ldap cant connect

[Ray Schneider <ray@tux.org>]

Completely new to LDAP....I have followed the directions on the
Quick-Start on the site....
Everything seems to be okay....but then I try to do the following
command and get...

command:
ldapadd -D "cn=root, dc=schneiderystems, dc=com" -W <conf.ldif
Enter LDAP Password: <i enter the password>
ldap_bind: Can't contact LDAP server

I have been parsing thru all the archives and howtos and such....I
suspect that this is simply that the ldap server isnt really starting
when I issue
su root -c '/usr/local/libexec/slapd -f slapd.conf

but, alas I havent been able to cure this...any help on this would be
great....Im sure its just something simple that I must be
overlooking....

tia-
Ray