DB Error: connect failed

Hi!

On a Red Hat Linux 7.3 system with PostgreSQL 7.3.3, I am having a
problem connecting to the database, using PEAR/PHP code in a web page.
The code I have worked out so far is:

      $dsn = array('phptype'  => 'pgsql',
                   'username' => 'simpatic_www',
                   'password' => 'gottago',
                   'hostspec' => 'localhost',
                   'database' => 'simpatic_logbook'
      );
      $options = array('debug'       => 2,
                       'portability' => DB_PORTABILITY_ALL
      );
      $db =& DB::connect($dsn, $options);
      if (DB::isError($db)) { die($db->getMessage()); }

Only the password has been changed to protect the guilty. The user
'simpatic_www' is created by CPANEL webhosting software's control panel.
As an attempt to check correctness of the password, I logged into the
simpatic_logbook database as the postgres user (superuser?) and typed:

simpatic_logbook=# alter user simpatic_www with password 'gottago';
ALTER USER

So in theory it succeeded. Connect still fails, though. What gets me is
that *all* I get is that one "DB Error: connect failed" error. Is there
a way to get more detail, so I at least know exactly *why* it is
failing? Can I get psql to show me simpatic_www's unencrypted password
to see what it has?

Thanks for any pointers,

--
Rodolfo J. Paiz <rpaiz@simpaticus.com>