revision: 1.70.2.3.2.15 $


pspell
PSpell Support enabled


Reflection
Reflection enabled
Version $Id: php_reflection.c,v 1.164.2.33.2.37 2007/04/12 18:39:46 johannes Exp $


session
Session Support enabled
Registered save handlers files user sqlite
Registered serializer handlers php php_binary wddx

Directive Local Value Master Value
session.auto_start Off Off
session.bug_compat_42 On On
session.bug_compat_warn On On
session.cache_expire 180 180
session.cache_limiter nocache nocache
session.cookie_domain no value no value
session.cookie_httponly Off Off
session.cookie_lifetime 0 0
session.cookie_path / /
session.cookie_secure Off Off
session.entropy_file no value no value
session.entropy_length 0 0
session.gc_divisor 100 100
session.gc_maxlifetime 1440 1440
session.gc_probability 1 1
session.hash_bits_per_character 4 4
session.hash_function 0 0
session.name PHPSESSID PHPSESSID
session.referer_check no value no value
session.save_handler files files
session.save_path no value no value
session.serialize_handler php php
session.use_cookies On On
session.use_only_cookies Off Off
session.use_trans_sid 0 0


SimpleXML
Simplexml support enabled
Revision $Revision: 1.151.2.22.2.26 $
Schema support enabled


sockets
Sockets Support enabled


SPL
SPL support enabled
Interfaces Countable, OuterIterator, RecursiveIterator, SeekableIterator, SplObserver, SplSubject
Classes AppendIterator, ArrayIterator, ArrayObject, BadFunctionCallException, BadMethodCallException, CachingIterator, DirectoryIterator, DomainException, EmptyIterator, FilterIterator, InfiniteIterator, InvalidArgumentException, IteratorIterator, LengthException, LimitIterator, LogicException, NoRewindIterator, OutOfBoundsException, OutOfRangeException, OverflowException, ParentIterator, RangeException, RecursiveArrayIterator, RecursiveCachingIterator, RecursiveDirectoryIterator, RecursiveFilterIterator, RecursiveIteratorIterator, RecursiveRegexIterator, RegexIterator, RuntimeException, SimpleXMLIterator, SplFileInfo, SplFileObject, SplObjectStorage, SplTempFileObject, UnderflowException, UnexpectedValueException


SQLite
SQLite support enabled
PECL Module version 2.0-dev $Id: sqlite.c,v 1.166.2.13.2.7 2007/03/06 02:17:13 stas Exp $
SQLite Library 2.8.17
SQLite Encoding iso8859

Directive Local Value Master Value
sqlite.assoc_case 0 0


standard
Regex Library System library enabled
Dynamic Library Support enabled
Path to sendmail /usr/sbin/sendmail -t -i

Directive Local Value Master Value
assert.active 1 1
assert.bail 0 0
assert.callback no value no value
assert.quiet_eval 0 0
assert.warning 1 1
auto_detect_line_endings 0 0
default_socket_timeout 60 60
safe_mode_allowed_env_vars PHP_ PHP_
safe_mode_protected_env_vars LD_LIBRARY_PATH LD_LIBRARY_PATH
url_rewriter.tags a=href,area=href,frame=src,input=src,form=,fieldset= a=href,area=href,frame=src,input=src,form=,fieldset=
user_agent no value no value


tokenizer
Tokenizer Support enabled


wddx
WDDX Support enabled
WDDX Session Serializer enabled


xml
XML Support active
XML Namespace Support active
libxml2 Version 2.6.16


xmlreader
XMLReader enabled


xmlrpc
core library version xmlrpc-epi v. 0.51
php extension version 0.51
author Dan Libby
homepage http://xmlrpc-epi.sourceforge.net
open sourced by Epinions.com


xmlwriter
XMLWriter enabled


xsl
XSL enabled
libxslt Version 1.1.12
libxslt compiled against libxml Version 2.6.16
EXSLT enabled
libexslt Version 1.1.12


Zend Optimizer
Optimization Pass 1 enabled
Optimization Pass 2 enabled
Optimization Pass 3 enabled
Optimization Pass 4 enabled
Optimization Pass 9 disabled
Zend Loader enabled
License Path no value
Obfuscation level 3


zlib
ZLib Support enabled
Stream Wrapper support compress.zlib://
Stream Filter support zlib.inflate, zlib.deflate
Compiled Version 1.2.2
Linked Version 1.2.2

Directive Local Value Master Value
zlib.output_compression Off Off
zlib.output_compression_level -1 -1
zlib.output_handler no value no value


