[Samba] bind failure: can't contact ldap server

[Fatemi, Afsheen]

Hi list,
I have installed samba 2.2.8 on my linux rh 9. with Openldap rmps. I am
trying to setup a PDC server using Samba with ldap as the backend. The samba
server can not connect to the ldap server. I am getting the following error
when I run any smb commands:

LDAPS option set...!
ldap_connect_system: Binding to ldap server as ""
Bind failed: Can't contact ldap server

 I don't think the problem is at the ldap because before I decided to
install samba tools to use it as a PDC, I was able to add users and
authenticate using my MAC clients.

I have checked my /etc/samba/smb.conf and  smbldap_conf.pm files and nothing
seems to be wrong. Do you have any idea why would samba try to connect to
null "" instead of my fully qualified name?

Thanks for your time and help,

afsheen