Youcan check in phpmyadmin the following info
# Server:
# Server version:
# Protocol version:
also it tells you default MySQL charset
Its visible on the right panel when you enter with phpmyadmin the MySql webserver (localhost most of the times).
Check the phpMyAdmin Version information: 3.2.4 if your hosting company runs 3.00 or lower then they need to patch it, because then phpMyAdmin is then a security risk.
If versions are not compatible on your local machine with the DB online, then you or your hosting company should upgrade. MySql 5 needs slightly different PHP calls to the DB – otherwise you will experience errors. The calls simply die. So do the PHP scripts when not written as PHP5.3 but 5.3 is installed on the web server.
Cheers
Doris