Additional Modules
Module Name
dbase


Environment
Variable Value
PATH /usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin
DOCUMENT_ROOT i] redacted[/i]
HTTP_ACCEPT image/gif, image/x-xbitmap, image/jpeg, image/pjpeg, application/vnd.ms-powerpoint, application/vnd.ms-excel, application/msword, application/x-shockwave-flash, application/x-silverlight, application/xaml+xml, application/vnd.ms-xpsdocument, application/x-ms-xbap, application/x-ms-application, */*
HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING gzip, deflate
HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE en-us
HTTP_CONNECTION Keep-Alive
HTTP_HOST i] redacted[/i]
HTTP_UA_CPU x86
HTTP_USER_AGENT Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1) ; EmbeddedWB 14.52 Embedded Web Browser from: http://bsalsa_com/; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.04506.30; .NET CLR 3.0.04506.648)
REMOTE_ADDR i] redacted[/i]
REMOTE_PORT 42667
SCRIPT_FILENAME i] redacted[/i]
SERVER_ADMIN cgiadmin@yourhostingaccount.com
SERVER_NAME i] redacted[/i]
SERVER_PORT 80
SERVER_SOFTWARE Apache
GATEWAY_INTERFACE CGI/1.1
SERVER_PROTOCOL HTTP/1.1
REQUEST_METHOD GET
QUERY_STRING no value
REQUEST_URI /phpinfo.php
SCRIPT_NAME /phpinfo.php
PHPRC i] redacted[/i]
SCRIPT_URL /phpinfo.php
SCRIPT_URI i] redacted[/i]
DOCUMENT_URI /phpinfo.php
TZ EST5EDT


PHP Variables
Variable Value
PHP_SELF /phpinfo.php
_SERVER["PATH"] /usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin
_SERVER["DOCUMENT_ROOT"] i] redacted[/i]
_SERVER["HTTP_ACCEPT"] image/gif, image/x-xbitmap, image/jpeg, image/pjpeg, application/vnd.ms-powerpoint, application/vnd.ms-excel, application/msword, application/x-shockwave-flash, application/x-silverlight, application/xaml+xml, application/vnd.ms-xpsdocument, application/x-ms-xbap, application/x-ms-application, */*
_SERVER["HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING"] gzip, deflate
_SERVER["HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE"] en-us
_SERVER["HTTP_CONNECTION"] Keep-Alive
_SERVER["HTTP_HOST"] i] redacted[/i]
_SERVER["HTTP_UA_CPU"] x86
_SERVER["HTTP_USER_AGENT"] Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1) ; EmbeddedWB 14.52 Embedded Web Browser from: http://bsalsa_com/; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.04506.30; .NET CLR 3.0.04506.648)
_SERVER["REMOTE_ADDR"] 24.247.201.132
_SERVER["REMOTE_PORT"] 42667
_SERVER["SCRIPT_FILENAME"] i] redacted[/i]
_SERVER["SERVER_ADMIN"] cgiadmin@yourhostingaccount.com
_SERVER["SERVER_NAME"] i] redacted[/i]
_SERVER["SERVER_PORT"] 80
_SERVER["SERVER_SOFTWARE"] Apache
_SERVER["GATEWAY_INTERFACE"] CGI/1.1
_SERVER["SERVER_PROTOCOL"] HTTP/1.1
_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] GET
_SERVER["QUERY_STRING"] no value
_SERVER["REQUEST_URI"] /phpinfo.php
_SERVER["SCRIPT_NAME"] /phpinfo.php
_SERVER["PHPRC"] i] redacted[/i]
_SERVER["SCRIPT_URL"] /phpinfo.php
_SERVER["SCRIPT_URI"] i] redacted[/i]
_SERVER["DOCUMENT_URI"] /phpinfo.php
_SERVER["TZ"] EST5EDT
_SERVER["PHP_SELF"] /phpinfo.php
_SERVER["REQUEST_TIME"] 1203292451
_SERVER["argv"] Array
(
)

