What does this error mean

Hi,

From psql prompt I attempt to create a table and keep getting the
following:

psql> \c database
connecting to new database: database
psql> \dt
Couldn't find any tables!
psql> create table R1 (col1 int4) ;
PQexec() -- There is no connection to the backend
psql>\q

Back on the Linux command line

$ ps ax | grep postmaster

 4817  ?  S    0:00 /usr/bin/postmaster -d 2 -S -D/var/lib/pgsql

And by the way, I am not getting any log data comming into my
/var/log/postgres
I have changed my /etc/rc.d/init.d/postgresql script to launch
postmaster -d2 and
redirected stdout and stderr to /var/log/postgres

I appreciate any help you may have. I am putting my neck on the line to
promote this
engine.