Php4 Extension (eaccelerator) Not Loading Anymore

Server :
pentium IV 3.0 Ghz
debian 3.1
kernel 2.6
apache2
php4.3.10

Some months ago I installed php4 on this server , and added eaccelerator.net , mostly with this site as guide. Everything worked fine.

Few days ago I realize I hadn't updated this server for a while. I run 'apt-get update' and 'apt-get dist-upgrade' . A whole lot of things get updated, and after that I perform a reboot, as adviced by the update script.

The next day I experiment a bit with the profiler of xdebug . I manage to install it , play around with the results, but decide to uncomment it from php.ini again as it is not that helpfull to me and it makes quiet big log files too.

Today I notice this server is getting very big loads. Normally on peak evenings it would float around 2-4 , with sometime jumps to 10-12 but always quickly recovering and working well. But on this evening it kept rising, stayed around 30-60 for most of the time, and even hit up to 85 . It only lowers when the busy hours are really over. So I look around everywhere , and then after a few hours I notice that eaccelerator is not visible in phpinfo(); anymore. This is the only weird thing I could find, and I assume this caused a big difference on the performance.

I dont know why exactly it went away. Maybe it was the server update, wich touched a lot of files. But I thought it was not supposed to update any configuration files, not without warning at least. I could also have been the xdebug script, wich also uses 'phpize' to install and also required editing in php.ini . I really wish I noticed the lack of eaccelerator after the update but before trying xdebug.

So I try to install eaccelerator again. Unpack from source, phpize, make, etc etc, just as last time. I edit php.ini to make sure the load command and settings of eaccelerator are still there and reload apache. I check phpinfo(); , but nothing changes. I try it all again to be sure, but still nothing. I check the location of the .so files, yes they are still there and the rights of the files look ok.

I edit php.ini again and uncomment 'extension=mysql.so', and reload apache. I notice a mysql error on my site as expected. So that means I'm really editing the right php.ini file and that I can influence the extensions that are loaded. I add the mysql extension again and reload apache.

I load an old php.ini backup file, from right after first installation of this server. The eaccelerator settings are there too already, but if I try it and reload apache : no difference.

I reboot my server again, because .. well sometimes it helps. But not with this. phpinfo(); still says no eaccelerator.

I check another server, exact same specs, same php+eaccelerator installation on the same day as the first one. I compare versions of apache/php/php extensions/zend extensions and all numbers I can find. Everything still looks the same, except server 1 does not have eaccelerator and server 2 still has.

I'm shomehow out of things to check now. I'm pretty sure eaccelerator has a big influence on the performance of my heavy php site, and I want it back. Everything looks ok, the files are there, the settings in php.ini are there, it should work ... but it doesnt. No errors or warnings anywhere, just phpinfo(); saying that eaccelerator has not been loaded and the high loads are confirming this.

It will either be a very complicated solution, or a very simple one, but I'm just looking over it. Does anyone has any tips on where to look or what to try ? Thanks.