_SERVER["argc"] 0
_ENV["PATH"] /usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin
_ENV["DOCUMENT_ROOT"] i] redacted[/i]
_ENV["HTTP_ACCEPT"] image/gif, image/x-xbitmap, image/jpeg, image/pjpeg, application/vnd.ms-powerpoint, application/vnd.ms-excel, application/msword, application/x-shockwave-flash, application/x-silverlight, application/xaml+xml, application/vnd.ms-xpsdocument, application/x-ms-xbap, application/x-ms-application, */*
_ENV["HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING"] gzip, deflate
_ENV["HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE"] en-us
_ENV["HTTP_CONNECTION"] Keep-Alive
_ENV["HTTP_HOST"] i] redacted[/i]
_ENV["HTTP_UA_CPU"] x86
_ENV["HTTP_USER_AGENT"] Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1) ; EmbeddedWB 14.52 Embedded Web Browser from: http://bsalsa_com/; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.04506.30; .NET CLR 3.0.04506.648)
_ENV["REMOTE_ADDR"] i] redacted[/i]
_ENV["REMOTE_PORT"] 42667
_ENV["SCRIPT_FILENAME"] i] redacted[/i]
_ENV["SERVER_ADMIN"] cgiadmin@yourhostingaccount.com
_ENV["SERVER_NAME"] i] redacted[/i]
_ENV["SERVER_PORT"] 80
_ENV["SERVER_SOFTWARE"] Apache
_ENV["GATEWAY_INTERFACE"] CGI/1.1
_ENV["SERVER_PROTOCOL"] HTTP/1.1
_ENV["REQUEST_METHOD"] GET
_ENV["QUERY_STRING"] no value
_ENV["REQUEST_URI"] /phpinfo.php
_ENV["SCRIPT_NAME"] /phpinfo.php
_ENV["PHPRC"] i] redacted[/i]
_ENV["SCRIPT_URL"] /phpinfo.php
_ENV["SCRIPT_URI"] redacted
_ENV["DOCUMENT_URI"] /phpinfo.php
_ENV["TZ"] EST5EDT

Thanks for the suggestions, I think I have covered all bases except consistency.

the file has permissions 777 (for now)

I can cat the file using the text string from the line that is loading the module

I am using dbg-3.2.10-Linux-glibc-2.2.tar.gz

How would you recommend I check the file consistency?

it makes sense to check the consistency only if you transferred .so file separately. In other words if you unpacked tar.gz on the client and then uploaded .so file to the serever. In this case you may want to run md5sum agains the files on the server and client and compare the results.

Regarding line that loads the extension, what does it look like?

I've redacted the username and address. Thanks for the help.

zend_optimizer.optimization_level=15
zend_extension_manager.optimizer=/usr/local/Zend/Zend-2.5.7/lib/Optimizer-2.5.7
zend_extension_manager.optimizer_ts=/usr/local/Zend/Zend-2.5.7/lib/Optimizer_TS-2.5.7
zend_extension=/home/users/web/b819/pow.username/htdocs/kevin/dbg.so-5.2.x
zend_extension=/usr/local/Zend/Zend-2.5.7/lib/ZendExtensionManager.so
zend_extension_ts=/usr/local/Zend/Zend-2.5.7/lib/ZendExtensionManager_TS.so

[debugger]
debugger.hosts_allow= ip adress here localhost
debugger.hosts_deny=ALL
debugger.ports=7869, 10000/16

I've run md5sum on the dbg.so-5.2.x on the server. The result is:
$ /usr/bin/md5sum dbg.so-5.2.x
d74292f9f22729916268e39ef20d24ec dbg.so-5.2.x

Do you have a sum to compare it to?

yep, md5 is correct.

Are you sure that permissions are okay? Did you by any chance enable SELinux? If so, two possibilities I'd think of learn about SELinux policies to figure out how to make foreign shared objects work again (be loaded from a non-trusted user directory) or disable SELinux entirely (at least for testing purposes).

ls -l
-rwxrwxrwx 1 wwwuser www 92K Feb 17 11:23 dbg.so-5.2.x*

I am not familiar with SELinux. I am using shared hosting on powweb.com. It has been a while since I admined my own servers so please bear with me. How would I determine if SELinux is enabled?

try
getsebool -a
it will print something like "getsebool: SELinux is disabled" if it is disabled.

you got me thinking about the server. I used the binary recommended by your dbg-wizard. I'm not sure what powweb is running......

Here is output of console server information. Do I have the right debugger?

Platform
Type Debian

MySQL Version
MySQL Version 5.0.45

Perl Version
Perl 5.8.8

PHP Version
PHP 5.2.2

Path to SendMail
Sendmail /usr/sbin/sendmail

Path to Perl
Perl Path /usr/bin/perl

Path to PHP
PHP Path /usr/local/bin/php

dbg-wizard script is quite correct and as far as I see its recomendation matches your system.
Most probably it's SELinux blocks php from loading a shared object from a non-trusted user directory.