Collation problems with MySQL upgrade

[Gazza Tu]

hello,

my hosting company recently upgraded their servers from mysql 4.0 to version 4.1.21- . Problem is, none of my sites now work as my simple PHP sql searches of my database no longer function. It appears the problem is to do with the new collation features on the upgrade. When I go to the cpanel I notice that a simple search request now appears as a complex one, with characters needing to be converted, for example :

SELECT *
FROM `users1`
WHERE `mod` ='yes'
LIMIT 0 , 30

now appears as :

SELECT *
FROM `users1`
WHERE `mod` = CONVERT( _utf8 'yes'
USING latin1 )
COLLATE latin1_swedish_ci
LIMIT 0 , 30

Is this supposed to be progress? I thought upgrades were supposed to make life easier for everybody? I got my php code straight out of textbooks and have worked fine for years. I can't believe I am the only one who has experienced similar problems with the collation upgrade. The hosing company simply sent me some really complex replacement php code which I don't understand, and which I will have trouble integrating into my sites.

Hope someone out there can help!