Well, I don't see any smoking guns based on the little information you've given so far. Use "nm" on the EncryptPass2.so file to figure out what is in it. There may also be an "exports" file that determines which symbols in the shared library are externally visible (which is often referred to as being "universal"). The need for an "exports" file and the name of it I think are compiler-dependant so you'll have to do some digging.

You can also check the generated *.c file to make sure that a boot_EncryptPass2 subroutine is present and how it is declared.

 bootstrap()
           Syntax:
 
           bootstrap($module)
 
           This is the normal entry point for automatic dynamic
           loading in Perl.
 
           It performs the following actions:
 
           ·       locates an auto/$module directory by searching
                   @INC
 
           ·       uses dl_findfile() to determine the filename
                   to load
 
           ·       sets @dl_require_symbols to "("boot_$module")"
 
           ·       executes an auto/$module/$module.bs file if it
                   exists (typically used to add to
                   @dl_resolve_using any files which are required
                   to load the module on the current platform)
 
           ·       calls dl_load_flags() to determine how to load
                   the file.
 
           ·       calls dl_load_file() to load the file
 
           ·       calls dl_undef_symbols() and warns if any sym­
                   bols are undefined
 
           ·       calls dl_find_symbol() for "boot_$module"
 
           ·       calls dl_install_xsub() to install it as
                   "${module}::bootstrap"
 
           ·       calls &{"${module}::bootstrap"} to bootstrap
                   the module (actually it uses the function ref­
                   erence returned by dl_install_xsub for speed)
[download]

Thanks for clarifying that the boot_ thingie is associated with DynaLoader. Clearly if XS were working properly then boot_ would exist and be visible.

My conclusion is that XS, like Inline.pm and SWIG (which wouldn't even compile. It seemed to expect a C++ compiler) are not the way to solve this problem.

TMTOWTDI means not to knock yourself out trying to solve a problem in a particular way, because if that way is not working there is an easier way.