Shares without records, no home directories

I did a clean install of 10.4 on a new xServe. I created a new shared folder (AFP), set it to host home directories and also to have a Network Mount Point. When I create a new user and set his home to the new share and hit create home now and Save - nothing happens. I have run Disk First Aid (repair perms) did a restart, run fsck etc. Nothing. I tried createhomedir - terminal shows me the home folder is created - but it isn't. Using the Records Inspector shows me that the share has no records - in fact, even the default shares have no records. The server has a mount record. The DNS files are hosted elsewhere and I get a good reverse look up. I have done this many times in 10.3 on an older machine. I can BIND to the server, but of course get the 'Home Folder Not In Usual Place etc' error- of course, since their isn't one. I tried 3 installs with the same result. FQDN seems fine - when I log in to WGM as the IP address I see the FQDN in the name of the server. I am totally confused by this. I was sent media with a bad serial and I am wondering about - well - everything. I'd love some clues please. Thank you.