Re: Error message "psql: could not connect to server: No such file or directory"

>>> I guess this is a typical user error. I searched around to find the solution, but in vain.
>>>
>>> I just upgraded to Lion, and used Kyngchaos libraries for installation of Postgres.
>>>
>>> Try to get running postgres, and I get this:
>>>
>>> /usr/local/pgsql-9.1/bin/psql -U postgres
>>> psql: could not connect to server: No such file or directory
>>> Is the server running locally and accepting
>>> connections on Unix domain socket "/tmp/.s.PGSQL.5432"?
>>>
>>>
>>> In my limited understanding, it seems that Postgres is not running. When I use:
>>>
>>> ps auxw | grep post
>>>
>>> out comes only the "grep post", but no postgres process.
>>>
>>> When I use:
>>>
>>> sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.postgresql.postgres.plist
>>>
>>> it says:
>>>
>>> org.postgresql.postgres: Already loaded
>>>
>>> and displays in the "ps" list then:
>>>
>>> user 935 0.0 0.1 2493888 7296 ?? Ss 3:24PM 0:00.12 /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DiskImages.framework/Resources/diskimages-helper -uuid 9EFB9424-7971-4A8B-9D73-B93BD7F1DB5F -post-exec 4
>>>
>>> (which looks a bit strange to me (DiskImages ??))
>>>
>>>
>>> I am somewhat lost (and worse is that it worked the other day, before re-installing Lion anew.).
>>

I need unfortunately to come back to this issue. I (again) re-installed Lion from scratch, and finally got everything working. The Postgres was running, I uploaded a couple of dumped SQL files. And then re-started the machine for another reason. And suddenly it says again the it can't connect to the server.

I tried
/usr/local/pgsql-9.1/bin/initdb -U postgres -D /usr/local/pgsql-9.1/data --encoding=UTF8 --locale=en_US

and
/usr/local/pgsql-9.1/bin/pg_ctl -D /usr/local/pgsql-9.1/data/ -l logfile start

and
sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.postgresql.postgres.plist

… but nothing happens. I don't have the feeling that it's a problem with the "postgres" and "_postgres" users (as it has worked before already).

Can anyone give me a hint how I can figure out where the problem lies and what I can do about it? Why did it work before I restarted the computer and why does it not work anymore?

Thanks a lot for any hints!